echogenic bowel- feeling irrationally hopeless *UPDATE*

[robyn651]

Hi ladies,

On Tuesday I had my 20 week anatomy scan. I have a lifelong history of anxiety, so naturally I was a nervous wreck leading up to and during the scan. The technician was aware of this, but said absolutely nothing throughout the 30+ minute scan, which I understand is protocol. When I was leaving, I thanked her and asked if she could offer me any assurances just to ease my nerves. She explained that she was not able to divulge any details of the results of the scan, but suggested that I just relax and just enjoy my pregnancy. I tried to not read too much into this comment, but of course took some comfort in it. My midwife (who is very aware of my anxious tendencies) had promised that she would call me immediately if there anything out of the ordinary had appeared on the scan, and that she generally receives the report on the same day the scan takes place. I was very relieved when I hadn't heard from her... until my phone rang this morning. She explained that her fax machine had been down for the past three days and she as such had not received my results until this morning. She continued by saying everything had appeared perfectly normal except for something called echogenic bowel which could indicate chromosomal issues, CF, or various infections. She said she was referring me to a genetic councillor and had no further information.

I was totally taken off guard by the call and immediately began to research. Unfortunately it is not an particularly common soft marker and the data/studies are quite limited. Ultimately, from what I can find, there is about a 75% chance that everything will be fine, and a 25% chance that this echogenic bowel is the result of something very serious. My midwife got me to do my quad screening for chromosomal abnormalities this morning (after discouraging me to do this test earlier on due to false positives) and I am now waiting on those results and my consultation with the genetic councillor which will hopefully lead me to a level 2 ultrasound.

I just feel so incredibly upset and hopeless. I realize that chances are on my side, but 25% is still a large number when it comes to something as precious as this little boy I'm carrying. I just can't believe this news, and I'm desperate for answers, and I realize that the answers are not going to come very quickly. It's just all so out of my control and I feel.. desperate. I would do anything to protect this little baby. And I feel mismanaged by my midwife. It just doesn't seem acceptable to allow a fax machine to stay offline for 3 days when such pertinent client information is coming through.

I guess I just needed to talk... and vent. Has anyone experienced an echogenic bowl marker? Thanks for listening

 

[Literati_Love]

Very sorry to hear this and you are understandably upset. As you said, chances are on your side that all will be well. I hope that is the case. Good luck as you await further results. It's going to be ok!

 

[Moom7900]

From what I've read, there's often no found cause of this and it goes away on its own. One cause of it can also be an internal bleed in pregnancy and the baby swallowed some blood which results in the bowel area looking brighter during a scan. Only around 3% of babies with this finding will have cystic fibrosis.
I understand that this news has thrown you, despite most of the time being nothing at all I think it would scare anybody. I hope they get you in and get you some answers as quickly as possible.
I hope all goes great, big hugs to you xxxxxxx

 

[cnote]

I completely know the devastation and hopelessness that comes the discovery of one of these "soft markers". We had an abnormal NT scan at 12 weeks and we were given 1/5 odds of down syndrome and 1/10 odds of something else catastrophic being wrong. We went through 2 months of testing before getting the all-clear from the geneticist. During that time, I spent hours upon hours on the internet searching for other people's stories similar to mine to see what their outcomes were. It became apparent that the vast majority of people in these situations go on to have normal, healthy babies and the soft marker is just a fluke thing that goes away. However, the not knowing which side you fall on is the really hard part. The geneticist should provide you with some hope that your baby is very likely fine, but that they may need to do some further testing to confirm this. Please try to have hope, because the statistics are very much on your side. And yeah, that was super unprofessional of your midwife to delay the results because her "fax machine was down"!!! What is this, 1980??? You should let her know that is super negligent and unprofessional.

 

[Rymel12]

My daughter didn't have the bowl issue your little boy has, but she did have enlarged kidneys which can be a soft marker. Those cleared up before she was born and no issues at birth. I had placenta
Previa diagnosed last time too which also healed itself before birth. So many issues fix themselves. You have time, So hopefully your little one will too. This time around, my little boy tested high risk for Trisonomy 18 and I was a mess for two weeks before the genetic testing came back, and it came back completely normal. I understand they need to do all these tests and detailed ultrasounds but sometimes they cause unseeded stress, especially among anxious people like yourself (and me). I wish you the best of luck and hope you get relief soon.

 

[2have4kids]

If you have the money for it the Harmony test can give you absolute results on most genetic abnormalities within 10 days. It's around $700-800 but SO worth the reassurance. They don't automatically offer this in Canada ...yet. But last year I participated in a free study where they offered it to women over 40 who were pregnant as I was terrified there may be something wrong with my baby. It came back 100% perfect and my anxiety went from 15/10 down to 0 in a flash. I really did enjoy the rest of the pregnancy after that. You may have to ask for it, call the conmpany and ask how/where you'd get the kit (they do have it at certain labs here in Canada) and the process of getting it back to them in the States. I wish you the best!

 

[robyn651]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It really means a lot to me.

I think I have now poured over every single available forum/blog/medical journal on the worldwide web that pertains to echogenic bowel and soft markers in general. I feel so well informed I could practically teach a seminar on the subject, lol! I will say that studying soft markers has been one of the rare occasions when google has been beneficial for my overall state of mind. As several of you have pointed out, there is an overwhelming majority of soft marker stories online that have happy endings. I am hoping and praying that my little guy will also have one of those happy endings.

I am still waiting on my quad screen results. They should be available in the next couple of days. 2have4kids... I totally plan on having the Harmony test if there is anything borderline on my quad screen. My midwife has explained that if my quad screen results are abnormal, the Harmony test is then funded by the government... so I am feeling like I might as well wait a couple of days in case I can save myself the $800.

After a total emotional meltdown on the day following the news, I have to say I feel surprisingly at peace with the situation. Initially, I could feel myself going into a horrible self-preservation mode and disconnecting from this little boy inside of me. But I was reminded of something someone had written on one of these threads in the early days of my pregnancy when I was pouring over miscarriage threads during a week long episode of spotting. She had written that nothing in life or pregnancy is promised, and how every single day with our child is a blessing and should be cherished. It's so true. Right now I have a precious little boy kicking away inside of me, and I am so thankful. Whatever the outcome is, today he is alive and safe and that is just so amazing.

I'll definitely update this thread as I get more information, just in case there is someone else out there present or future who finds themselves in a similar situation.

 

[Moom7900]

Good luck with your results! Xxxxx

 

[PinkPokaDots]

Good luck!

 

[robyn651]

Just wanted to post an update as promised

After a very long three weeks, I have finally received the results of all of the many tests that were performed as per my genetic councellor. My quad screen came back at 1-2100 for Down Syndrome, which is then reduced by 5 due to the finding of echogenic bowel, resulting in a 1-450 chance. While I was reassured by this news, we opted to pay for a Harmony Test for peace of mind, which thankfully came back negative (1 in 10,000 for all trisomies.) All of the infectious disease blood work (CMV, toxoplasmosis, rubella, parvo19) came back negative and finally our Cystic Fibrosis results came in today, which revealed that I in fact do carry a common strain of CF (1 in 25 Caucasians do) but my husband is not a carrier. Both parents must be carriers in order for the baby to have CF, so it is highly unlikely (less than 0.01 chance) our little guy has CF. This means that we have largely ruled out all of the issues associated with echogenic bowel, and now just have to have a scan in a month or so to check in and make sure that all is well with his growth.

Right now he is kicking up a storm and yesterday my husband could see all the movement from the outside, which was very cool I am feeling so thankful and relieved, and unlike the title of this thread, I am now feeling extremely hopeful that all will be well with our little boy!

Hope this helps anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation

 

[2have4kids]

Fantastic news, very happy for you!

 

[HappyAnjeL]

Awesome news!! We had to wait for Cystic fibrosis test on my husband bc they missed that I was a carrier with my daughter and it was torture. I can't imagine how scary all that was!

 

[robyn651]

Just wanted to post a final happy update for anyone in the future who might be searching for echogenic bowel stories... Just had an ultrasound at 26 weeks and this little boy is growing wonderfully (echogenic bowel can be associated with growth issues) and there is absolutely no trace of echogenic bowel! So thrilled and thankful! The ultrasound tech also told me that they see echogenic bowel all the time and when it is the only soft marker detected it is almost always nothing and resolves itself on its own. My story appears to be another example of how isolated echogenic bowel is most often not indicative of a serious problem. Thought I'd share my ultrasound pics!

 

[03babysquish]

Although I have not had any of these issues, I just wanted to say how amazing it is that you remembered to come and do an update. When I was pregnant with my last baby, he had a few cysts on his umbilical cord. Sometimes that could indicate that the baby has down syndrome. I worried for a week or so, did a lot of google research, and then had the same epiphany that you did! It is refreshing to see someone actually update their story though, so many do not! Congratulations on the awesome news!