The genetic counselor and the doctor both said that David and I should feel "very good" about what we saw in the Level 2 ultrasound at our appointment today, in terms of healthy baby measurements and no obvious signs of physical abnormalities from the ultrasound pictures. Woooooooo, those were such nice words to hear from them after spending all afternoon at the hospital.
But, this time, although it was a treat to see SO many different angles, measurements and movements of the baby, my stomach was starting to feel sore from all the rubbing that both ladies (yes, they took turns to take pictures of something that the other wasn't able to get) did with the device on my belly. I think we were in there for close to 45 minutes. David and I were watching the screen on the other side of the room where we could see what the ladies were trying to see and take pictures and measurements of on the baby. They would describe to us what they saw, the feet, the hands, the kidneys, the femur bone, the brain, the nose, etc. Occasionally, they would mumble some things in medical language that we couldn't quite understand, so I didn't know if it was normal, good stuff, or if they were trying to discuss an abnormality that they both noticed on the screen. I didn't ask any questions, and I don't know if they were even allowed to tell us anything before we talked to the genetic counselor!
Eventually, we finished with the ultrasound machine, after the ladies took what seemed like 75 ultrasound images of every particular part of the baby. We were brought into a tiny room with 3 chairs where the genetic counselor would come to meet with us to discuss our genetic history, what my blood test results from last Friday mean and what the sonographers came across with the ultrasound images.
She gave us three options: (1) stop from any further testing and leave with what we know from the Level 2 ultrasound images, (2) do the NIPT blood test to get a more definitive answer about a chromosomal defect or not existing, or (3) do the amniocentesis procedure (needle in the amniotic fluid with the baby) to get a more definitive answer about a defect.
For now, we feel good about what we learned from studying all the ultrasound images and talking to the genetic counselor and doctor. We still anxiously await the blood results until then! And, after all that time studying every millimeter of the baby in the ultrasound room, they could tell us that with 100% certainty that we have a GIRL!
We feel a lot better tonight than how much of a nervous wreck we both felt this past weekend after Friday's phone call from my OBGYN, even if we both tried to hide it as we anxiously waited for today's appointment.
First, we drove to the wrong hospital. Luckily, we left early with plenty of time to make it to the appointment. Then, I was starting to feel light-headed all of a sudden when we walked from one patient waiting room to another, and I had that strange feeling that I was going to faint, as I have done in the past. I rested and tried to get the blood to rush back to my head as we waited for the nurse to call my name. I felt a little better but needed David to hold onto me as we walked to the ultrasound room. I don't know if I felt nervous about the whole thing or just had been walking around all morning (I had 4 classes in a row and was up and about for 4 hours without a snack), but I was ready to lie down on the bed in the ultrasound room and just watch the screen.
Well, I got what I wished for... There wasn't one, but there were TWO sonographers working on two different computer screens to look very carefully at the ultrasound images as they measured any and every limb, bone and organ that they could find on the baby! I couldn't believe they were measuring each kidney already, on a fetus just 16 weeks old!
Normally, I get excited when my OBGYN rubs the jelly on my stomach and uses the device to rub around and send the ultrasound waves to show a new image of a bigger baby on the screen every time I go to see her. It would be a brief 5-minute look at the baby with the ultrasound machine. As I was high risk, I was lucky to get extra ultrasound appointments than others.
But, this time, although it was a treat to see SO many different angles, measurements and movements of the baby, my stomach was starting to feel sore from all the rubbing that both ladies (yes, they took turns to take pictures of something that the other wasn't able to get) did with the device on my belly. I think we were in there for close to 45 minutes. David and I were watching the screen on the other side of the room where we could see what the ladies were trying to see and take pictures and measurements of on the baby. They would describe to us what they saw, the feet, the hands, the kidneys, the femur bone, the brain, the nose, etc. Occasionally, they would mumble some things in medical language that we couldn't quite understand, so I didn't know if it was normal, good stuff, or if they were trying to discuss an abnormality that they both noticed on the screen. I didn't ask any questions, and I don't know if they were even allowed to tell us anything before we talked to the genetic counselor!Eventually, we finished with the ultrasound machine, after the ladies took what seemed like 75 ultrasound images of every particular part of the baby. We were brought into a tiny room with 3 chairs where the genetic counselor would come to meet with us to discuss our genetic history, what my blood test results from last Friday mean and what the sonographers came across with the ultrasound images.
To make a long story short... The measurements of the baby from the Level 2 ultrasound images looked very normal. The only abnormality was that the sonographers found two small cysts (pockets of fluid) in the brain, but the genetic counselor said this was actually fairly common in fetuses, and eventually they will go away as the brain forms more fully in the third trimester. I'm still not sure why this popped up as an alarming factor if the counselor said it's common, but it made us feel better that she was not concerned about it!
She gave us three options: (1) stop from any further testing and leave with what we know from the Level 2 ultrasound images, (2) do the NIPT blood test to get a more definitive answer about a chromosomal defect or not existing, or (3) do the amniocentesis procedure (needle in the amniotic fluid with the baby) to get a more definitive answer about a defect.
We wanted more info at this point, so we were ready to go ahead with the amniocentesis, BUT we did not even know we had a third option with the NIPT blood test. The genetic counselor said that it is a fairly new test for chromosomal defects that she said would not have been an option two years ago. Ultimately, we chose for me to draw blood using this test instead of using the long needle and numbing my belly with the amniocentesis procedure because the NIPT test has NO risk of miscarriage, and the amniocentesis has a 1 in 200 risk of miscarriage, which is still low or 0.5%, but we just felt better about doing the option with no risk. Also, the NIPT test gives us an answer with 99% certainty about whether there is a chromosomal defect, just short of the 100% certainty answer from the amniocentesis. 99% is good enough for us for the NIPT test to either give us reassurance that there are no defects, or for us to spend a good chunk of my deductible on this test and have no risk to the baby before having to do an amniocentesis follow-up procedure after the NIPT test to figure out the defect is, if we get positive results for an abnormality from the NIPT.
I could go into what the NIPT is, but this blog post is too long as it is, so I'll let you Google it if you want. But, that's what I did today. We'll get the results from this more definitive blood test in less than two weeks.
For now, we feel good about what we learned from studying all the ultrasound images and talking to the genetic counselor and doctor. We still anxiously await the blood results until then! And, after all that time studying every millimeter of the baby in the ultrasound room, they could tell us that with 100% certainty that we have a GIRL!
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They helped, and we're thankful for the love and support! xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment