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Like many of you, I also just found out about an echogenic foci in my little ones left ventricle. I have been pouring over all of these pages of other pregnant women going through the same thing, and honestly, this has given me such a great peace of mind! My doctor too was really lax about this, but it was as soon as she mentioned "down's" that I freaked. Her theory is that even if baby did have down's, it wouldn't change anything, so why worry about it. Easy for her to say when she doesn't have any kids!!!! One of the other doctors told me that she didn't want me to worry anymore about this because I am young (28) and my chances are 1/10000. I didn't have the triple marker screening done, mainly because my doctor forgot to order it...grrrr....but even so, the other doctors didn't seem to feel I was at any risk. The ultrasound technician noted the foci, but did not feel the need for any further testing and that this was a normal variant. I have to say, I have calmed down quite a bit now from where I was the first week and just have to understand that this is out of my control and I just need to understand that our risks are low. My daughter (now two and a half) was born with bilateral clubfoot, so I think that I was just really wanting this pregnancy to go by-the-book (if that ever happens!!!) and not have any worrys this time around. Thank you all for posting your wonderful stories, sharing your doubts, fears and tears. It really makes me feel better knowing that there are others out there feeling the same way as me and so many of you having such positive outcomes! I will definitely keep you all posted on out situation as well, although I'm sure things are going to be fine :)

hi trooperswife, I really hope I can put your mind at rest!! ok not sure of your age or anything but here is my story.. I'm 35 and 25 weeks preg with my 2nd, I had the AFP and the quad screen and my numbers came back really good...then BOOM! the doc tells me 3 weeks after my 20 week sono about this echo. He was so non chalant about it and I was a nervous wreck! I've done loads of research and went back to my doc and asked more questions, seemingly if its the only marker it's really not significant, It's very common and a lot of the spots clear up by themselves. Even after my numbers were adjusted I have the same chance of a down's baby as a 20 year old, this really put my mind at ease. I'm going back for another sono at 28 weeks. Please don't freak out, did you do the bloodwork?

Congratulations alamo24!!!!!!! I'm sooo happy for you!! Thanks for coming back and letting us know about your beautiful baby girl. It must be a BIG relief. I'm starting to count down the days myself. I pray I can come back and post the same as you except that I'm having a boy..lol..! God bless you and your family. All the best..:~)

Thank you adamsmom I really appreciate your words of encouragement. I know I shouldn't be so worried about this but I just can't help it. This will be my first child, I'm 25 years old. I did have a first trimester screening called an ultrascreen (ultrasound to look at nucal translucency and a fingerstick to check B-hcg and another hormone) it came back that I was low risk, not sure what my ratios were. Although the EIF was the only marker found on my level II ultrasound, I've been worried that my bloodwork may be off since both my husband and I are convinced we concieved almost two weeks earlier, however my OB insisted that we were wrong and set our EDD two weeks later. In addition, the EIF they found was on the right side, it seems that most are on the left, I wonder if this is a bad sign. I know if I keep this up I'm going to worry myself sick. I just need to put my trust in God that everything will turn out the way it was ment too no matter what the outcome. Adamsmom you are right though, the more research I do on EIF the more I realize they are quite common varients found in 5-10% of normal and healthy fetuses, I guess this does put my mind somewhat at ease. But being a new mom (I'm sure you can relate to this) you always worry, if it wasn't about this it would be something else. I'm sure I'll worry up until the second she's born and then I'll find something else to worry about...now I truely understand what my mother ment when she said "I'm a mother, I'm always worried about you.' I will continue to pray for all of our little ones, they are such miracles. Congratulations on your new baby girl alamo24!

trooperswife, I totally understand how you feel...but you are only 25 and your ultrascreen was great, believe me the ultrascreen test is important, if your blood came back good and behind the babies neck looked good I truly believe everything is ok. It's even worse for me because I just turned 35!!! They treat you like an old lady! and I told my doc from day 1 that I would only consider an amnio if any of my bloodwork came back with cause for concern. Even after they adjusted my numbers after the EIF my odds of miscarriage with an amnio is still higher then any defects with the baby. I went crazy on the internet when I came home from the docs that day, I read EVERY post on EVERY message board I could find and all I read was happy endings, after all those months of worry! Enjoy your pregnancy, it must be hard for you with your hubby away but you can email me privately, it's always great to get things off your chest :) And I know what you mean about worry, if it's not one thing it's another right? me and my hubby were worried sick because we think we conceived one night when we were both really drunk! and I drank for 2 weeks after that before I even knew I was preggo! I think the same happened with my son who is now 3 and totally healthy. Just think of the days before ultrasounds and tests and amnios.....women went through pregnancies blissfully unaware and produced perfect babies. Don't you think that sometimes we have too much information? When is your due date? Write soon and relax, everything is going to be okay. :)

Hi everyone-- I just wanted to let you all know that I had my 28 week ultrasound today and everything looked great. Doctor said his growth and development were right on track. He is already weighing almost 3 pounds. The EIF wasn't as visible as it was before and my perinatologist wasn't concerned at all about it. He was mostly just checking all his measurements. He said he would do another ultrasound in 6 more weeks if I wanted for peace of mind. But with this ultrasound and doing the amnio, I have peace of mind that he is going to be fine. The ultrasound tech also told me that they see these EIF's in approx 40% of their patients. She said the statistics online that say 5-10% are very old and from the early 90's. Hope this gives some of you some rea__surance that everything is going to be fine with our babies. I am keeping all of you in my prayers. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Gretchen

I just wanted to know.....does everyone else have those up days and down days, or is it just me being extremely hormonal??? I know that with myself, I seem to be extremely positive one day, that nothing in the world could be wrong with this little peanut, then I have other days where I am the most negative person, believing that I am that one statistic....know what I mean? It just helps being able to post these kinds of things online with all of you! My husband doesn't even want to hear it basically....he is already convinced that everything is fine, so why worry about it, but isn't it our responsibility as mommy's to do all the worrying? lol! Anyways, hope all you other lovely pregger ladies are doing fantastic! I love hearing all of the positive stories out there...there aren't too many negative ones! Do any of you know the gender of your little ones yet and when are you due? We are due in March, so I'm 25 weeks now, but we aren't finding out (not my choice....grrrrrr) what the baby is. My doc said she would tell me at 30 weeks but unfortunately for me....I have a big mouth! lol! I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret! Hope to hear from you all soon :) Take care! Diane

Ohhmuffin---I think we all have those days. I personally am much better since doing the amnio. I really dont think much about it now plus I have had numerous ultrasounds. But the 2 weeks prior to my ultrasound, I cried everyday and got really depressed to where I could hardly function so I had to do the amnio for my well being and my babys. I am just an anxious person anyways. My husband was convinced everything was fine too but we as mommys just worry more. I am do February 15th and we are having a boy. This will be my third. Try to relax even though I know it is hard. Our babies will be fine. Gretchen

Adamsmom, thank you for your kind words and rea__surance. You are so right, with all of the advances in technology, we are able to see things we never did before causing unwarranted stress and worry on mommies like us. After doing some research on these spots over the last few weeks I'm not even sure I'm that convinced there is a real connection between EIF and DS! Just from this blog alone there is an overwhelming number of women who have had wonderful outcomes, all of that has given me much hope for my little one. I still have my bad days, but I just have to stay postive and strong for her, besides theres no sense in worrying about something that may not be. I'm due April 2nd...Its a Girl! When is everyone else due? Keep the faith ladies, I'm convinced we will all have beautiful and healthy babies :) Lindsay

Hi all..Just thought I would check in and see how everyone was doing?!?!? I have been reading everyone's posts and on days like today, it always gives me a sense of calmness. I'm 34 weeks today and just came back from my Ob's office. I once again talked with her about my concerns of DS and all she said was "your worrying for nothing"! However with the birth close at hand and no real confirmation that everything will be ok, my anxiety is higher then ever!!! I havent had an ultrasound since my 22 week one and I'm wondering if I should ask for one before the birth. I dont know if they can tell anything more or not but I'm just terrified that I'm going to be handed a baby being told the news that he has DS. I keep feeling like I will be the one this happens to. I'm sure you all have shared in these feelings and I guess I'm just having a bad day...:~( Hope everyone is doing well and I pray that within the next month I can come back and be the one telling everyone NOT to worry because my baby was fine! oh ya'...If something was wrong, would everyone like to know or do you think it would upset people????? Just a thought and would like your input. Talk soon...

Hello all - I wanted to begin by saying that I have read through all 28 pages of this thread and it has been a HUGE source of comfort. I am 31 years old and my husband is 34. I am currently 21 weeks pregnant and last week we got news that our little baby girl has the dreaded white spot. This was already a level 2 ultrasound at a top NYC imaging facility. The tech took photos of the heart last and left to show them to the perinatologist. My heart sank. We were then brought in for the "talk". Since I had all prenatal testing done (NT scan, and AFP) the peri told us that we were in the lowest of all categories for DS. Out risk ratio was 1 in greater than 10,000. That was the lab cut off so we do not get a concrete number. The peri was quick to say that if a colleague of hers was reviewing photos on that Tuesday than I would not have even known about the EIF. She also said that there is no need to worry and adjuested our ratio to 1 in greater than 5,000. Peri said that to her one in greater than 10,000 and 1 in greater than 5,000 were one and the same. We walked out in OK spiritis although any adjustment to your risk (especially by half) is enough to bring anyone to tears. My DH is confident there is nothing wrong because he is the rational one. But like all of you., I fear I could be the one. The news sent me into a week long tizzy of finding out everything I could about EIFs and their link to DS. The overwhelming majority is positive especially in isolated cases like ours. Ther peri said we need no other ultrasounds, no other testing. I then spoke to my OB, who agreed and reiterated how common this finding was. That if I were his daughter, he would NOT recommend the amnio as the risk is too great. Also he said that if it were not Dr. L writing my u/s report but Dr. c, then I would have went home a happy camper being none the wiser. In his 30 years of being an OB in NYC he has not once in his practice had a child born with DS with this being the only "soft" marker. And although he was trying to be rea__suring her followed that up with the fact that it can still happen. Sorry this is so long, but I thought it would be good to get it all out there. i enjoy reading stories with detail to see how similar they are to mine. I trust that we will all have positive outcomes. i still have oh, about 4 more months ahead of me to worry and stress.

hi everyone, i'm 29 and just had a level 2 because of a fibroid and they found 1 spot on the left ventricle. I'm so freaked out and was crying all day. My doc said not to worry but how can I not. I didn't have any of the bw done because i didn't want to worry about risks. Now it looks like I'll worry till the end because i am not getting the amnio. Hoping to hear more positive stories here.

just found out yesterday about the echogenic focus and I feel like I am riding an emotional roller coaster. One minute I"m fine and the next min I am thinking that everything will turn out badly. How is one supposed to stay positive until the baby is born if not getting an amnio. Depressed, steffie92s

Steffie, I know it basically SUCKS. We got the news only about a week and a half ago and to be honest it has been HARD. BUT, here is the thing. I decided not to ruin the rest of my pregnancy. I have done sooooo much research spoken to many many drs. and all agree that as an isolated finiding it means next to nothing. Regardless, no one can guarentee you a healthy baby without invasive diagnostic testing (CVS or amnio). So you need to have faith. I am slowly getting out from under the depression and trust that my baby is healthy. My first instinct after they told us about the EIF was that my baby was fine and then doubt crept in and I started questioning whether I was just scared or whether it was intuition. And the more I thought about it the more I knew it was not intuition. So what I guess I am trying to say is that it will be a long 4 months but I trust that my previous testing is right and that my doctors are correct and that she is perfect in every way!

wa___lil1 - you are right and i just have to believe that my baby is fine. I am sure it will take a few days to come out from under this depression. They did say that all my other measurements looked great and this was isolated. Did you get any other bloodwork, NT scan that they compared results to? I have not because I didn't want the anxiety from those tests. Are they going to recheck the spot? I've heard that sometimes they go away. When are you due? I'm due April 26. I hope to see you on this board the next few months because I"m sure we will both have our good and bad days.

Hi Steffie, We are only a week apart!!! I am due April 20th, so yes we will get through this together!! I did have both the NT scan and bloodwairk in week 12 and then the AFP in week 16. After the tech did my u/s in week 20, the peri that looked over my u/s pics said all my other testing came back with the lowest risk possible, 1 in greater than 10,000. So with the EIF they gave me 1 in greater than 5,000. I posted details like 3 posts ago, so feel free to read that. But I am glad that we did the testing.