Three weeks ago I attended my 12-week scan and discovered that my baby had an enlarged bladder (10.3mm), I was also told by the sonographer that his kidneys looked "prominent" which was cause for concern. With no Dr available to speak to me, I was sent away with no further information, just a piece of paper diagnosing Fetal Megacystis, and a promise of a further phonecall.
My partner and I sprung into action, and immediately booked a scan at a private clinic with a consultant, hoping at the very least someone would be able to tell us what this meant. We had, of course, immediately jumped on google and found a myriad of results, from those saying that 90% recovered spontaneously, to other, far scarier statistics.
We saw the private consultation the next, who performed a SAFE test to check for trisomies and another scan. The scan showed that the bladder was still enlarged, however, there were no prominent kidneys as we had been told, they even explained to us that it was too early to even see the kidneys really at this stage.
Feeling a little reassured, we now had a wait of up to 9 days for the SAFE test results (megacystis can in some cases suggest a higher chance of chromosomal issues, but as I am 30 years old I was told not worry too much about this if possible) and a week for another scan at the NHS hospital.
My SAFE tests came back normal and at our next scan (now 13 weeks), we were relieved to see that the bladder had reduced to 3mm. We watched in absolute shock as he appeared on screen, but this time without the scary black circle in his middle.
I am now waiting for another scan, which will be at 15 weeks, just to check that things are still looking as they should, and then we will go back to the normal timeline of scans and appointments. We are not considered a 'high-risk' pregnancy, though of course, our anxiety levels are through the roof as we wait for our next scan.
I know that this is not the case for many, and spontaneous resolution is not the conclusion for every case, but I wanted to share my story here for anyone that needs it. When I received this diagnosis and turned to the internet, I found very little on this subject (other than intense and confusing medical journals) and much of what I could find was left without conclusion. I hope that our account can give a little hope to any parents-to-be in the same position.
I will update after our scan on Thursday and throughout the rest of our journey - fingers crossed!