The Good News!

After 4 days of waiting (which I know really isn't that long - it just felt long to me) I had my appointment. I saw the geneticist first. Why do they do that to pregnant women? I had pretty much been able to stay positive and brave up until I talked to her. Trisomy 18 isn't even hereditary. Its a fluke. Yes, its a genetic defect, but it has nothing to do with family history or what genes have been passed on to me or Mark. She told me what I already knew about choroid plexus cysts and their rarity and what they could mean and yada yada yada. That's what google is for - not some frightening trip to a geneticist. And yet, some how she managed to make my 1% chance of trisomy 18 seem much more common and much more likely, while reassuring me it was unlikely. How do they do that? Pretty much I left her office more afraid then when I came and proceeded to cry in the waiting room while waiting for my ultrasound. People probably thought the worst and all that had happened was a "nice talk" with a geneticist. I glared at pregnant women smiling at their ultrasound pictures. Just you wait til you get to talk with a geneticist!

However, this is when the scary stops and the reassurance and happiness comes in. Luckily I had dried my tears before they called me back, but I think the high risk dr could still sense my anxiety. The first thing he said was, "Just so you know, I think this is a mean way to stress out poor pregnant women for no reason!" AGREED! He continued to tell me that they had only seen one cyst on my baby and cysts in growing fetus's mean pretty much absolutely nothing. They have more fluid floating through their ever growing and developing bodies then they know what to do with and its almost for sure that at some point they develop a "fluid bubble" (aka cyst). It just so happens my baby's appeared during an ultrasound. So they sent me in for a level II ultrasound and scared the pants off me for basically nothing. Yes, the baby could have other problems, but most likely she was fine. I wanted to jump off the bed and hug the man. Why didn't the geneticist say that?

Anyway, he continued with the ultrasound and pointed out everything that he was looking at. He said the heart looked fine, the bowels looked fine, the feet looked fine, and, get this, he said he couldn't even see the cyst! He said it might be there, but it was small and he really wouldn't worry about it. I even saw him write the word "gone" on my medical chart. Yay!! Prayers are answered!! He was really nice and even made sure it was a girl for me since I was still unsure. Don't worry, it's a girl. No doubt about that. So, at the end he told me like any baby there was still a chance something was wrong, but from what he could see she was healthy! He even advised not to get an amnio (I wasn't going to anyway) because the risk of getting one wasn't worth it. Whereas, the geneticist told me it was super safe and only 1% of women have complications (aka miscarriages). I left feeling so much better and so so so so so so so so so grateful!

I do have to say that I felt an overwhelming since of support, love and faith coming from all my family and friends who knew about this little scare. I am so thankful for their thoughts and prayers and especially grateful for a blessing from my husband that gave me a lot of comfort and reassurance. I am thankful for prayers and miracles and blessings!