It was one year ago, the month of April was a time of great anxiety for me and my husband. On March 26, 2010 we had our first ultrasound for our third baby. We were thrilled, we were finally going to meet our L'il Sprout - well as close as we'd get until early August. The ultrasound went well, the tech was really friendly but a couple of times she went looking closer than I remember with my last two ultrasounds with the big kids. One time I thought I saw something white in the brain. Then I told myself not to be silly that I was just making up things in my mind and told myself to remain calm and think happy thoughts!
The next Monday we received a call from the midwife. My heart sank. I knew something was wrong. My heart in my throat, my stomach in knots I listened to the midwife talk about a choroid plexus cyst and a two vessel cord.
Of course the first place I went to was the internet, tears streaming down my face as the midwife said that alone these two soft markers for chromosomal abnormalities would not be as alarming. Because they presented together we were told that we needed to do further testing if we were to determine what our baby may be dealing with. This time, the internet served as a source of inspiration as I read about kids with Trisomy 18 that had beaten the odds and lived longer than a year. I read about how many people had experienced two vessel cord pregnancies and given birth to perfectly healthy children.
A choroid plexus cyst is a cyst found in the choroid area of the brain. More are being found in today's scans because the resolution is so high. It is believed that the technology is ahead of the understanding on why some fetuses still have these at 21 weeks while others do not. It may be a normal part of brain development. However in some cases the cysts do not disappear after 26 weeks and then the baby may have a chromosomal abnormality; trisomy 18 is very commonly connected to this issue.
The two vessel cord is something that happens in 1 of 100 live births. It is quite commonly connected to twins, higher maternal birth and multiple pregnancies. Well, not twins, but I am older and this is my third pregnancy. I figure my body knew that I was able to support the babe on just two vessels, heck who needs to waste time on the third one!
My husband and I did a lot of soul searching that month. We'd been told it could just be a variation of the norm and nothing to worry about...easy to say, harder to do. We did a lot of worrying too! Every time I saw a baby commercial on the t.v. I just burst into tears. I would cry thinking about how selfish I was to want a third child (when we'd already been blessed with two beautiful kids already) and wondered how a baby with special needs or a baby that would not survive would impact my other two kids. It was truly heart-breaking. I remember blowing out my candles two days before we went in to the specialist...wishing...hoping.
April 29th, 2010. I couldn't eat that morning I was so nervous - and had a belly full of baby and water for the ultrasound. We didn't wait long. The ultrasound tech took us in, and lubed up my belly...I knew that my life could change in the next instant and waited for the specialist to come in. And there he was, sipping on a cup of joe, as if he didn't have a care in the world...how could he be so relaxed at a time like this?! But his relaxation was contagious. He got started right away and went straight for the heart - as that is commonly affected by a 2 vessel cord. Heart's in good shape he tells us. This is great, that's great, the cyst is gone and look, the baby's giving you the "Thumb's Up" sign! In fact, there was the baby doing just that. I figure the baby was saying, "All is good here mom, stop worrying and get these cameras out of my face!" The doctor told us that there was absolutely nothing to worry about and if we like we could come back closer to the end of the pregnancy to see if the baby's growth was on par with the norm. Sometimes small birthweight is a side effect of the two vessel cord.
We kept asking him to confirm that our baby was not affected by either of these issues. The cyst was gone, the heart was good, the two vessel cord had taken over nicely and it was in fact a variation of the norm. WOW! Best birthday present ever! I could finally breathe. Even with that information, it still stays in the back of your mind the rest of the pregnancy. However, on Logan's birth day when I looked into those eyes for the first time, I knew he would have been perfect no matter what the outcome had been. So full of love and wonder then and now as he grows into such an amazing little person.
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