Borderline bilateral ventriculomegaly at 22w - support thread!

[janey1975]

Blikdiamond thanks so much for the update; I was wondering how things are going with you. It all sounds positive. I remember being 38 weeks and feeling like time was going really slowly. I was desperate to give birth and felt really tired. My advice to you is make sure you get as much sleep as you possibly can to prepare for when she is here. People gave me that advice and I so wish I would have followed it more!

Best of luck for the birth; I am sure it will go really well and you will be overwhelmed with love when she is born. I still remember that day so well and have a really positive birth even though I was convinced it was going to be a nightmare.

When you do get a spare moment do let us know how you both are. Love and best wishes to you x

 

[Tulip]

So perfectly put Janey! Sending happy, calm and easy labour vibes to you, Blkdiamond xx

 

[samjc1531c]

Hi all, just wanted to quickly update. Ive been to fetal medicine for my 28 week scan of the ventricles and have been discharged!!!!!
The ventricles perfectly normal and everything is fine.
This has been one of the most difficult times ive ever been through and wished someone medically would have explained more at the beginning about how normal enlarged ventricles at 20 week scan can be if you are having a boy!
Thank you to everyone on here who suported me through the difficult time.xxxx

 

[Mrs C P]

Hello, and thank god i found you all!!! I love this thread!
I had my 20 week scan yesterday and they kept taking the same measurement. I did wonder why. at the end of the scan she said that a measurement in the head is borderline at 10.2. After reading this thread, I think that this measurement is the ventriculomegaly.

I have to wait until Thursday next week to see the consultant and the wait is already killing me (move over the TWW)

Could I ask, does anyone know what this would mean to the baby? does this mean that I could possibly be faced with termination due to major abnormalities? the result for downs was 1:4747 but could the Vents measurement indicate downs? they don't tell you anything in the hospital except, "dont worry" which is easier said than done isn't it?

 

[samjc1531c]

Hi mrs c ,
Yes i was so glad i found this thread when i had this confirmed at my 20 wk scan. Do you know the sex of the baby as i only ask because when i was told and had the worse time waiting for the consultant i researched and found that it is sooo normal for a boys ventricles to be slightly enlarged at the 20 week scan and through growth over the next few weeks they shrink back to size. I had this confirmed as being correct info by the consultant but still had tests etc as they didnt at that point know if they would shrink or grow.
I got told that if the ventricles grow but no other abnormalities are found within the scan then the likelihood with such a low reading (and yours is extremely low) would mean learning delays or learning disabilisties depending only if the ventricles grew!
We had an awful time as the baby is moving and more real to us than at maybe 10 weeks so we were devestated to think of termination. I believe everyones choices are seperate but we would have only entered into discussion about termination if there was the more serious physical disabilities aswell which would mean no quality of life but even then you dont know till your faced with it.
I had a torque blood test and an MRI but refused the amnio which i am now glad about, as when we went back the ventricles were back to normal and we would have risked miscarriage by the amnio (personal choice though). Feel free to PM me if you want to ask anything as its an awful time, this thread really helped me.xxxx

 

[Tulip]

Amazing news, Sam! Congratulations!

Mrs CP welcome to our little support group. As Sam says, slightly enlarged ventricles are much more common in boys than girls. When Munchkin was measured at 10.1 I completely freaked out, but my colleague's wife is a sonographer at Kings and she said something that sticks in my mind - the measurement is above the normal range... but we are all built slightly differently and this might be normal for YOUR baby.

The consultant on Thursday will do another full anomaly scan to check for any other soft markers - downs, Edwards or Turners syndromes, with particular attention to the heart and the brain ventricles. Hopefully (like us) they will find the vents are normal and discharge you. Otherwise you'll be offered a TORCH screen (blood test) and possibly an MRI to get a better look at the brain, maybe an amnio. It may not be a syndrome causing the enlargement, but a blockage stopping the cerebrospinal fluid from draining properly, in which case the vents may get bigger. In severe cases this can impact upon the growth and development of te brain; in minor cases a small op can be carried out after baby arrives to install a shunt - a tube to help drain the fluid.

This is worst case scenario though - with a measurement of 10.2 I'm very hopeful for you xxx

 

[Mrs C P]

Hi Sam and Tulip

thank you SOOOO much for your replies, its so nice to talk to someone about it. During the scan DH was white as a sheet so i spent all day trying to reasure him as I was fine about it, but the more i thought about it, the more i worried and the go ole hormones had me in tears all the time so was so glad to find you ladies on B&B.

I feel loads better now, I think i was dreading the worst case senario such as termination due to some severe chromosone abnormalities, however now i know what im dealing with, i know that they wont say that on thursday. Crikey, after spending 2 and half years getting pregnant and worrying it would never happen, now pregnancy brings whole new worries. they dont tell you that in the book

Im so pleased that your babies are absolutely fine now, tulip you can enjoy your little one and Sam you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. hopefully i'll be joining you on thursday.

thanks again ladies , i shall post again after thursday

 

[Tulip]

Good luck for tomorrow sweetie. Thinking of you x

 

[janey1975]

Mrs CP. good luck to you tomorrow. I really don't know how you have managed to wait all this time to see the Consultant - I waited a few hours and it felt like an age. Like you, I imagined the worst. I was convinced I would need to terminate and imagined all sorts of scary scenarios. But as this thread has shown, a borderline measurement is common and not normally an issue at all.

I am sure all will be good tomorrow. Your story sounds so much like other people's on here that have had a positive outcome - me, Tulip, Samjc to name just a few. Remember, they only found one borderline measurement. Had they discovered any other issues they would have told you. One borderline measurement normally means all will be well.

As Samjc says, if you are having a boy then this is even more likely to be normal. We were told at our scan that boys often have a larger measurement anyway (something to do with larger heads and more fluid for boys). We never wanted to find out the sex of our baby but ended up knowing after the scan at 20 weeks because it was reassuring to know because its more common in boys.

As you may have read, I had other scans and a TORCH test done. They never did manage to get a measurement above 8.9mm after the initial reading of 10mm. You may very well find tomorrow that the measurement has already gone down. Our went down when we went from our local hospital at 11am to the Fetal Medicine Unit in Kings at 3.30pm (from 10mm to 8.9mm max).

Please do let us know how you get on. I genuinely mean it when I say I will be thinking of your tomorrow. I can still remember the nerves I felt laying on that bed with the scan probe searching for babies head to measure the vents. When you are lying there think of all the positive outcomes mentioned here.

 

[Tulip]

Wow Janey I didn't realise how quickly your measurements changed... seriously smacks of sonographer error!

 

[janey1975]

Wow Janey I didn't realise how quickly your measurements changed... seriously smacks of sonographer error!

Yes, I know exactly what you mean Tulip. The sonographer at the local hosp could only get the 10mm measurement once - she got 9mm, 10mm, and a 9.5mm in that order. She said that as she got the 10mm once she had to refer. When we went to Kings the equipment was so much more sophisticated - I could not believe the difference. And we were treated so well at Kings, lovely staff who are amazing at what they do. The local hosp had a grainy image and a tiny screen - I am surprised they could see anything!

I do hope all goes well for you today Mrs CP - please do post when you can x

 

[samjc1531c]

Mrs cp sending you lots of positive thoughts for today.hope everything has gone well.xx
janey so happy for you .xx

 

[Mrs C P]

Hello lovely ladies
I'm so pleased to tell you that the consultant discharged us! She called the sonographer in and asked her what problems she found as all she could see was a perfect baby
Measurement was 8.9
She explained that if some babies have their head tilted in a certain way, the fluid builds up which is why it's common for measurements to change.

I'm over the moon and happy to watch baby chewing and yawning! Soooo amazing to watch!

Thank you sooooooo much for all your support' I really mean it, I wouldn't have got though the past week with out your replies and reassurance.

Xxx

 

[Tulip]

Fantastic news!!! Yay! Congratulations and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy xx

 

[janey1975]

Wonderful news Mrs CP. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

You got the same measurement as we got when we were scanned by the Consultant. So pleased for you! I know you must have been through hell this past week but at least now you know you have a healthy baby that has been thoroughly checked. It does offer lots of reassurance. I bet your DH is so relieved too.

Now go and really enjoy your pregnancy with no more worries! Another positive story for those that come on here needing support x

 

[samjc1531c]

Yippee!!!!!! Congratulations mrs p. fabulous news so happy for you. what a worrying time it is but at least you can look forward and enjoy the rest and on a positive it sounds like you got some lovely views of your baby.xxxx

 

[phoebewyatt]

Hi i had my 20 week scan yesterday at 21weeks+3days, and have been told that i need to see a fetal speicalist because something in the brain is measuring at 11mm on both sides which i have been told is borderline but its hard not to worry about this as i no nothing about it . i now have to wait untill 24th april to see the specialist because she is on holiday untill then !! surely if the specialist is on holiday they should have cover?? but i will have to wait. Im just hoping like the mojority of you ladies it will go down and all will be fine. they did tell me my baby is on the larger side so could just be because of that. fingers crossed its nothing to worry about. thanks to everyone who have posted so far it makes me think more positive about this situation and that the lady could of just miss-measured because of such an active baby. fingers crosses

 

[Tulip]

Welcome aboard the rollercoaster, PW. As you say, bigger than average baby is very likely to equal bigger-than-average vents. feel free to vent and panic in here while you wait for your appointment - we all know how hard it is. I found it helpful to prepare a list of questions for the doc while I waited, based on all the stuff I'd read. I also had an idea of what I would and would not consider - yes to torch screen and MRI unless the MRI required sedating my very active baby, no to amnio if no other markers were present etc. It just felt like taking some control back

xx

 

[janey1975]

Excellent advice Tulip, couldn't put it better myself. I had to take some control back too, that's why I paid to see Prof Nicolaides at the Fetal Medicine Unit in Harley Street. Whatever gets you through this tough time it is worth it - whether that's preparing some questions, pushing to see a different consultant who is covering, paying for a private scan in London etc. I think it is the sitting and waiting feeling powerless that is the worst thing.

I would strongly advise against googling it though because often you read the worst case scenarios. The posts on here are much more typical of what happens. Also, you may want to consider whether knowing the gender of your lovely baby is worth asking about because as you have probably read, larger vents are most common in boys.

As Tulip says please do post on here if you are worried. This time last year I was a wreck worrying (I was about 23 weeks at the time), so I know how you feel.

Best of luck and please do keep let us know how you get on. Love to you and bump x

 

[mare]

Sending