First Trimester - Ultrasound Update

There was a two-week question mark on the due date this time around. More definite than the other two. With Bryce and Ethan, we had no idea when we were due. So I was proud to be this sure. But I still had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago to determine this due date, as I mentioned in my previous blog post.

The afternoon of that ultrasound my OB doctor called and said there was some concern. Gasp. This doesn't sound good. The doctor explained there was a cyst on the back of our baby's neck. That it could clear up on its own, but I needed to get it checked out. He referred me to Dr. Wheeler, the doctor for the Fort Wayne Perinatal Center located at Dupont Hospital. He wanted me to schedule an ultrasound for two weeks from then - today's appointment. Pregnancy emotions ranged quite a bit that first 24 hours. I was nervous. What could this mean? Doing a little research online to self-diagnose is never a good idea. But curiousity got the best of me. It could be anything. Seriously. Could be Down's Syndrome... could be nothing still.

Not wanting to unnecessarily worry anyone, we kept this potential scare fairly quiet - just sharing with a few folks to pray for us. For the baby. And for peace. I must say I definitely felt that. By the time this two-week wait was up, I was cool as a cucumber and excited to see the baby again via ultrasound. I felt like I would have nothing to worry about.

My nerves started to kick back in a little at the start of the ultrasound. The tech was able to really zoom in and get some accurate measurements of the baby's neck. Dr. Wheeler came in and the long-story-short version is good news. We should have a normal, healthy baby. Now for the longer version details.... He did, however, say there is some thickness that he can't quite call normal. So that didn't completely go away unfortunately. He was able to look at various other features of the baby (specifically around the nose) and determine that we do not have a baby with Down's Syndrome. Basically, he said we have maybe a 2% risk still of the baby having some kind of heart defect or chromosomal abnormality. If we just had to know for sure today, he could have done an amnio, but that would pose a 1% risk of miscarriage. Not worth it. So we leave our baby in God's hands - just like we have the past two weeks. That's the best place for him/her to be anyway.

I go back in two weeks to my normal OB doctor for a normal OB appointment and then four weeks after that, I go back to the Perinatal Center for another ultrasound and OB appointment with Dr. Wheeler. He assured us we shouldn't worry. And if this is truly nothing, this thickness should go away by then. I'll be around 18 weeks for that appointment - Feb. 21. So we shall see.

We are so thankful for God's goodness, grace and care He is placing on our baby during this time. We would have preferred to have the thickness completely gone. But 2%.... it could be worse. I can live with those odds.