Pregnant after 35
bright spot in the heart?
I had my ultrasound done last Friday at 20 weeks. Great news is, we're having another little girl. The bad news is a genetic counselor called me this morning and told me that she has a tiny bright spot on her left ventricle, which is calcium deposit. She tried to make it sound good by saying about 20% of healthy babies have this and are totally fine, but there's a slight chance that the baby may have Downs. What does this all mean??? I'm so scared. We declined any genetic testing to begin with because when we did it with our 1st DD, it showed some abnormalities and I was freaked out the entire pregnancy. Now its happening all over again. I have yet to discuss this with DH because he's at work. But the genetic counselor said we can do an amnio or the MaterniT21 test (which won't be covered by our insurance). Please educate me on this issue. I'm freaked out.
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Re: bright spot in the heart?
Exactly how "slight" is the "slight chance" of DS?!? Did she give you actual numbers? Talk about scaring you with vague statements! We all have a "slight" chance of having a baby with DS-- even at 38, my chances started at less than 1% and were closer to less than 0.5% so is that more or less than what your genetic counselor is talking about?
After doing a little research, it appears that the link to DS is very minor. Something like 1 in 200 DS babies have this marker. It's considered a "soft marker" for this reason, but legally, if it exists, the doc has to tell you about it. Many babies outgrow the EIFs (the calcium deposits) before the baby is even born-- and if they don't, they do some cardiac testing, but most who are born with it will outgrow it by age 5.
I would probably wait to panic at this point. I had the MaterniT21 test done-- my lab (and I know others around the country) offer a $235 fee if your insurance doesn't cover it. I was happy to pay that and forgo an amniocentesis, since my risk of DS was less than the risk of miscarriage from an amnio and it's way less invasive.
<br /> My Ovulation Chart</a>
I know, right??? She said the baby looked great otherwise, so I don't think I have any other "markers." And after doing some research online, it turns out that this is becoming more and more common and the babies come out perfectly healthy. I think I'm feeling a little bit better about it. But I still have that fear because you never know. I just spoke with DH about it a little bit and he doesn't think we should do the amnio or the Maternit21 test. Because of the risk with doing the amnio and because how can you really prepare for a child with DS? We'll love this baby no matter what. He seems to think that they just like to scare the parents into doing these tests to get $$$. I just wish I could have a worry-free pregnancy for once.
I did the MaterniT21 test. If i had tested positive for DS, I would have wanted to prepare for it-- DS kids can have some health issues with their heart and such, so I would want to have my docs aware and ready for that, as well as maybe have some extra monitoring to make sure we caught any possible issues sooner rather than later.
My OB says that she predicts the blood tests on fetal DNA (like MaterniT21 and similar tests) are the future and they will become the norm very soon. They will replace the need for more invasive procedures like A/S and CVS testing at least at the preliminary stages (if you test positive on the MaterniT21, then you would get/need an A/S to confirm).
But honestly, your risk is so low, I would only get the MaterniT21 if you were really concerned enough to spend the $235. I wasn't going to do it, but I'm glad I did-- just that little bit of extra piece of mind...
<br /> My Ovulation Chart</a>
Talk to your genetic counseler, ours told us, for MaterniT21, the pharm company who makes the kit, reallizes not all insurance pay for it, therefore, if your insurance doesn't cover it, there is approx $250 max.
The Dr saw the same thing in my u/s the day we went for amnio, I was getting an amnio and the results came back ok, I am going tomorrow for a 4 weeks follow up as the Dr said, sometimes this resolve itself.
I could have written this post myself a few months ago. We also opted for no genetic testing/screening for pretty much the same reasons you chose not to. I would have been too anxious awaiting test results and if the results weren't favorable I would have been stressed and upset and didn't think that would good for the baby. After having a discussion with my OB, she said quite a bit can be picked up at the 20 week anatomy scan, so we decided just to rely on that. They also found a bright spot on the baby's heart and we were told that this was a soft marker for DS. The doctor didn't seem too concerned at all since that was the only marker found. We discussed having the Materniti21 test, but opted not to for the reasons I gave above. Those first couple of weeks after finding out were definitely stressful and I did a ton of research on the topic. After that, I was able to get through the rest of the pregnancy without dwelling on it too much. I had another sonogram at almost 36 weeks and the bright spot was gone. I had my baby boy on Dec 10 and he is healthy. I really hope this helps. Testing isn't for everyone and I don't regret how we handled it. I am sure everything will work out for you. With just one marker the odds are so low.