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Thank you KrisD---I will have to talk to the peri again. However, he is off this week for the holidays!!!Ugh. I will call and talk to his nurse, regardless.

I think you should!!! That stinks about him being off... I do think you should call and see if there is someone who will talk to you! Don't worry about making a 'stink' - just do what is going to put your mind at ease!! You have every right to want to talk to someone. I bet even that nurse will say that they see them all the time. And I think it is great that they saw nothing else worrisome on your level II - that is terrific news! And just think of all the women on this thread that had an EIF! And many of them in their 30s (like me!).

Sorry I wasn't able to respond sooner. Been so busy at wk. I was able to speak with dr's med a__st. She basically repeated what the dr said that the EIF was the only marker found and that I shouldn't be worried. I stated that I am bc it's linked to DS. She said that dr isn't worried & sees this freq & my risk is still low. She couldn't advise on amnios but did say that it is riskier with twins. In my heart and soul, I feel like my twins will be fine & healthy. I can't help but worry though. It's the fear. I've been praying for healthy twins. That's all I want. Thank you for letting me share.

I feel for all of you going through this right now. My totally healthy son who is now 22 months old, was found to have an echogenic focus at his 18 week ultrasound. Much like all of you, I worried myself sick over this. I did not have the amnio, to tell you the truth it was never even suggested, that's how confident the doctors were that this was nothing. I did have the level II ultrasound which was rea__suring. This marker is SO weakly linked with DS. It is also quite common. In fact with all the advances in ultrasound equipment I bet more and more EIFs will be seen. Please try not to worry and enjoy the rest of your pregnancies and before you know it you will have a healthy, beautiful bundle of joy to hold in your arms.

SO so so well said, palegreenstar!!

Hi ladies! These two weeks have been quite dificult for me. And after reading this forum and feeling so much hope and companionship from all of you I must say I dont know how alot of you have, and are doing it through out all your pregnancy. At about 15 weeks my AFP result came back borderline. My chances for DS were 1 in 225. When i found out that the cut of was 1 in 220 my heart sank. I got nervous and started to think Why were the numbers so terrible. I am only 30. The docs told me not to worry but then at 18 weeks they found a calcium deposit in my babies heart right before Christmas. We were asked if we would terminate if our baby had any abnormalities and our immidiate response was NO! However we still decided to go ahead and do the amnio since we wanted to be prepared and knoledgable. I decided to take aextra care of myself after the amnio and do it. I have spent the last weeks reading all the info i can online,,, some reasuring, some more nerve wracking. My holidays were not terrible ones but the thought was alwyay on the back of my head. Some days I was sure my baby was fine, others I was sure of an abnormality. I read many of your posts with AFP results much beter than mine,,, most much better than mine. And i would feel scared. I was always sure to not let mu nerves get the best out of me and enjoy life as much as i could...Even though I dint cry myself to sleep and still managed to eat healthy and enjoy movies, smile daily, play music to my baby boy, and have a good and loving time with my husband the thought of a baby with dificulties alwyas remained in the back of my head. Yesterday I got my results back from my amnio and in May I will be giving birth to a baby witout DS and perfcetly healthy.... Needless to say that after so much reading Down Syndrom babies seem like such joy. I want to tell you all thet doing the amnio was simple and easy and the best decision i could have done. I think I would have caused more harm to my baby and to myself if I would have spent the next five months worring every single day and not enjoying my pregnancy. I did the amnio and went to bed rest for three whole days. And im still making sure I take it easy. But the happy news I recieved yesterday were the best news of my life and I think you all desrve them. I must say however that I do feel as if I fell in this DS trap that it seems the healthcare system has for us inorder to go through more expensive testing. If you dont pay for an amnio you insurance will,,,Therefore the more worried pregnant ladies there are, the more amnios there will be. If I would have known I would have declined the blood test all together and just wait for the u/s,,,, Technology is too advanced for us to put up with test that have a 70% false positive rate,,, I mean seriusly??? It seems like a trap to me. I love you all and god knows i only wish the same blessed feeling I felt yesterday for every single one of you.

Minimi - that is such fantastic news! Thanks for sharing! I absolutely love it when women post the results of their amnios or births and the news is positive. I have about 3 weeks to go till I meet my baby girls, and truthfully, when I read stories like yours it just brings me such peace. I just know everything is going to be okay. Congratulations on your new baby! Enjoy every moment.

I apologize for not updating my post. Has been extremely hectic with family stressors the past few weeks. Palegreenstar-THANK YOU sincerely for that. It was rea__suring; we all hope to have healthy babies. Twinmama2b-Good luck with your upcoming delivery. My prayers will be with you. Let us know how you are doing. Minimi-It is scary to find out about EIF. Congrats on receiving the good news. My hope & prayer is that I will too.

Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum. Today I received a call from my dr regarding my 20wk US results and was advised that my EIF was found seen in both the left and right V. Like others my heart dropped to the ground. My mind is now preoccupied with this and I cannot stop thinking about it and worrying. Previous to this, my results from the initial US and IPS 2 blood work came back and was told that the risk of DS was very low.( 1:7,700 )and the nuchal fold count also low (below 3 mm) At that point I had a sense of relief. My concern is now with the 20wk US result along with my age, 38. Could the first US and IPS test (blood) work been a false negative?? Like others I have found this forum comforting. I am 21wks, I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow and will be referred to Genetic Counseling. I'm sure that the option of an Amnio will be presented which I'm not sure if I want to go through with an amnio. My question is does it matter if the EIF was found in botht he left and right side of the heart? In the meantime I will continue to pray that my baby will be healthy.

Hi De Hugh- I also was 38 when pregnant and had the EIF. I worried my whole pregnancy as my odds were around 1/80 (I think) to have baby with downs. My baby is almost 2 years old now, beautiful and smart. I have come to find I think the EIF is a great big indicator for NOT having a baby with downs. They sent me to genetic counseling as well and really pushed the amnio. I didn't have it because I knew I'd keep my baby either way. They pushed so hard it was quite hard to keep saying no. I am glad I didn't have it as I was a high risk pregnancy (age and bicornuate uterus) and it really could have jeopardized my pregnancy. If you go to the facebook forum I think you will feel even better. There is a lot being done to remove the EIF as any kind of indicator for downs as the more it is looked at the more it is generally known amoung the medical field to not have any bearing for downs. Enjoy this as much as you can and please, do not worry! Your odds are MUCH better than mine were and my girl is perfect. Try to get some sleep and enjoy!

Hello 1moremom, thank you for your reply. I have an appointment this moring with my dr. Can you or someone tell me how I can join the facebook forum? Thank you

Hi De Hugh. It's been a while and I can't remember exactly for the fb. If you scroll back through previous posts, you will see info for how to join. You have to be invited and I am not sure who the administrator is anymore (it was started 2+ years ago by a mom pregnant at the same time as me). Somewhere, in previous posts listed here, you will see an email address of whom to write to join. I know once you've been worried about the health of your baby it's hard to not worry all the time. Welcome to motherhood! That being said, of the 200 members (around 200) that have all worried, etc. NONE of us had a down syndrome baby. So... good luck with the doc today and please try to relax and enjoy.

Hi 1moremom, Thanks so much for you help. I was able to get myself on the facebook group. I saw my dr and he was able to get me an appointment with a GC for this Friday. I also spoke with a nurse who works for my OBY and also said that this is very common, they may get 2-3 cases a day. She also mentioned my risks vs the risk of a Amnio. She sd that my Dr cannot tell me not to have one done and ultimately it would be my choice but the risks involved in having an amio are higher than the current health risks of my baby having DS. (1:7,700) OH and my dr also mentioned that technology these days are so advanced sometimes too advanced for our liking. I will go to the GC appointment this Friday but I still don't think we will go ahead with an amnio. I pray that we see a Genetic counsel who doesn't try and push the amnio on us. Thanks again for your quick replies. This Forum along with the facebook discussions have been truly comforting. I will keep you posted.

I am 18 weeks pregnant with twin boys and today we found out that one boy has a spot on his heart and both kidneys are enlarged. With my age, puts me at a little higher risk for downs. The screening came back fine and all other measurements look great, but today they found these 2 things. They both scare me to death. Anytime something is not right in an ultrasound it just terrifies you. Does anyone have some info on this? My husband and I just don't what to think. Even if there isn't downs, we worry that his kidneys may be damaged.

Hello, we went to see a Genetic Counsellor today. My appointment went wel, she said that the EIF is commonly found and in most cases it goes away by the 3rd trimester. The counsellor was not pushing the amnio at all, she did offer it ...to us however also stressed the risks involved an amnio. We opted not to have an amnio, we had decided against it going into our appointment. This forum has been beyond comforting thank you to everyone.

Hey there everyone! I posted way back in June I think. My daughter was diagnosed with a white spot on her heart and the dr. explained that it has been linked to downs. I opted not to do the amnio as we would love her no matter what. I also had a gut feeling she would be ok. I knew that there is a possibility that this could be my last baby as we think we are only going to have two children and I wanted to enjoy it no matter what. I determined not to worry about the spot on her heart since it was very loosely linked to downs even though that proved to be hard at times. I happy to say that my daughter was born last Friday, January 7th healthy and downs free. I know hearing the news of a "white spot" is hard but hang in there, know you're not alone and cry whenever you need to cry.