20 week foetal cardiac scan

[Newb123]

Hi there,

This is my first time posting though I have read many threads and found them comforting.

I’m 18 weeks tomorrow and at 20 weeks we have a foetal cardiac scan booked. Our 12 week scan didn’t go as planned... the measurement at the back of baby’s neck was 3.5 and 3.4 is the cut off for ‘normal’. That, together with my bloods, gave us a 1:24 risk of downs and 1:65 for the other two. Had a CVS at 13 weeks and both sets of results came back clear. Now we have to wait for the enhanced 20 week scan with a cardiac specialist to see if the increased measurement is a variance of normal or if it was an indicator of something wrong with the baby’s heart.

Has anyone else been through this? I’m not sure what to expect or even what the odds are that all will be ok, so feeling increasingly nervous!

Any experience, good or bad, would be helpful to hear.

Thanks x

Hi there. We had an increased NT of 4mm at our 12 week scan (13weeks actually). We weren’t offered CVS or amnio. Just regular bloods for checking everything out. They came back LOW risk at 1/350 ..in our areas it’s 1/150 for high risk. During the waiting time I got too anxious and booked the harmony screening where everything came back clear 1/10,000 for all. We then had 2 consultant scans to check the overall growth of baby and the heart. This was done at 16 and 20 weeks. All of which came back clear and no issues detected. We were also told that the NT had resolved. We were then advised to put everything and the stress to the back of our minds. We were obviously told that heart issues could still be a case but that most issues not detected on scans prebirth would likely self resolve or need minimal input. We are 29 weeks tomorrow and on green pathway with zero concerns.
That’s good that everything has came back clear so far. Hopefully following your scan you will be able to feel more at ease.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks so much @Happy2be that’s reassuring. I’m pleased you got good news at your scan and it’s all looking ok. I guess I’m just extra nervous as the initial scare and trauma of waiting for the CVS results has kind of stayed with me and I don’t feel I can relax. I haven’t even bought baby anything yet so feel a little guilty that I should be being more positive and excited.

I completely get you. I almost didn't want to tell anyone out of fear that something would come up. I was definitely holding myself back. It's good that they were so pro active. Had I not paid privately for the harmony I would have then be offered the amnio test. We had to get the test done twice due to COVID and the delay in my sample arriving to the lab during the Xmas postal madness. So definitely understand your anxiety. I've read so many stories with similar NT's and it's easy to get lost in everyone else's experiences. Do you have long to wait now until your scan? Sorry can't remember if you posted when x

@Newb123 I had to have a couple of fetal cardiac scans (at St George's) for other reasons, I just wanted to say that fetal cardiologists are great at what they do and really do take their time to get all the measurements (sometimes talking less than millimetres in size). They ran late on both occasions as they had needed extra time with earlier patients, so make sure you take a drink and something to read just in case. Hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

Thanks both. Scan not until 8th April so a couple of weeks. It’s the nervous waiting that I don’t like! It’s my first pregnancy and it’s not at all what I had expected. My friends all seemed to breeze through without issues so I was shocked to need a CVS and this extra heart scan. Then there’s COVID as well, not making things easy. This is the first appointment my husband will be able to attend with me (assuming we both have negative COVID tests). It just feels like it has been one big drama and I’m much more of an easy, quiet life kind of person!

@Kayjay2018 thanks for the advice. The consultant who did my CVS will be doing the heart scan in 2 weeks so at least I know I’m in good hands. I just hope they don’t find anything and all is normal, then I’ll finally be able to relax, I hope!!

I haven't been in your position but wanted to offer some reassurance.

Our DD was born with an undiagnosed congenital heart disease, it was utterly utterly terrifying when you hear heart surgery and newborn in the same sentence but honestly it was absolutely OK. The children's heart centres are amazing and the heart parents are like a community and really look after each other.
Obviously I hope you have no need to know any of this information but if the scan does pick anything up, sometimes the reality is much much less scary than the expectation. Hope all goes well for you

Thanks @tigerbread20 that’s really comforting. Pleased your little one is ok x