The Dreaded NT Scan

Of the things I love about pregnancy the NT scan is not one of them. To be honest I don’t even like it. It is just stress.  Bad memories, fear and the unknown. Things were OK with MG, but we knew (within reason) that she was OK. So, I was a ball of stress leading up to the appointment. Unfortunately, the day before was Easter, so we had an extended family day. I ask my mom and husband to lay off all baby talk and end the conversation if it came up with anyone else. Everyone was respectful of my wishes, so that was good. (It is sort of hard to ignore. This is from Easter)

My appointment was mid-morning so I took the day off, hub went into work late in the afternoon. It was a LONG day. First I met with the MFM. I had mixed feelings about seeing him again.  He was the doc that did the amnio (that's the link) and the one who called with the news- all I remember of that call was "this is a T18 baby". I didn’t talk to hub about the pros and cons of staying with this MFM or going to the place with Next Tuesday. Though I did it with MG, I knew she was OK, so it felt less risky. So though he gave me a few flashbacks, I thought he was a better option than Next Tuesday.

So I went in to see the MFM and we talked for a long time, about pregnancy health in general, genetics and my past history (aka Blue Sunday and out fertility history). We decided to do the NIPT (which I would have insisted on anyway). He also ordered all my pregnancy labs- my GYN knew my labs were relatively up to date and decided we could wait 3 weeks to do the standard screenings. I went down to the Quest lab downstairs to have the SEVEN vials drawn- 2 for NIPT, 5 for all else. Good thing I’m a blood draw veteran.

We went back up to the MFM to give him the NIPT blood (I felt odd walking up 6 flights with vials of my own blood). Then it was time for the ultrasound.

Back to the ultrasound room where we first and last saw Blue Sunday. Again with the MFM and Linda the ultrasound tech by our side. Like with MG, this baby was very apparently snoozing when we first peeked in and I though baby was without a heartbeat. Linda poked me a little and baby moved and we could see the heart beating. PHEW. Heartbeat was a good 171 and baby was active. Measurements went quickly (much more cooperative than MG!).  I was obsessively trying to see the measurements as they flashed onscreen (though I get them at the end anyway). Baby was measuring ahead, 2 full days!, about 6.7cm. The NT was between 1.5 to 1.8 (interestingly the reported value was not the average as it was for all other measurements but the highest). Still 1.8 is well within normal. The MFM did mention that it was about the 70^th percentile, which scared me, but my mind was set at ease later.

The MFM stayed for the vast majority of the scan, sometimes asking to look at particular regions. At one point Linda asked us the genders of our kids at home and we laughed that we really didn’t care about the gender wither way (for more than one reason honestly). The she asked “Are you going  to find out the gender this time?” We said no, but I asked “Do you know”? and she said “Oh yes!” and laughed, as did the MFM. Apparently we’re the only ones in the dark!

After the scan was complete, we went back up to the MFM’s office. He felt that the NT looked good. He also had done a mini, early anatomy scan and could confirm that the baby has two kidneys, 2 halves of the heart beginning to differentiate into 4 chambers and a healthy looking brain and spine. All good news. He wants me back for the real anatomy scan at 18 weeks (since I go on Mondays, I’ll actually be almost 19).

THEN I went back to my GYN, who told us more about the NT in general. I said I was a little nervous about being in the 70^th percentile and she said NT alone is a really poor indicator of fetal health. Really high values can be normal and unfortunately low values can still be concerning. That the scan was good overall is a positive, but a big NT doesn’t always point to something. There was a study done that actually had to be stopped where women were referred for invasive testing based on NT alone. Nearly 20% of women were being sent over and the vast majority had babies with no issues.  SO I felt better about the 70^th percentile, since even in the 90^th most babies are still OK (which I know, but it’s nice to hear).

We get results from the NIPT 7-10 business days- so Wed-Fri next week.