Bad news at scan- no stomach bubble

[magneticfield55]

Hey

Had our anomaly scan yesterday. It all went well (and our girl is in fact a boy) until the stomach. She'd asked me earlier to go wait for a bit because the stomach was empty. I came back and it still was. She called the consultant. It's a sign of a birth defect called oesophagal atresia. It doesn't connect to the stomach. She gave us a lot of info and options, had to ask I was listening because I was crying. We have to come back Thurs for another scan. If stomach hasn't filled then I need an amnio. EA often occurs with trisomies and other chromosomal defects. If not that then it can occur with VACTERL syndrome which can be debilitating. Even if in isolation it's surgery after birth then lifelong issues.

Feel overwhelmed and broken. What is an amnio like? I'll be 23 weeks, will they rush results in case we have decisions to make?

When we went for our 20 week scan the stomach was not visible. One week later there it was. Fingers crossed for you and your baby.

We also had an amnio for an increased nuchal fold, it was ok, mildly uncomfortable and obviously the wait was very scary but the procedure itself wasn't too bad.

I think I would be more hopeful if it wasn't over a period of 3 hours. It wasn't that they couldn't see it, it just wasn't happening.

So sorry you're going through this. I have nothing useful to add but just wanted to wish you the best of luck for your scan tomorrow and a happy outcome

I had an amnio at 22 weeks and although it was uncomfortable it wasn't really painful. I was a bit tender afterwards and had a couple of days off work as I was worried in case I overdid it.

I don't think they are able to rush through the results unfortunately. I was at a similar stage to you and had it done on a Thursday. We got the results on the Monday (as everything closed at the weekend they said) and had the full results a couple of weeks later. I hope everything works out for you x

Thank you. I wish it could be rushed. If we have to make any decisions the earlier the better. I feel like we are trapped in a nightmare.

Hi, just nipping in to say my husband has VACTERL association, and having a baby born with this condition was high up on the scare list for us.

Obviously there are degrees of severity, and it's hard to come to terms with the possibility your baby isn't perfect, but my husband leads a normal life and is well adjusted.

Jen

The best advice I can think of is to get as much info on possible complications as possible so you can make an informed decision. There might be support groups online who can tell you what the best/worst can be?

Hope all goes well.

It's not about them not being perfect. We'll know more after tomorrow. At the moment we're scaring ourselves to death.

Oh, I apologise if I didn't explain myself well, or offended you - that was the opposite of my intention

I wish you good luck tomorrow at your scan - I really hope all is well.

Jen.

Hope your scan today went ok.

Relief! The stomach looked normal today! They think EA or chromosomal issues are unlikely and everything seemed fine! We're cautiously optimistic now! Thank you for your support, and I'm sorry if I was a bit spiky, we've been in hell these past few days.

Such good news, very happy for you!

Thank you! We didn't do amnio either. Consultant thought there was no need. Everything else seemed completely normal. We can still do it when we go back in 4 weeks but unless there's a cause for concern I doubt we will. Hooray for no giant needles!

What amazing news

Hello

Great to see all went well, I just wanted to add I don't know much about it but my friend went through the same thing at her 20 week scan, she had more scans and tests and gave birth to a perfectly healthy daughter in August.

I think sometimes its just a case of baby not taking in enough liquid so the stomach doesn't show up on the scan- which sounds like what happened in your case so I'm really glad it was all good news. My friend had to wait quite a while and even saw a specialist in London before they got the all clear and she was a crying mess (her own words!) the whole time so glad you got a positive outcome quite quickly.

Good luck for the rest of your pregnancy

Excellent news!

Great!

Hi so pleased all seems ok Magneticfield. We also have this problem with our baby boy - no stomach/swallow was found at 20 weeks despite checking a few times over an hour. We came back again one week later and it still can't be found. Strange thing is it seemed ok at 12 weeks. Nothing has been mentioned about any abnormality or amino, but I can't help but feel worried. I have been asked to come back in three weeks as a routine appointment as we are expecting twins. Girl twin thankfully seems fine. Magneticfield did they find a stomach at 12 weeks for your baby? I'm wondering about having a private scan that might be able to see something more clearly. Three weeks is a long time to worry. Anybody any experience of this? Thank you

Glad it went well.

Hi sweetshop, I think so but nothing was mentioned about it at 12 week scan. I'm having another scan tomorrow so will let you know if anything has changed. It doesn't sound like you were given a lot of information, could you ask them why they're re scanning? I know for stomach bubble but explicitly what they think? If you can afford a private scan go for it, 3 weeks is a long time. I hope everything is okay for you x

Hi hope it all went well today for you. I'm going to try and push for a scan sooner than three weeks. I spoke to a few private places and they don't think they will be able to see anything clearer and said it's just a matter of timing so hopefully third time lucky. Hope all goes well for you.

Hi sweetshop, it went fine for us today, with a visible stomach. I think it's good to push for an earlier scan- 3 weeks is just too long to wait. I was a complete wreck in 3 days, and they should have explained things more clearly to you. It's highly likely everything is fine- EA is a very rare birth defect, 1/4000-5000- but I know that doesn't help much at the moment. Keep us updated.

Great all going well for you. Seeing my regular twin consultant tomorrow so will push for another scan - fingers crossed.

Hi I went for a private scan today at the Fetal Medical Centre in London - my consultant recommended this as he said it wouldn't be possible to have a further scan on the nhs before my 24 week scan. It was reassuring to be scanned by a highly qualified consultant and the scan was very thorough. Unfortunately she still couldn't see the stomach so she advised having the Harmony test done to rule out any chromosomal abnormalities. This is non invasive so no risk to the other twin. So I now have to wait 2 weeks for results. She felt the rest of the scan was very promising though, so I'm hopeful if it is EA an operation will solve things. Still hoping it's just a blip, but as my 3rd scan and no stomach she thought indicative of EA. Just thought i'd update if useful for anyone.

Aw Sweetshop, I'm really sorry. I'm glad the rest of the scan was good- it's really positive not to see anything else. EA is serious but an operation can sort it. It just means the first few weeks will be different than what you might have expected. Crossing my fingers for the Harmony results but it sounds positive. When I was going out of my mind I found this site really helpful: www.tofs.org.uk/home.aspx

Also your consultant is an arsehole. They found an issue and it's their job to investigate it. It's a medically necessary scan. I'm sorry you had to pay but I hope now you can feel you can begin to move out of limbo and find out what's going on.