I Have Some Concerns

"I have some concerns", the doctor said during the 19 weeks ultrasound.  At that point in my life probably the worst 4 words I'd ever heard in a sentence.  He told us he could not identify a structure in the brain called the corpus callosum.  The corpus callosum we learned is the structure that, most notably, allows the right & left hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other but also does many, many other things.  Also present on the ultrasound was an echogenic bowel, meaning our child's bowel appeared very bright on the ultrasound, similar to a bone structure.  What did it all mean??  Well it could be nothing at all, it could be related to an infection, both were soft markers for a chromosomal disorder but at this point in time we really didn't know.  On top of it all our baby was in a position where they couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl.  We left feeling like we got body slammed, with an appointment scheduled for a week later to try and clear some things up...so much for that celebratory lunch.

At the 20 week ultrasound things with our child were much unchanged.  The baby was still head down, making it hard for the doctor to accurately look at the head and because of this, he was still unable to find the corpus callosum.  The echogenic bowel was still present and we were told at that point, would be for the rest of the pregnancy since babies do not have bowel movements in utero.  We were informed there was a blood test available that could help determine if our child had a chromosomal issue which we decided to do.  And this time, the doctor was able to identify the sex though...GIRL!!!  Well of course it was, how dumb was I to think I'd have a boy first?!?

As we entered December the view from the world outside was great.  From Kristen's standpoint the pregnancy was going perfectly, she was gaining the appropriate amount of weight, her fatigue was behind her and everything was as it should be.  Our minds were set at ease with the results of a the blood tests which essentially ruled out any chromosomal disorders.  We were feeling better about the health of our little girl, chalking our worries up to overly sensitive and conservative doctors.  Other than Kristen not being able to have some red wine during the holidays we really had no complaints as we approached the 27 week ultrasound.

As bad as the 19 week ultrasound was, the 27 week ultrasound felt 1000 times worse.  The ultrasound found that the corpus collasum was still not present but now in addition our daughter's cerebellum was measuring small, her heart the doctor thought was enlarged and the ultrasound showed calcifications in her brain which indicate bleeding or the presence of an infection.  The doctor said among many things that we should expect our daughter to have neurological issues and that we had a bumpy road before us.  Before we left the office that day we had two echo-grams and a fetal MRI scheduled along with follow-up consultations with a pediatric cardiologist, a pediatric neurologist and a meeting with a genetic counselor.  For the first time in our lives we felt what so many others have: "This doesn't happen to me, it happens to someone else."

~John