Spina Bifida

[lovelyg4m3r]

Forgive me if this is not the right place to post it but I couldn't find anywhere else!

I took the AFP test on May 27th 2014 and received a phone call June 2nd 2014 saying I needed to come in ASAP to discuss results. Turns out, instead of having the 1:2500 risk of spina bifida like the rest of the "normal population", my test came back as a 1:38. I went in for an ultrasound on June 10th (19w3d) for an ultrasound and they said his head shape looked perfectly normal as well as his spine and they were not worried about it. I was not offered an amniocentesis, but if I had been I would not have taken it. I went in for another ultrasound on June 24th (21w3d) because during the first one he was hiding too much for them to get a good reading on his heart outflow. At that ultrasound they said he looked good as well.


My doctor back in the states told me she would like another ultrasound around 30 weeks just to be sure. However, I have just moved across the world to Sweden to be with my fiance and have not seen the new doctor yet. Though I go tomorrow. Does anyone know if there is a chance that maybe a mild form of Spina Bifida could show up after the 19 and 21 week ultrasounds? I would really like to be able to prepare mentally before his birth but I am not sure if the doctor here will give me an ultrasound, and if they do what it will cost me. Thank you!

Here are the pictures of his 19 week ultrasound btw!
https://i62.tinypic.com/6s89ja.jpg
https://i58.tinypic.com/2445jir.jpg

 

[Tulip]

My first baby had no skull (effectively spina bifida at the very top of the neural tube) which was easily diagnosed at 12 weeks. So in subsequent pregnancies I've has scans at 16 weeks to look for spina bifida and been given the all clear. Anything majorly structural would have been evident at your 19 and 21 week scans.

Yes, spina bifida occulta ('hidden') may present at birth but it usually has little or no impact on your life - my opthalmic surgeon has occulta, you would never know!

 

[Feronia]

You would know from the multiple ultrasounds if it were something major. My brother has a very, very mild form of spina bifida (where there is only a small section of his spine that isn't covering the spinal cord), and they were even able to diagnose that on an ultrasound in 1990. It doesn't affect his life in anyway, and you wouldn't even know he has it.

 

[Mrsmitch80]

My daughter has spina bifida occulta and mild sacral agenesis. Her condition was not picked up on any of the many ultrasound scans I had before she was born nor are there any tests such as an amino that can pick up the condition.

Her condition has meant that so far she has had 7 surgeries and has a number of medical interventions daily. This is quite a rare condition but if you want to be prepared it's worth thinking about, unfortunately not every condition can be picked up on tests.

I hope it all turns out well for you xx

 

[krissie328]

I had a 1:20 chance based on my afp. They did several ultrasounds and never saw anything. He was born perfectly healthy.