I'm writing this in parts because I will only publish this once I find out more about what's going on in a month or so. I don't want a lot of people knowing, worrying or even worse, bugging me about updates about it when I myself don't have any new information. I'm worried enough as it is, so I think it'll be easier if I post this later. Besides, I don't want to freak anyone out (ahem... my mom) now and have it turn out fine in the end. It might save her an anxiety attack or two.
3/2/12
My doctor called just a little bit ago to share the findings of the 20 week ultrasound from last week. When the tech was measuring things in the brain, she was paying closer attention to one area and wasn't talking about it like she was with everything else. It honestly set off some red flags for me, but I didn't say anything. Well, she apparently found a soft marker. A soft marker is something abnormal picked up by ultrasound while measuring organs, bones & formations of limbs. My doctor said that the ultrasound had picked up a choroid plexus cyst (CPC). So in my mind, I immediately said $&#^.
But my doctor went on to say that in most cases where cysts show up in the 20wk ultrasound, they go away on their own within a month or so, and are apparently more common than one would think. And that since everything else about my baby was perfect, she isn't too concerned about it. Apparently the time to be concerned is if there is a presence of a cyst along with other markers showing up in the heart or other places. Then we'd have to worry about Trisomy 13 or 18 (worst case scenarios as they are almost always fatal conditions) or downs syndrome (still bad, but not the absolute worst thing ever). But again, usually those conditions present multiple soft markers... like 5 or more. And my baby is only showing 1. So I'm worriedly optimistic.
Also, the cyst itself does not damage the brain. It's merely a sign that there may be other things going on. So that's good.
Just to be on the safe side, she wants me in for another ultrasound in a month. And if it still shows up then, then we'll decide what to do.
But we already know what we'll do if it still shows up: nothing. I don't want an amnio since the risk of miscarriage is pretty high with it. We'll already know at the time of birth that something might be off, and in any case, the baby might pop out absolutely perfect. And if something is wrong, then we'll worry about that once the baby's here. It's not like we can change anything by knowing anyway.
I love doctors when they give sorta bad news though. They're all "I don't want you to worry about this." Um, how am I supposed to NOT worry about it? You just told me that something might be wrong with my baby. But anyway, I do find it a little reassuring that she's not too concerned about it. I mean, if she was, she would want to see me sooner and get some testing done. So I'll try to not stress out about it for the next month. Yeah, good luck with that.
Anyway, since the call, I've been scouring the internet, looking for information and advice from people who've gone through the same thing. And I'm very reassured by the fact that the vast majority of babies who've been diagnosed with a CPC at the 20 week scan have the CPC resolved by the 28th week and are born perfect. According to some of these women's doctors, a CPC is the softest of the soft markers and if no other markers show up, it's hardly even worth mentioning because they almost always go away and cause needless worry in the meantime. But since it's recorded on the ultrasound report, the doctor has to tell the patient.
Reassuring though all this is, it has now cast a cloud of worry over the rest of my pregnancy, which sucks. Even if the follow-up scan shows that the CPC has resolved, I'll still worry that it reformed or that something else will happen. I think the only way this particular worry will go away is when I finally get to hold my baby and see for myself that it is fine. Other worries will take its place, I'm 100% sure, but I won't be sad to see this one go.
3/22/12
Today I had my 24 week appointment, and after talking with my doctor, I decided not to get another ultrasound. She completely understands and agrees with my decision. To be completely honest, I'm not concerned about it anymore. After reading all the personal stories about it on the internet, and going along with that my baby has no other markers, it makes me confident that everything will turn out fine. And my doctor told me that they (the particular clinic I go to) only started including it on scan reports within the past 6 months or so, so she figures that they got sued and are now including it to cover their asses. She doesn't like making families worry over something like this, but she said that if it's in the report, she has to tell the patient. I did request that with our next baby, if it happens again, that she not share it. She agreed, but I don't know if she can legally do that even if I request it? I don't know.
Either way, I'm hesitant to post this because up until now, only DH & I knew about this. And if I don't post it, it will stay that way. But I will because it's something that women should know about and be prepared for when their ultrasounds come back with a report that they found a CPC. I know I wasn't prepared for it. Heck, I'd never even heard about it, and it's a common occurrence. So here's my PSA. :)
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