Ultrasound No.2

Why is it so nerve racking to go to the hospital? I knew the next ultrasound wouldn't change our probability rating for downs but I just hoped for less unnerving news. Ha, silly me. So there we were in our second ultrasound appointment. Our ultrasound tech got busy measuring everything and pointing out the bits and parts that make up our baby. Little clicks there, typing in here. Putting together "a this to that" scale of normal ranges. Come on little baby, measure up, I thought. Not too big, not too small!

Finally, it seemed we were done. The doctor came in and began to give us the quick debrief. "Everything seems to be developing just fine, of course, remembering that 50% of all Downs baby appear normal on an ultrasound. There is a slight concern regarding the kidneys. They are slightly larger that we'd like at this point. The preferred range is less than 4mm and the baby is at 4.1 and 4.2 mm. This used to be a marker for Downs, but recent research has shown that to be inconclusive. (Ughhhhhh!) Of course, this will likely change as the baby grows into/out of this and we will just monitor this condition. If need be we will have a pediatric nephrologist follow up after the birth." What the hell? Ok, so what does this mean? Later I looked all over the internet to find that this "condition" is a size vs age thing. If the baby is 20 weeks they like the kidneys to be under 4mm, but at 21 weeks it can be 4-5mm. So, it's a slim difference that we shouldn't be too concerned with. I also, read this is more common in boys. and wouldn't you know Andrew thought he saw boy parts while we were measuring upper legs! As for the Downs marker reference... WHY? It just sticks it to me again. No, I did not want an amniocentesis!

Another bit of news, much more disappointing to me, was that my placenta is partially covering my cervix. Oh great! That could mean a cesarean, end of discussion. Ok, well, we'll just have to see!

So there's 8 weeks to get my placenta to move, my fibroid to shrink and the baby to grow into it's little backed up kidneys!