i will be 35 yrs old this month. two weeks ago my quad screen came out normal. However, at 18 weeks i just had an ultrasound. in the ultrasound they detected a white spot on the heart and told me its an indication of having a child with downs syndrome. An amnio is the only way to know for sure. However, I have a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage with amnio. A 1 in 5000 chance of a child with downs syndrome. Im very worried about these chances even though i have had 3 healthy kids. I dont want to risk a miscarriage and im not sure what to do.
Hi,
I too was told at 20 weeks there was a white spot found on my baby's heart during an ultrasound. I have one other child who is 10 years old and he has Down Syndrome ( I was 20 years old when I had him) so it can happen, but keep in mind that with my first child there was no spot found on his heart, although his kidneys looked enlarged during an ultrasound. The words DS were never even mentioned to me, as it turned out he was born with DS and was completely healthy :-). I am so thankful to have him; he is an awesome beautiful person. So as you can imagine when I was told with my second baby (this pregnancy) that this baby might have DS and I am now 31 I freaked out. I decided to have the amino and I got the results within 3 days and this baby is 100% perfectly healthy. My doctor told me it's very common to have these spots show up on ultrasounds. So please if you’re unable to sleep and eat like I was, that is not healthy for you or the baby, make a decision about the test and move forward from there. I had myself convinced that this spot meant the baby had DS..but I was wrong. So just know that this "soft marker" alone is not enough to say the baby has DS. Good luck to all you mom's facing this, I know from experience how awful it feels wondering if your baby is going to be ok. On the other hand, having a baby with DS is not the worst thing that can happen..My son has taught me just exactly who I am, and I am proud of the woman he has brought out in me. We have such a close bond, and I love him to pieces. Good luck all!
I too was told at 20 weeks there was a white spot found on my baby's heart during an ultrasound. I have one other child who is 10 years old and he has Down Syndrome ( I was 20 years old when I had him) so it can happen, but keep in mind that with my first child there was no spot found on his heart, although his kidneys looked enlarged during an ultrasound. The words DS were never even mentioned to me, as it turned out he was born with DS and was completely healthy :-). I am so thankful to have him; he is an awesome beautiful person. So as you can imagine when I was told with my second baby (this pregnancy) that this baby might have DS and I am now 31 I freaked out. I decided to have the amino and I got the results within 3 days and this baby is 100% perfectly healthy. My doctor told me it's very common to have these spots show up on ultrasounds. So please if you’re unable to sleep and eat like I was, that is not healthy for you or the baby, make a decision about the test and move forward from there. I had myself convinced that this spot meant the baby had DS..but I was wrong. So just know that this "soft marker" alone is not enough to say the baby has DS. Good luck to all you mom's facing this, I know from experience how awful it feels wondering if your baby is going to be ok. On the other hand, having a baby with DS is not the worst thing that can happen..My son has taught me just exactly who I am, and I am proud of the woman he has brought out in me. We have such a close bond, and I love him to pieces. Good luck all!
Also, I meant to mention that my quad screening came back in the normal range. My chance of DS was 1 in 18,000, but when the white spot was found that cut my chance in half so it was 1 in 9,000.
My baby girl also had these white spots at 20 weeks, at a routine 36 week sono they could not find them. I too worried, but I now have a healthy baby girl. Try not to worry.
I'm 32 years old and my baby was born 2 weeks ago. The doctor found the white spot on her heart at the 21st week ultrasound. He sent us to a level 2 ultrasound where they measure all the body parts, organs, check the face (nasal bone, eyes, etc) and the extra skin on the neck. So basically everything that could lead them to down syndrome. He found nothing abnormal, the "face looked very normal", no extra skin, no development issues anywhere...
Note that we did not have the early screening blood test done at 15-17 weeks.
After my baby was born, the pediatrician checked on her and recommended the chromosome test because she found her eyes and neck skin sort of down syndrome features.
So blood test was performed and a couple days later they told us that she has the classic trisomy 21 which is the classic version of the down syndrome.
I have found literally nothing about the white spot on the heart being a big concern or even the only sign of this problem, when we were dealing with the stress between the 2 ultrasounds. I don't want to scare anyone but I would have appreciated this information and would have got the amnio done at that time so the news (which could have not been changed or prevented) would have not shocked me, my husband, my whole family and all my friends. I just had to add this to the blog.
Note that we did not have the early screening blood test done at 15-17 weeks.
After my baby was born, the pediatrician checked on her and recommended the chromosome test because she found her eyes and neck skin sort of down syndrome features.
So blood test was performed and a couple days later they told us that she has the classic trisomy 21 which is the classic version of the down syndrome.
I have found literally nothing about the white spot on the heart being a big concern or even the only sign of this problem, when we were dealing with the stress between the 2 ultrasounds. I don't want to scare anyone but I would have appreciated this information and would have got the amnio done at that time so the news (which could have not been changed or prevented) would have not shocked me, my husband, my whole family and all my friends. I just had to add this to the blog.
omg doctors told me the same thing when i was pregnant with my daughter i freaked out for the whole pregnancy i was really stressful cuz they said the bright spot in the heart can cause the child down syndrome and now my daughter is perfectly fineee ,she is not with down or any other health problem ,so alll the moms out there that are consurned about that bright spot on their baby's heart dont worry the baby's are going to be perfektly fine.
hi am 26 years old just turn them this past november i to had an ultrasound at 20 weeks and they told me my little girl had a white spot in her heart theyb told me its 1 out of 500 persons if she comes out with downsendrome am really worried because they had never told me that with my other children this is my 5th child so as you can see its a really big surprice so i feel for all you women that the doctors mess with are mines making us worrie for nothing i wont n0ow if my baby is born llike that intill april 2011 so all you ladys please have me and my family in your prayers be cause am really scared i am open mineded dont get me wrong but its sure hurthing me a lot just thinking about it but ttell you what a baby born with down sendrome all you can do with a child like that is just to love them even more because they are special in there on why so i am scared and am going to be waithing with open arms to hug and kiss my baby girl as soon as shes born well good luck to all you ladys who the doctors have told the same thing
Hi im 19 years old and im 18 weeks. I just had my first ultrasound this week and found out me and my boyfriend are having a boy, well the next day the dr.office calls me and tells me that I will have to go see a specialist to do a quad screen because they saw bright spots on the baby's heart, he said most of the time it isn't nothing, but in some cases it could be down syndrome. I am worried sick and nervous about what is going on. I read many of your comments saying that everything turned out ok at the end, but still you know it does something to you to know that something could be wrong. I will get my blood work back next week to see my ratio of the baby having Ds and im still waiting on the phone call from the Specialist.
Im also pregnant with my first baby, who is a boy also.
My doctor called and told me the same thing but also told me its nothing to worry about and it should pass by the the end of your pregnancy.
Its very common and does not mean you will have a baby with birth defects.
My doctor called and told me the same thing but also told me its nothing to worry about and it should pass by the the end of your pregnancy.
Its very common and does not mean you will have a baby with birth defects.
I am 23 years old and I am 20wks pregnant with my first child. I had my first sonogram done last week and it was the greatest experience I've ever had until they found a bright spot on the right ventricle of the baby's heart. My technician said it was nothing to worry about, but then I get a call from my doctor stating they want to run other test because it could possibly mean the baby has chromosonal birth defects. Down Syndrome doesn't run on either side of the family, so I'm just praying everything checks out ok with the other test.
I promised myself that I would go into as many forums as possible after my baby was born in an effort to reassure mothers that are going through the same experience that I went through. On my 20 and 24 week ultrasound they detected an isolated echogenic foci, aka a bright spot in one of the valves of my babies heart. I had opted out of all the early screaning tests, and REGRETED it terribly when i received this result. I was convinced that my female intuition was telling me that my baby has downsyndrome. I could "sense" that something was wrong and I spent the following three weeks dealing with it and then finally coming to terms with having a disabled baby boy. As soon as I accepted that I would love my baby to death either way, the stress and concern completely went away and I was able to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy. So that would be my first bit of advice for women experiencing this: you will love your baby no matter what, and the feelings of disappointment and regret that you're having now would have come regardless of whether or not your baby is born with DS. Think of it this way; you're going through the baby blues about five months early. Your baby is not meant to fulfill you, YOU are meant to fulfill your baby! All women realize this at some point, and get a little depressed because we are selfish in nature. Once you realize that you must give your entire life to your child, it makes no difference what "challenges" they are born with. Alright, enough lecturing....
My baby was born completely healthy. No health issues at all, 9 out of 10 on the new born stress test. Would have been 10 out of 10 but his feet were a little purple and cold :-) Despite having come to terms with having a developmentally challenged child, I was given a baby thats healthy as a clam. Your baby will ALMOST DEFINATELY be too. Dont listen to the sneaky little voice in the back of your head telling you that you're going to be the acception to the rule, and that despite the overwhelming odds against having a baby with downs it's probably going to happen to YOU of all people. Practice visualizing your baby being born healthy. Just for fun, pretend to yourself every once and a while that the odds are so slim that you *know* your baby will be healthy. These sorts of mental excersices help deal with stress. And if you really cannot stop worrying, and you cannot be convinced that your baby is going to be fine, then do what i did; realize that even if your baby has downs it DOESNT matter. Your baby will be beautiful and your baby will take EVERYTHING you have to give whether or not he/she has downs or any other disability! Sometimes the new mothers with the healthiest of babies experience the most depression and regret, because the dreams they had of their baby fulfilling their needs are instantly shattered the first time they must stay up all night rocking and comforting a crying newborn. They realize it's their job to fulfill this baby, not the other way around :-)
But of course, in the end....mommy ends up just as fulfilled as baby. Maybe the first time baby looks up and smiles :-) Maybe when he/she takes their first step...
My baby was born completely healthy. No health issues at all, 9 out of 10 on the new born stress test. Would have been 10 out of 10 but his feet were a little purple and cold :-) Despite having come to terms with having a developmentally challenged child, I was given a baby thats healthy as a clam. Your baby will ALMOST DEFINATELY be too. Dont listen to the sneaky little voice in the back of your head telling you that you're going to be the acception to the rule, and that despite the overwhelming odds against having a baby with downs it's probably going to happen to YOU of all people. Practice visualizing your baby being born healthy. Just for fun, pretend to yourself every once and a while that the odds are so slim that you *know* your baby will be healthy. These sorts of mental excersices help deal with stress. And if you really cannot stop worrying, and you cannot be convinced that your baby is going to be fine, then do what i did; realize that even if your baby has downs it DOESNT matter. Your baby will be beautiful and your baby will take EVERYTHING you have to give whether or not he/she has downs or any other disability! Sometimes the new mothers with the healthiest of babies experience the most depression and regret, because the dreams they had of their baby fulfilling their needs are instantly shattered the first time they must stay up all night rocking and comforting a crying newborn. They realize it's their job to fulfill this baby, not the other way around :-)
But of course, in the end....mommy ends up just as fulfilled as baby. Maybe the first time baby looks up and smiles :-) Maybe when he/she takes their first step...
I was given a risk of 1 and 142 of my baby having down syndrone has anyone else had a risk this low and the baby cam out alright or have you know someone who has a normal child but was given a risk around what I was told? PLEASE HELP CONCERNED MOM.
I've read a lot of accounts and from what i have gathered, the women who's children usually end up actually having DS end up with chances of 1 in 10 or 1 in 20. It depends on how many tests they've conducted so far. If the results of your quad screen were 1 in 142, and they have yet to do the 20 week ultrasound, then it's still unclear. If they've done the ultrasound and the quad screen, then 1 in 142 is pretty good odds against having DS. Especially if you're over 30, because your odds start out around 1 in 300. In other words, if you've had all available tests done then most likely you would be in the 1 in 10 catagory if you're child actually has DS. This is because without an amnio they can never tell you 100%. I've actually read an account of a woman with multiple physical markers and a chance of 1 in 10 who had a healthy baby. So 1 in 142 is just what it sounds like, pretty good odds in favor of a healthy baby.
I am 23 years old and 20 weeks pregnant with my my first child. Last week I went for an ultrasound and i found out I am having a girl. I was so excited and happy until the doctor came in and and told me they found a spot on my baby's heart that could indicate down syndrome. i felt like my world came crashing down around me. I am still really worried and scared but your comments have helped me to calm down a little bit, because like one of you said no matter how God decideds to send me my baby, she is my daughter and i am going to love her.
this happened to me when I was pregnant with my second daughter, I was 19 weeks and they said she had 2 white spots in her heart, and that usually its nothing to worry about but it could be down syndrome. I had to see a specialist 1 week before I had my daughter, and they went away. she was growing perfectly. and she was born 7 pounds 11 oz. and she is a perfectly happy healthy baby!