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Hello,

After reading all the Q&A I feel much better, being in the same situation as most of you all.

Here's my story:

I am 27 years old (and will be 27 when the baby comes) and in the 22nd weeks of pregnancy. So far I have been doing great and haven't had any problems. I had an ultrasound on April 7th and everything looked normal and the sonographer also told us that the baby was fine and everything seemed normal. We also found out we are having a girl. We both were thrilled. We saw her move a lot during the ultrasound.

However, I had an appointment with my OB on Monday (April 17th). My OB said the baby measured fine and weighed right and everything else looked normal. But there was a white spot in the fetal heart (calcification). She said that there was nothing to worry about and this usually disappears on its own. She did say that sometimes this can be a DS marker, but since there was no other abnormality and given my age, the probablility was very low and of no concern. She did say that that was the reason they did not call me immediately after my ultrasound because this was not a big issue. She has asked me to get an U/S at the 30th week to see how the baby is developing. Like most of you all mentioned mothers always worry and I have been crying a lot ever since. I am really upset and haven't been myself since then. I am scared to death. I am praying for my little baby girl.

P.S: I did not have the quad screening in the 18th week and when I wanted to have one after I heard this, they said that it is too late because I am in the 22nd week of pregnancy. Is it really late?

Like so many of you, my husband and I went for our 18 wk u/s and they found a white spot on the baby's heart. We are now being referred to a perinatalogist for genetic counseling and a Level 2 u/s. I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to what to expect for those appts. What questions should we bring? What info should we expect to have when we leave? Just needed some guidance...thanks!!

Alic, the level 2 U/S will look at the baby more in depth, to make sure that there aren't any more abnormalities present. A white spot on the heart (calcium deposit; echogenic foci spot) is an indication of the baby possibly having a Down Syndrome but this isn't the case for everyone. For an abnormality they find, it is counted as a marker. From my understanding & was told, the more marker they find, the more chances the baby could have abnormalities. Again, some babies are born with 2 markers but are born healthy. It really varies with an individual. Your perinatologist will probably recommend an amniocentesis but depending on what is found on the U/S. My perinatologist only found the white spot on the baby's heart & everything else is normal. That's why I bypassed the procedure. Because of better technology, these "white spots" are being spotted. Among the couple of things the perinatologist will look for is the back of the head (nuchal translucency) for the size & the length of the arm. Your questions may arise as the test is being done.

I had my 2nd trimester ultrasound on Monday. The doctor told me that everything measured up fine except for the echogenic foci spot on the heart. My fiance is half asian and I heard that it is pretty common for asians to have that. I was stressing out though for the past week and so has he until today. I've been doing research on this subject day and night. I've read that if there are no other signs that the EIF is not significant enough to be considered abnormal and it usually fills in by the 3rd trimester, and it used to be considered normal until some doctor who decided to do a research on it in 1990 on babies who were already diagnosed w/having a triomy. He concluded that 40% had the EIF with other markers as well. The big markers are low set ears, thick, flat neck, no nasal bone, short femur bone, and curved, short, pinky fingers. Also a big space between the big toe and the rest of the toes. If you don't see any of those things on your baby then I don't think you have anything to worry about. It's probably just another way for the medical industry to make money on those extra procedures. If it used to be considered normal, then why are they wanting to stress everyone out into miscarriage from something so insignificant? I'm starting to think it's population control and money. That's terrible, but from all the people I've heard about this from who have done the amnio and all the extra ultrasounds for this it seems crazy....I don't think they should think anything abnormal unless they see other obvious clues to a trisomy. My older brother had a baby with trisomy 18 and her hands were clinched together, she also wasn't measuring up like she should and her mom was getting bigger than normal. That is one of the big things to look for. Thanks, Melissa

Thank you so much, Angel2 and Melissa Marie. I'm hoping to get a better look at the baby with the level 2 u/s. Our baby had its behind up in the air and wasn't moving much at the time, so I think it was difficult to see any other markers. I tend to agree to some degree with you Melissa Marie....it seems this is becoming so common that they need to do another study, so that it may be possible to rule this out as a marker for Down's b/c it sure does seem to stress many moms and dads needlessly. Thanks again to you both for your response!!

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to post a message as a follow-up. My husband and I went to see the genetic counselor yesterday, which only took about 20 mins. Good information....she talked about the actual chances of our baby having Down's(1in 360), what the AFP blood test would tell us, what an amino would test and the risks involved with that. After that we went for our u/s. The doctor was great and stayed with us the entire time the u/s was being done. She says she is very confident our baby doesn't have Down's. She took us through each marker that would indicate the baby could have Down's and showed how our baby is not exhibiting any other signs besides the EIF. We decided to do the AFP test since I hadn't done that before and wait for results. Depending on what those are, then we will decide whether the amino is right for us or not. We did, however, find out we were having a girl and are so excited since we already have a little boy. Good luck to everyone else who is going through all this.....I know how tough it is!!

I am so relieved that I found this site! I am 20 weeks preg. w/ twins and I had a level 2 u/s yesterday and they told me that one baby has an echogenic foci in the heart. He scared us to death telling us that it could be down syndrome. My husband and I can't sleep, eat....nothing! I'm only 28 and there was nothing else wrong w/ the baby. He said the only thing wrong was this echo. I have an amnio scheduled for next Thurs. Should I be worried sick????

Christi,
I can completely identify with how you are feeling. I was there a week ago when my dr. told me the same thing. I'm 29, so very close to you. If your dr. only saw the EIF on your u/s and everything else looked normal, I wouldn't be too worried. Did your dr. look at the baby's neck, measure femur bone, look at profile...specifically nose and tell you all that looked normal?? If they did, I would say you have no other markers besides the EIF and you shouldn't worry too much. I know that is hard....my husband and I were a mess. Not eating or sleeping or thinking of anything else. We opted not to have the amino b/c everything else was normal...my bloodwork, the u/s, my age being under 35. Let me know how everything goes and know that my thoughts are with you.
ali

Thanks for responding Ali. So did you have the triple/quad screening done? I'm worried that I didn't have those done. The doctor did say that all other measurements were perfectly fine on the baby so as far as I know, the only thing they found was this ecogenic foci. I am seeing another maternal fetal med. doctor on Thursday and she's going to do another ultrasound and possibly amnio b/c I'm so worried.

Christi,
I had the AFP blood test done when I went for my Level 2 u/s. I didn't have the test done previously because I had heard all these rumors about false positives and didn't want to worry my entire pregnancy. Now look where we are. I guess the one they do at 16 weeks called the integrated(I think) test is a little more comprehensive, but my bloodwork came back normal. My doctor is advising us that since I'm under 35 and the only marker the baby has is the EIF and my blood was normal, not to do an amino b/c of the risks of miscarriage. She said she understands it would be tough to have an adnormal baby, but said it would be really tough to miscarry a normal baby just because we had to know for sure. We are going to wait for our next u/s and if all measurements, etc are still normal and just the EIF is there, we probably won't do the amino based on the risks. Good luck at your appt on Thursday. Let me know how everything goes. You have been in my thoughts. I know it is so hard to concentrate and plan for the birth with this weighing so heavily, so if the amino is right for you, you should definitely go that route.

HI!
I had my daughter at age 38 (she's now 1 1/2) and she had echogenic bowel at the level 2 ultrasound. (This was after a "funny" triple screen indicating a higher risk for DS.) A later ultrasound revealed that the echogenic bowel had resolved itself and she was born totally healthy and is an adorable toddler now! Don't stress about it - I have had every sort of pregnancy problem indicating this and that with my two babies and both are healthy kids, ages 5 and 1 1/2! I am considering whether, at age 40, to try it just one more time, but the doctors just scare the **** out of anyone over 35. I have friends in Spain who say we just do too many tests during pregnancy! I appreciate all the testing (some treatable conditions can also be discovered), but I sometimes think they create unnecessary stress at times. My echogenic situation turned out to be nothing - I really think yours will too - have a happy pregnancy and best of luck!

Hi guys....just wanted to let you know that I had an amnio done and everything is fine with the baby! You were all right, the echo. focus is very common!
Thanks!

Hi everyone- I had posted back in January they had found a spot on my babies heart on a ultrasound. We worried allot and prayed every day. My baby girl was born on May 18th and she is perfectly healthy no DS. she is absolutley beautiful! Have faith in god!
And enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.

Congratulations Kelbab! I am very happy for you and your family.

I am worried about my little one who is due on Aug 31st and am hoping that the white spot noted on the ultrasound will clear itself and my baby will be fine!

Thanks for letting us know. It makes me feel a little better now.

R

I'm glad to hear all good news so far. The more we post good outcomes, the more reassuring it gets. Thanks again.

I am pregnant w/ my 2nd baby - a boy. My daughter is 14 mo. I did not have the AFP/quad test, as I did not have it w/ my daughter, have no family history, and am 30 years old. The doctor told me today that a white spot was found on my son's heart. She said that this is a variable for DS, but b/c there weren't any others, she wouldn't recommend an amnio. However, she didn't mention a f/u u/s. After reading the board it sounds like this is common. My husband and I are freaked out - but we read that for our history, the chances of the baby having DS is 0.5%. Any thoughts would be helpful.