soft/medium marker on 19 week scan which then disappered, feeling very stressed!

Hi,
On our 19 week scan we had an issue (mild ventriculomegaly) which then resolved a week later - found out while I was being prepped for an amnio, which we then decided not to do, with the support of the 2 doctors we saw then. Two weeks later the head of the fmu saw us and even before scanning started to talk about risks which was a bit of a turn around form the previous appointment. My partner feels like it might be a bit of a legal issue - they have to keep warning us of the potential for problems as we had one scan that showed one thing. I'm going through RWH in Melbourne and we saw so many specialists (6 now!) who scared us to bits with horror stories of all that could go wrong. We also got slightly conflicting advice as to what the resolution of the issue meant (2 doctors said the baby should be normal now, 2 said he is still in danger of chromosomal issues/brain damage etc). The genetics counsellor was fantastic and completely acknowledged that we don't fall neatly into any category and so we have ended up with a 1:200 chance of trisomy error, the same risk they say of miscarriage from an amnio.
I feel completely exhausted and stressed by the whole thing and also feel a bit distanced from the baby. I've decided to go through with an amnio at 27 weeks as I don't think I can go through the whole of the pregnancy feeling this worried, it doesn't feel healthy. At least at 27 weeks he will have a chance of survival if the worst happens.
Has anyone been through a similar thing? I think I just need a bit of support.
Thanks,
Andrea

Hi there Andrea,
What a stressful time for you!
I have no idea about amnios etc as I never had one (nor did I have NT scans).

Was the mild ventriculomegaly the only issue? At my 20 weeks scan with my firstborn his brain ventricles were found to be on the larger side of normal. The only thing that was suggested at the time was to monitor via ultrasound and have my son have a scan on his head after birth. The Ob I was assigned at the hospital wanted to do a few extra scans and I had a tertiary scan at 28 weeks where they found his ventricles were large, but nothing outside the normal range.
I just KNEW he was fine, even though hubby was a little worried. When he was born he was perfect. He had a scan on his head at around 6 weeks and all looked normal (still had the larger ventricles, but again nothing outside normal). I was told then that it is totally normal, and can be found in at least 2 out of every 10 children born.

I'm not sure why they are trying to scare you with other possibilities, if they only said mild ventriculomegaly and didn't mention anything else?
I have other threads about my pregnancy with DS around here somewhere and I'll see if I can find them for you.

Here's one.
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ventricle.html
Post #5 is quite good.

I hope that helps!
I'll see what other threads I can find.

Here is another wonderful thread for you

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ulomegaly.html

Hi Niadalla,
Thanks for your response! Do you remember how big your babies ventricles were?
We were diagnosed with mild isolated ventriculomegaly, everything else looks completely normal. However the ventricles were over 10mm which is the cutoff for normal. One side just over - I think 10.3, the other was 11.something.
I think part of the weirdness around us is that it changed so quickly - one week above 10mm, the next 7/8mm. I think they don't know quite what to make of that - a few of the specialists seemed to think it was within limits for boys, but others thought it indicated that there was a problem (stroke, incorrect formation of brain structures or chromosomal issues).
I've read so many things now, seems to be that most people are fine, but they usually don't resolve in one week like ours - either stay the same (as in your case?) , grow bigger or resolve over a greater length of time.

I'm terrified it might be chromosomal. It is a marker for downs apparently, although again when it goes down in a week I don't know...... I don't have a clear feeling that everything is OK and that really worries me. They wanted us to have fortnightly scans, but I've refused as the last 2 were normal and if I keep going on like this I think my head will explode.

added - Niadalla thanks for the links, I had read those a few weeks ago and it is great to hear good news! Only difference is that we have been told to keep worrying by some of the specialists and that is making it all very stressful. Maybe with your baby it was under 10mm? Or just more positive doctors....

Cannot remember exact measurements Sorry.
I do remember reading somewhere that it is thought between 18 and 22 weeks the ventricle measurements can be large and then they can go down again to a normal size.
Could you contact someone at the RCH to see what they thought?
My tertiary scan was at RWH and they brought a pead over to consult me just in case the measurements were bigger than the 20 weeks scan.


I tell you what... everything is a soft marker for downs these days :S
My daughter who I had last year, had a 2 vesselled umbilical cord, which was a "soft marker for downs".
She showed no other markers, so they just kept an eye on her via u/s for the remainder of my pregnancy and she also was perfectly fine.

If they didn't mention any other markers, then you should be pretty positive. Usually they will search closely for other things associated (like a lack of a nasal bone).

If you feel everything is ok, then I'm sure it is. I knew both times my kids were 100% healthy. I just knew it.

All the best and I hope that someone can give you something helpful information wise.

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I do remember reading somewhere that it is thought between 18 and 22 weeks the ventricle measurements can be large and then they can go down again to a normal size.
..
......

If you feel everything is ok, then I'm sure it is. I knew both times my kids were 100% healthy. I just knew it.
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Thanks for that - I hadn't heard that 18 - 22 week thing, that is interesting.

I wish I did feel that everything is OK, unfortunately I don't. I don't feel anything is really wrong either, but I certainly don't have mother's intuition about the whole thing. I wish I did. :(

I don't have any advice on this, but just wanted to send you light. I hope you can get some more solid answers soon. :hug:

Hun, sorry I can't help you with your questions but just wanted to send you a huge hug and to tell you that I hope all is well with your bub in the end. I'm sorry this is so stressful for you, but your know those docs, they have to warn you/give you worst case scenarios. In most cases everything ends up being fine. GL with it all hun, and I hope you can get some definite answers soon xxx

beata70 and sasha, thanks for your support!

Sasha - Interesting that you commented as we have Sascha/Sacha as our chosen name (although it is for a boy). Maybe that is a good sign :)