We've received some worrying news about our baby and wanted to let everyone know what's going on.
First, we don't know anything for sure. There is a very good chance our little boy is just fine and will be perfectly healthy. However, we think you should know what we've learned just in case.
At our ultrasound last week, the technician saw two worrying things - bleeding in the placenta and some spots on the brain called Choroid Plexus Cysts. After a very long week of waiting, we had another ultrasound today with a maternal fetal specialist. They determined the bleeding in the placenta is normal leakage from the veins and is not something to worry about anymore, which is really wonderful because otherwise it would have meant I could have had a miscarriage at any time.
The second thing - the Choroid Plexus Cysts (or CPCs) - is still a problem. We have attached a very helpful article that explains exactly what it is and what it could mean, but here is a brief summary:
CPCs are not harmful in any way to the baby. They are spots of fluid on the brain and by themselves do not harm the baby at all. The reason they are bad is they indicate a higher risk for something called Trisomy 18, or Edward's Syndrome. Please do not look it up if you do not REALLY need to know exactly what it is, because it is very, very scary and we don't want to make anyone unnecessarily worried. In short, if our baby has this it would be severely retarded and of those who make it to birth, 50% of babies with it do not live longer than a week. Most of the rest don't live past a year. On the brighter side, MANY MANY babies have CPCs who do NOT have Trisomy 18. Usually babies with Trisomy 18 have other problems that can be seen on an ultrasound, none of which our doctor has seen yet. MOST babies who have CPCs and no other indicators (like our baby as of right now) are born healthy and normal.
CPCs without any other indicators means our baby has about a 1 in 500 chance of having Trisomy 18. I am having a blood test that will tell us if our baby's risk is higher than that, both for Trisomy 18 and for Down's Syndrome. We will get the results of that test in a week. We also have another ultrasound in two weeks where they will check everything again to look for other indicators.Obviously we are worried about the worst-case scenario but we are doing okay. We appreciate everyone's well wishes and prayers and will keep you informed as we find out more. If you have questions please feel free to call us (541.441.4249 Mario and 541.441.4140 Angie) or write. Again as we said there is only a very very small chance that our boy has Edward's Syndrome, so please don't worry too much - we just thought it would be good for you to know.
Love,
Angie and Mario
the article we found with more information:
http://www.babyzone.com/
