CeliaM
Pregnant mom of 2
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- Jul 22, 2008
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I'm so glad this weekend is over. Last week I had a scan, mainly to check my cervical length and see how things are going. A couple days later, Wednesday, I was booked in to see my specialist to discuss the results.
We had a quick conversation, cervical length looks decent at 3.2cm. Next scan booked for 24 weeks to check again. So, I pack up my family, and by 4 in the afternoon, we're well on our way out of town to spend the thanksgiving weekend at the west coast, and to buy a minivan as we'll be needing something to fit 3. I was all excited until.....
my specialist phoned me on my cell phone and said that as she was signing off on my file, she noticed that she missed something that we needed to talk about. The scan showed a problem with the baby's heart - a fuzzy spot in one of the chambers. She said she would get the wheels in motion to have me seen at the high risk clinic in Vancouver (where we were going for the weekend) to have a triple screen done, another ultrasound, and genetic counselling.
The way she was talking, she made it sound like my son was now doomed to have a serious problem, most likely downs syndrome. Needless to say, I was an absolute sobbing wreck for the entire 5 hour drive, got to my mom's house and broke the news to her that she was going to have another grandchild with a chromosomal problem (my brothers wife is pregnant with baby with trisomy 18 - fatal, and my other brother's daughter has an extremely rare genetic disorder - chronodysplasia puntata hunermanns something or other, causing her growth deformities). All that long sleepless night I fretted, wondering how I would manage with 3 young children, one with medical problems. Wondering if my husband would blame me for the certain upcoming strain on our marraige caused by this as I wouldn't consider abortion. Even dreaming about waiting for heart transplants, and being at my sons funeral.
So the next morning (Thursday), I'm on the phone all morning getting appointments sorted out then went and had my blood tests done. Then my doctor called (not they specialist, but the doc I see regularily for my monthly prenatal checks). She had just reviewed my file, and asked if I had talked with the specialist. I burst into tears, and she explained that while that specialist is extremely good at what she does, she is known for completely freaking people out. My doc explained that this spot on the heart is only an indicator that would cause us to look deeper, as an increased risk factor, but that it also can possibly mean nothing at all. She says she's seen 2 patients this year with the same thing, and both delivered healthy babies. What a relief.
So we waited the weekend for our appointment at the high risk clinic this morning. Had the ultrasound (he's still a boy!), and they measured all of his parts to see if there was any other abonormalities that would suggest down's. Thankfully there were not. We met with the genetic counsellor and went over our family history. With out the results of the triple screen to take into account (we won't get those until the end of the week, but they will tell us alot more about the risk), basically what this all boils down to is that my odds of having a baby with down's syndrome have risen from 1/1140 to 1/570. The risk has doubled, but is still quite low.
What an emotional rollercoaster ride this weekend was. I'm going to be on edge somewhat still until the results of the triplescreen come back.
Thanks for hearing out my venting! I've not talked with anyone about this other than my OH and mother, as I wanted to know more before I did, but it's so good to be able to spew out the story!
We had a quick conversation, cervical length looks decent at 3.2cm. Next scan booked for 24 weeks to check again. So, I pack up my family, and by 4 in the afternoon, we're well on our way out of town to spend the thanksgiving weekend at the west coast, and to buy a minivan as we'll be needing something to fit 3. I was all excited until.....
my specialist phoned me on my cell phone and said that as she was signing off on my file, she noticed that she missed something that we needed to talk about. The scan showed a problem with the baby's heart - a fuzzy spot in one of the chambers. She said she would get the wheels in motion to have me seen at the high risk clinic in Vancouver (where we were going for the weekend) to have a triple screen done, another ultrasound, and genetic counselling.
The way she was talking, she made it sound like my son was now doomed to have a serious problem, most likely downs syndrome. Needless to say, I was an absolute sobbing wreck for the entire 5 hour drive, got to my mom's house and broke the news to her that she was going to have another grandchild with a chromosomal problem (my brothers wife is pregnant with baby with trisomy 18 - fatal, and my other brother's daughter has an extremely rare genetic disorder - chronodysplasia puntata hunermanns something or other, causing her growth deformities). All that long sleepless night I fretted, wondering how I would manage with 3 young children, one with medical problems. Wondering if my husband would blame me for the certain upcoming strain on our marraige caused by this as I wouldn't consider abortion. Even dreaming about waiting for heart transplants, and being at my sons funeral.
So the next morning (Thursday), I'm on the phone all morning getting appointments sorted out then went and had my blood tests done. Then my doctor called (not they specialist, but the doc I see regularily for my monthly prenatal checks). She had just reviewed my file, and asked if I had talked with the specialist. I burst into tears, and she explained that while that specialist is extremely good at what she does, she is known for completely freaking people out. My doc explained that this spot on the heart is only an indicator that would cause us to look deeper, as an increased risk factor, but that it also can possibly mean nothing at all. She says she's seen 2 patients this year with the same thing, and both delivered healthy babies. What a relief.
So we waited the weekend for our appointment at the high risk clinic this morning. Had the ultrasound (he's still a boy!), and they measured all of his parts to see if there was any other abonormalities that would suggest down's. Thankfully there were not. We met with the genetic counsellor and went over our family history. With out the results of the triple screen to take into account (we won't get those until the end of the week, but they will tell us alot more about the risk), basically what this all boils down to is that my odds of having a baby with down's syndrome have risen from 1/1140 to 1/570. The risk has doubled, but is still quite low.
What an emotional rollercoaster ride this weekend was. I'm going to be on edge somewhat still until the results of the triplescreen come back.
Thanks for hearing out my venting! I've not talked with anyone about this other than my OH and mother, as I wanted to know more before I did, but it's so good to be able to spew out the story!
I hope all works out well.
