Community› The Bump Message Boards› Natural Birth
Natural Birth
New Discussion

"soft" marker

JoyfullnoiseJoyfullnoise
in Natural Birth

I had my a/s ultrasound at about 22 weeks and that was the first testing we elected to do on baby. An intercardiac echogenic foci was identified. The ultrasound went very poorly simply due to the placement of the baby - baby's face and feet were unable to be seen (I posted about this earlier and it was determined that a second ultrasound would not necessarily yield more information so we aren't planning one). It was brought up that we may want to consider a MaterniT21 test. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or with this "marker"?

I generally prefer to be the least invasive possible. I'm having a lot of doubts. My husband and Dr. Google (bad, I know) think that the odds are that it is nbd but I'd love to get some outside perspectives, please.

Thanks! 

Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
Report Reply to Post

Re: "soft" marker

  • GraceInCAGraceInCA member
    If it's just Down's (or the other 2 trisomies) you're concerned about with the soft marker, then Materni21 (or Harmony, Verifi, or any of those free cell DNA tests) are the least invasive way to get answers. What you had is a screening - basically just looks at odds. The blood test is more diagnostic because it will give you a more definitive answer. If it were me, I'd have the blood test. It's just a simple blood draw, and will give you good answers. But keep in mind that I had a CVS, which is pretty much one of the most invasive tests you can have when you're pregnant. The peace of mind of spending my pregnancy with virtually all the answers was worth it to me. 

    image

    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • footnotegirlfootnotegirl member

    Our LO had this exact soft marker when she had her first ultrasound at 26 weeks (which is also the ultrasound that confirmed I was pregnant, ninja baby dodged three pregnancy tests). Due to my age at the time (I had just turned 40) this freaked us out like whoa. 

    Even though it would not change how things went (since we were at 26 weeks already) we went ahead and scheduled an amnio just so that we could be prepared for whatever it might be. Had the amnio at 36 weeks, and it was negative for chromosomal abnormalities. 

    Please be aware that echogenic foci is a VERY soft marker. It's way down there on the list. The correlation is barely significant. I know it's hard (nigh on impossible), but take deep breaths and look at the numbers with a rational mind.  

    BTW, because of how it looks on the ultrasound, I prefer the term 'star in the heart' when talking about it with people.  

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • wheelsonthebuswheelsonthebus member
    Both of my children had this marker at the 20 week ultrasound. They did another ultrasound with DS later on and the spot was gone. With DD, I refused any follow up testing. Both of my children were born without issue. With DD, the midwife told me that because I am pretty thin, they are able to get a better look at things. She said this might explain why they saw it in both babies. She said they often see these markers on thin mothers. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it.

    Baby Birthday Ticker TickerBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker


    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"