Ultrasound today...question on "soft markers"

So today we had our Level II ultrasound...YEAH!!! We are having a boy and a girl...WHOO HOO!! Everything seemed awesome...good size, good heartbeats, and everything checked out good for the most part. However, in our follow up with the Dr. she mentioned each baby had one "soft marker" for genetic abnormalities. She said this slightly increases our chance that each baby could have Down Syndrome, however, there is no way to know for sure unless we did an amnio.

Anyway...I'm looking to see if anyone else out there has had this, what you did as a follow up, did you have healthy babies or babies with issues??? Would love any and all advice and definitely some prayers that all this worry is for nothing and that our little babes are healthy

 

Sandy, Congrats on a boy and a girl, that is great! :clapping: My cousin had a baby in March 2006 and at some of her u/s there were several soft markers for Downs Syndrome, one was on the heart and I forget where the other 2 were. Her OB told her to prepare herself for the chance of DS. He was born in March 2006, perfect, no Downs Syndrome or anything. So even though there are markers, it doesn't always mean something. My cousin did not have an amnio, she elected not to.

 

Congrats on a girl and a boy! We had the level 2 U/S because of other test results showing possible Down's. No markers for us, but we did the amnio to be sure. Not sure what all that means, but good luck, and hugs.

 

Congrats on the b/g twins. They are extra special twins if you ask me

During my Level II ultrasound they found Choroid Plexus Cysts in my son's brain which can be a soft marker for Down's. Scared the holy you-know-what out of us, but by the next ultrasound (8wks or so later) they were gone and he does not have Down's or any chromosomal abnormality.

:hug99: I know how you are feeling right now. Focus on the FUN you are going to have with one of each!! The baby JACKPOT!!!! Congrats again!!

 

(quote)"During my Level II ultrasound they found Choroid Plexus Cysts in my son's brain which can be a soft marker for Down's. Scared the holy you-know-what out of us, but by the next ultrasound (8wks or so later) they were gone and he does not have Down's or any chromosomal abnormality."(quote)

The same thing happened to us....scared us half to death, but like the pp, they were gone a few weeks later.

 

Thanks for your stories ladies...it certainly helps set our minds at ease a little bit knowing it is not that uncommon for markers to show up and then still have healthy babies. It sure is very stressful though!!

 

Went through the same thing here...both babies had choroid plexus cysts at US at week 18...gone by wk 21. Hi risk ob said there is no other indication of any issues so we are very hopeful that everythign is just fine! He told me the cysts USED to be a marker for chromosome disorders but that is no longer the case, they are just seeing them more because of more frequent US and better technology
still scared the bleep outta us tho!

 

We also had CPCs on baby B's brain at 20 weeks. gone by 22 weeks.

The peri actually strongly advised against an amnio, because even with the soft marker, my babies other screenings showed very, very low risk for downs or other chromosomal abnormalities. She said my chances of miscarriage from amnio would still be higher than my chances of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities.

 

Whew, this brings back memories. The things we endure in twin pregnancies!

Both my babies showed multiple markers for Down's. Factoring in my age (38), my risk was uncomfortably high and I decided on the amnio just to know for sure. Both babies were perfectly healthy. Personally I was glad I did the amnio because I would have worried the rest of the pregnancy.

Good luck and think positive :hug99: ....of the dozens of women who shared their experiences about this matter, only one told me she learned her son had Down's after the U/S indicated it. The rest were false positives.

 

Gotta love Dr's! Our Baby B has markers for Down's too...We did the nuchal test u/s at around 11 weeks and it came back he had a 1 in 49 chance of having downs...The short of it is...2% chance Downs, 98% chance healthy. This was based on b/w and u/s only and the measuring of the thickness of his neck(I don't see how b/w done on me-for TWO babies would be a big basis for the test...but who am I??). Then at our 20 wk growth scan...B's femur was 4 weeks behind A. Another marker. But 4 weeks later-the femur grew appropriately but it was still small. But the fact that it grew the amt in that span was a good sign...We opted for no amnio because it took us 4 years to get here, we weren't going to risk anything, and it wouldn't change the outcome of the pregnancy.

I'm now 35 weeks and waiting to meet them! Good luck! BTW-my SIL was told my nephew would have Trisomy 13 because of the spots on the brain and he wouldn't live past 3 months...Turns out the spots just hadn't gone away yet and he wasn't at the age they thought he was in gestation...He's a healthy 4.5 year old...

 

It is amazing to read so many cases where these "markers" turn up and everyone comes out healthy!! What a lot of undue stress to the Mommy's and Daddy's. It is very comforting to read these stories though and has helped put mine and DH's minds at ease somewhat. We've done a lot of reading on the internet too and many Drs. out there feel that one marker isn't a good indicator. We are deciding to stay positive, think healthy thoughts for babies, and skip doing an amnio.

 

What was the marker they saw, anyhow?

Our Baby B has a "bright spot" on his heart (can't recall the term for it right now -- echogenic focus, maybe?) but we were also told that was the ONLY soft marker and that it's totally common in genetically normal babies to have it. Because there were no other markers, they weren't concerned about it at all.

 

Sommer...our Baby B has the same marker as your baby B...the "spot" on the heart. Our baby A has the enlarged kidneys. I have read that both of these markers can commonly show up in genetically healthy babies too. I just wish our Dr. didn't tell us because you still can't help worrying, KWIM??

 

Sand y~ On the heart, the doctor told me not to even give it a second thought because our baby has no other markers whatsoever with it. He said that it used to be a bigger deal, but since the ultrasound technology has gotten better, they see it more and more on normal babies and it's only considered a problem if it is found in conjunction with other markers. If your baby has only the echogenic focus and nothing else, I wouldn't stress about it. HTH.

 

Thanks Sommer!! I read the same thing about the echogenic focus, but I wish my Dr. would have put it in those terms to me. However, hearing how your Dr. put it to you definitely puts my mind at ease more. I guess it will just be a long 19 more weeks waiting to see, and hold, some healthy babies

 

QUOTE(~ Sandy ~ @ Sep 30 2007, 12:34 PM) [snapback]429521[/snapback]
I guess it will just be a long 19 more weeks waiting to see, and hold, some healthy babies
Ihear ya! Hang in there.