Fetal Development

[Linnet]

I'm hoping someone out there can answer this question for me, maybe Mears or another midwife or indeed anyone who might know.

At my first scan yesterday they detected fluid behind the babies neck. A consultant was called to have a look and he mentioned to the Dr who had originally been doing the scan that the umbilical cord seemed to be sticking out more than it should have been. What he said to us afterwards was that the guts? or some of them at least seemed to still be outside of the body rather than inside it.

Now I know that I have read somewhere on the net about how the intestines etc form outside the body and then go inside it. But I can't find it again now that I want to read it again.

What I would like to know is at how many weeks pregnant do the intestines etc go back into the body? Can anyone tell me.
With all the shock of what happened yesterday I didn't think to ask any more on the subject of that as we were to busy taking in everything else that the Dr was telling us.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my question.

Thanks Dinosaur

Linnet - when a baby develops, the intestines return to the abdomen around about the 6-7th week when it is still an embryo. Sometimes the abdominal wall does not develop properly and the intestines are seen on the outside. When that happens, babies need an operation after delivery to put the intestines back into the abdomen and then repair the gap.
Have you got another appointment soon? I presume they will do a detailed scan for you which sometimes can involve going to another hospital with more accurate scanners.
So sorry that you have this worry at the moment.

Thanks for replying Mears.

The consultant who was called to have a look started talking about downs syndrome and Turners syndrome because of the fluid measurement and said that the fact that the guts still seemed to be outside of the body seemed to him to indicate that it may be something to do with a chromosome disorder.

I'm going for a CVS on Thursday to a hospital 20 miles away as my local hospital doesn't do the CVS test. I should get the results by the following Monday and we will take it from there. It did cross my mind at the time that babies have been born with their intestines outside of the body and they get an operation to fix this but I was to shocked at the time to question it.

I did ask him if the guts/intestines would go back into the body of the baby but he said that it was to late for that now. But since I couldn't find the information on the internet again, that I know I have read I thought I would ask.

Thanks for your help and I'll let you all know the outcome.

Linnet I hope everything is okay for you all. My dd has sn, not diagnosed before birth though, and if you do want to talk you cam e-mail me I am opinionated about these things thinking of you, fio x

sorry I meant I dont judge, I forgot to put not in my sentance in my last post and I feel really bad now if you do want to talk just get in touch, I do preview then