grim 20-wk scan. i've been in 3 times and it's not over yet.

[bakedpotato]

long, long, long -- i'm sorry.

i'm having a truly bad day. went in for my anomaly scan this morning. was told by one scanner midway through hb seen etc that my bladder wasn't full enough for a good visual. so tanked up and returned.

another scanner was now on you could tell she was in a stinking mood instantly. she hacked away at my bump, telling the baby to move over, for heaven's sake. i thought she was joking, but her face was cross. then she said there might be a problem with the kidneys, they looked dilated. left me alone in the room while she went to find someone else. returned and said that person wasn't around, i'd have to come back in a fortnight to check that out and also to see the heart she couldn't see the chambers clearly.

i said, i'm not waiting a fortnight, not knowing whether there's a serious problem or not. she said she couldn't fit me in to her schedule before then. her tone was brisk, bored, as if she was ticking me off for being fussy. i said, 'please don't talk to me as if you're a teacher and i'm a child.' i'm afraid voices were raised... on both sides.

she sent me out into waiting area -- i was in floods of tears (fury, mostly, that she was able to talk to me like this). i felt sorry for other pg ladies out there, god knows what they thought. i could hear her though the door,shouting, 'well, what could i do?' then a senior scanning tech came and got me and calmed me down and said she'd scan me this afternoon, i could come back again and again for as long as it took the baby to move, and of course i shouldn't be expected to wait a fortnight for clarification.

i've been in once more -- it's still on its side, they can't see whatever it is they need to. going back in an hour.

i'm not panicking yet, i'm sure it's a matter of getting the right angle, but i do HATE the fact that i'm only getting seen this afternoon because i kicked up a stink. women get the MOST crap deal from medics in pg. it makes me so angry. scanner 2 talked to me as if i were a dimwit. she implied i was unreasonable to refuse to wait for a fortnight. (of course, understaffing was mentioned. considering my situation -- well, really, my heart bleeds.)

wish me well. as well as being furious, i am a bit scared.

Did they scan again BP?

thanks to everyone who has been thinking about us. yes scanned again, consultant said the renal thing was totally borderline, some times it measured under the threshold, sometimes over.

remembering Princesspea, asked about nasal bone, that looked fine but consultant didn't seem to place too much on it

it was 2 senior consultants. they were unhurried and as reassuring as they cld be

didn't ask them what are the chances of 2 soft markers showing up -- too scared. instead asked my community midwife who came round just now for prearranged appt not knowing any of this was going on.

she said she hadn't ever come across it in

she said she was relatively inexperienced, and in any case people with soft markers end up under consultant rather than midwife care, so she wouldn't really expect to, and i should't read too much into this... but you can imagine how that made me feel.

trying to get more info on this from hosp

My friends Amnio results came back really quickly - so GOOD LUCK!!!

BP - soft markers (whatever that means) are rife and really common, and DS had two when we were scanned (echogenic focii and talipes). When we saw the consultant she said that though soft markers are really common, most of the rarer syndromes and trisomies they might possibly indicate are 'rarer than hen's teeth'. Do what you need to do in order to get all the information they can give you - but I honestly think that with your odds from the quadruple test, this is more than likely a case where the testing provides brilliant research which helps us all in the long run, but scares the life out of YOU!
Sorry - I do rmember the immense stress and upset of all this, and my heart goes out to you.

blu i am in floods now after your posting

it maybe the only thing that gets me through the weekend

thinking of you bp x x x

Bakedpotato - I am thinking of you and so very sorry you have the weekend to get through. We were told dd had echogenic bowel - a soft marker for DS. I remember our consultant kneeling at my feet in the clinic to put it all in context for me. She was so very lovely and reassuring that it all faded to the back of my mind. I really hope you get support and advice of the quality you deserve - all the best

Sweetie, look at it this way:
echogenic focii are absolutely harmless - so no worries there.
I don't know what renal dilation is, but it doesn't sound as if it is anything that in itself is health-threatening or untreatable, and anyway, it's only borderline.
So that just leaves the minute chance that these very very common soft markers might indicate the very uncommon DS - which your quadruple test shows as low-risk.
You have passed the risk of mc as a result of amnio - if it's going to happen they can tell right there and then.
Yes, there may be a slight tendency for DS babies to display these soft markers, but they are both so very common in their own right, that many many babies who do not have DS must have the two together than there are DS babies.

I wept and wept with relief when they told me that DS was fine (they were looking for some more sinister trisomies than DS0 - and it put the fact that he would have talipes (club foot) completely into the background!

Take care, you have done all the right things, and done all that you could. The statistics are so very very tiney - but i know that doesn't count on the emotional index!
XXXXXX

blu, thankyou for this and sharing your experience. i know, i know, but i just spoke to the nice/helpful person in charge of test results. i asked her straight whether it was very rare to get 2 soft markers. she said it was. i asked whether some babies with soft markers are OK in the end and she said some were. I asked the proportion, she wouldn't tell me

i can't bear this seesawing from hope to despair, easier to stick to one

my mum is coming round

bp - just to say I'll have all fingers crossed for you over the weekend and I really hope you get some answers very soon. Like Blu says, let's hope this is a case where all this wonderful medical technology creates more information than we really want.

bp, just emailed you, x

Thinking of you bp. We all are.

oh marina, i've just welled up thinking of how lovely you were to me, when i was in a similar situation...

well bp I think the nasal bone is a very good sign so shall be very optimistic on your behalf if that helps! I'm sure it will all be OK, and am thinking of you. xx

Just wanted to say, still thinking of you+++++

we've been through the antenatal mill a bit haven't we bundle, I remember very many kindnesses from you too - and so many other Mners as well. This site is such a boon in difficult times. It came right for us in the end bakedpotato, wishing the same for you too. XXX

I'm another who experienced an amnio. Due to my age, I didn't have screening tests because I wanted to know for certain about DS etc. The wait wasn't an enjoyable time and I must admit, I felt like I was having to get over various obstacles before I could allow myself to really think about the pg/baby. But I'd make the same decision again, if I had to.