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16 July 2004

Over the past couple of weeks, my parents have been very worried about me. I've had two ultrasound scans. My first was at Pa.ma.fi.r Medical Centre in Palermo, Italy when I was 17w6d. The second was at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading when I was 19w2d.

To find out why they were so concerned, read on...

The Pictures...

Scan taken at Pa.ma.fi.r, Palermo, Italy 17w6d, 6 July 2004	Scan taken at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading 19w2d, 16 July 2004

Why Mamma and Daddy were worried

This is what Daddy has written about my first scan in Italy:

On 3rd July, we went on holiday to Palermo, Italy. This was going to be the first (and probably the last) time that we would see Cristina's family during the pregnancy. What we were planning to do was have a relaxing time visiting relatives and going to the seaside. We did do these things, but we were not able to enjoy them.

Part of this holiday was an opportunity to see our baby again. On Tuesday 6 July, Cristina went to her gynaecologist and had a partial level 2 ultrasound. In this ultrasound examination the baby is examined for physical irregularities and markers for chromosomal abnormalities. This is normal procedure for babies approximately 20 weeks into their gestation. If anything is found, the gynaecologist can advise the prospective parents on for or against further testing to ascertain the exact problem. Something was found - a small choroid plexus cyst (CPC) in the baby's brain.

The choroid plexus is an area in the brain, which makes the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid) and is not involved in the process of thinking. The cysts themselves are fluid-filled spaces in the choroid plexus. These cysts are found in 1 - 2% of all babies, and can be found in healthy adults and children. The good news is that the cyst will disappear by itself, usually by 24 to 26 weeks, and their presence does not interfere with the development of the baby. The bad news is that these cysts are a weak marker for Edward's syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality that is incompatible with life. A third of babies with Edward's syndrome have these cysts. They are also a weak marker for Down's syndrome.

At twelve weeks Cristina had a Nuchal Folds translucency test to ascertain her risk for Down's and Edward's. Our baby's risks were 1 in 8,000 and 1 in 11,000 respectively. After the discovery of the cyst, the risks were increased by 1.5 to 2 times. These odds are still pretty small, but you can't help but worry. We could get a formal chromosomal test to find out whether the baby has these syndromes (i.e. amniocentesis), but this invasive test carries a 0.5% risk of miscarriage - much greater than the risk of the syndromes being present. We found that the choroidplexuscyst.org website very useful and informative.

We returned to the UK on the 10th feeling really worried about the wellbeing of the baby. Cristina contacted the Fetal Medicine Centre in London where we had the Nuchal Translucency test in May. She was told that as long as no other markers were found, we shouldn't worry. So we tried not to worry.

Mamma continues the story with her post from the Pregnancy Lounge forum...

We've finally had our anomaly scan today and were delighted to find the baby is fine. No other markers for Trisomy 18 were found and, as such, the cyst itself is considered totally insignificant.

I showed the sonographer the scans we did in Italy and she said that, compared to what she saw today, the cyst had not only regressed, but had she not known it had been there she wouldn't have picked it up. As a matter of fact, she said they no longer tell people if they see isolated CPCs these days, as they are insignificant and they only cause people to worry. So... phew! We can finally breath a sigh of relief after a nightmare 10 days. I feel so completely drained now, I am SO fed up with antenatal testing and stressing about it. From now on, I've decided I'm going to take it easy.

In today's picture the baby is shown suckling on their thumb. How cute!

The Italian sonographer was about 80% certain that we were going to have a girl. The UK sonographer could not confirm that it is indeed a girl, although she thought it might be. The baby had her legs crossed for most of the scan and would not budge! So for the time being, we're just going to go with the result we had at 17w6d, i.e. girl until proven otherwise!

She's measuring about right, 'around 19 weeks' we were told, though her tummy is a week ahead of her. This must run in the family! The sonographer did not change the dates and she's still got me down for an Estimated Delivery Date of 3rd December.

(The 'official date' from the Fetal Medicine Centre is 8 December - this is one used on this website).

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