enlarged kidneys 20 week scan

[fermerswife]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post on the pregnancy board but I'm looking for some advice/reassurance.

I had my 20 week scan yesterday at 19+6. Unfortunately due to a combination of things the sonographer didn't get all the images she needed so I have to return in 2 weeks. I know this is common and I had something similar with my son but as I was leaving she also added that she wanted to check the kidneys again as they both had fluid sitting on them. When I asked how serious that was she said she probably shouldn't have said anything as she'd get in trouble as the measurements were 4mm and 6mm which are below the upper threshold for normal of 7mm. She wanted to scan me again in 4 weeks but I said I'd like to be seen sooner so she agreed to 2 weeks.

Of course when I came home I looked at what she'd written in my notes and then googled to find that while this is relatively common and normally resolves itself it is seen as a soft marker for down syndrome. Without seeing the other parts of the baby clearly I obviously don't know if she will find another marker in a fortnights time.

The worry of the link to Down Syndrome is stressing me out of my mind. I have a history of losing pregnancies and other recent health scares and I feel that this news it just tipping me over the edge a bit. I'm also in Northern Ireland were we don't have any NT screening at all so I don't have any comfort of reassuring stats there.

I'm worried, I'm also angry at the sonographer for worrying me about something which a) is within the NHS limits, although US seems to regard over 4mm as an issue and b) I feel she didn't need to worry me about at all until she knew if there was an issue afterall she had to bring me back in a fortnight anyway.

So I guess I'm just wondering has anyone any experience of this or have any advice/support. I feel a bit alone as I don't want to worry family by saying there's a potential concern at this point.

thanks

[sallysparrow157]

It's not that uncommon to see this on the 20 week scan and for it to completely resolve by birth - basically if the bit of the kidneys where they join to the ureter is bigger than usual on the scan but nothing else is abnormal, all that will happen is the baby will have an ultrasound after birth, usually everything is back to normal by then, if not the baby will need antibiotics and follow up scans as they grow. The vast majority of cases like this that I have seen and referred for scans have been otherwise completely healthy babies.