We had our appointments today with the genetic counselor and the maternal and fetal medicine specialist. In the doctor's words, Baby B looked "perfect!" Praise God! There are still 2 cysts hanging out in Baby B's brain, but both the doctor and the counselor said these by themselves are not cause for concern. They are benign and will affect nothing, and still have a very high chance of going away on their own. So today's ultrasound, coupled with the results from my bloodwork, put our chances of having a baby with Trisomy 18 at 1 in around 37,000. Pretty good odds, especially considering we went into today's appointment with 1 in 400 odds. Baby B was awake and moving around a ton. We got to see his/her hands opening and closing, the stomach full of amniotic fluid (good and normal), toes, fingers, a profile shot of their face, and their heart. It was so amazing to be able to see the valves on his/her heart opening and closing. So while the doctor cannot tell us with 100% certainty Baby B is fully healthy (only an amniocentesis can do that, and we're not willing to have that procedure done), she is fairly confident that Baby B is just fine. Hooray!
However, today we also found out that the placenta is only about 2 cm from my cervix. It's not placenta previa (where the cervix is completely covered), but it's a bit lower than they like to see. There is a good chance the placenta will move up on its own as our little one grows. The doctor explained this kind of a like a balloon. There's a spot where the "balloon" attaches to the wall (like the spot where you'd blow up a balloon). As the balloon gets pushed on, the spot where it's attached stays the same, but the balloon can move up or down. Most of the time, low lying placentas move up as the baby grows and presses against the placenta. This is what we are hoping happens. However, if the placenta does not move or moves down, this isn't so ideal. It can cause bleeding later in pregnancy, along with some other complications. And it would most likely result in requiring a c-section because the placenta would be blocking the way out for the baby. Not ideal, but I suppose if I need to have a c-section I'd rather know ahead of time than need to have an emergency c-section and have the baby and/or myself be in distress. I have another appointment in 8 weeks to check on the location of the placenta. The doctor said while we're there, they'll check to see if the cysts have gone away, but that if we didn't need to come back for another ultrasound to check on the placenta, we would not need to follow up on the cysts.
And I just have to say, all the doctors and nurses we've seen and talked with have been great, especially over the last couple of weeks. They've all taken their time with us, been willing to answer any questions, been gentle with not-so-great news, reassured us, etc. I feel like I'm a person to them, and not just another patient. It's really nice, and much appreciated.
We got some fun shots of Baby B today! Once we get those scanned into the computer, I'll post some to share :) Thanks again for all your prayers, support, and encouragement! God is good :) And hopefully at our next ultrasound Baby B has pushed that placenta up out of the way :)
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