Hi, my name is Leanne. Last September (2007) my husband and I found out that we were expecting our second child. We were delighted as we wanted a brother or sister for our little boy, who at the time was only 10 months old. From 6 weeks pregnant I suffered from hyperemesis and at 11 weeks pregnant was admitted to hospital. I hadnt had a scan done yet so was very excited when I was told I would receive one on the second day of being in the hospital. Because I was an inpatient I was alone at the scan. I'd seen the babys heartbeat and it was moving about lots so I was instantly relieved, but then the worst news was to come.
The sonographer said that she saw a problem with the baby, that it looked as though the baby had retained fluid at the back of the neck, she wanted to get a doctor to confirm this. After a few minutes of an agonising wait, a consultant confirmed what the sonographer had told me. I was absolutley devastated to say the least. I had had a perfectly healthy son only 10 months previous and just didnt expect to have any complications this time around. The doctor began to explain to me what this fluid meant. He began by telling me it was termed 'cystic hygroma' and said that there was a 50% chance that our baby would have some form of chromosonal defect, ie downs, turners, edwards etc. Also, he explained that there was an even higher chance that the baby would have a congenital heart abnormality and probably would not survive the pregnancy. We were in complete shock at the statistics as they seemed very gloom. We are a young couple (I am 24 and my husband 30) and just didnt expect to encounter difficulties like this. He said that there was a few different tests that we could have done if we wished and that he would send the consultant who performed these procedures down to my ward to discuss them with me. He explained to me that I could have a cvs done right away or else wait until 16 weeks and have an amniocentesis done. After discussion with my husband, we decided that no matter what the outcome of the tests was, we would still be continuing with the pregnancy. Termination was not an option for us. So we decided to opt out of taking the tests.
My consultant seen us again at 14 weeks and the hygroma was still there, measuring 5mm. We were told this was quite large as anything above 3mm is not a good prognosis. Our consultant referred us to have a cardiac scan performed at 24 weeks to check for heart abnormalities. Our next appointment wasnt for another 6 weeks! I found myself going to hospital every few weeks to get checked out though, as I constantly feared that the baby would pass in utero and I would not know. However, every time I got a scan the baby had a strong heartbeat and was always moving about lots!
At the 20 week scan, we were so nervous. I feared what they would tell me this time round. I knew that they could get a far more accurate view of the baby at this stage and so many different things went through my mind. Miraculously though, the hygroma was gone! We could not believe it! Everything else with our baby looked completely normal and the sonographer confirmed we were expecting a boy! Such a relief! I knew we werent out of the woods yet but I had envisioned such bad outcomes of this scan that this news was amazing to us.
The weeks went by and the cardiac scan showed a perfectly healthy heart. All other scans showed a perfect baby, we couldnt believe our luck! Then on 9th May 2008, at 8 days overdue, I gave birth to a beautiful and perfectly healthy baby boy, Tiernan, weighing a whooping 9lb! I cried so much when I saw that my baby was perfect, after the months of anguish and worry that we had been through.
I wanted to share my story with other mothers in the same situation to show that there is hope. When I was researching cystic hygromas online, most things bout it are very very negative and show little hope of a healthy baby but when I came across louises story about rosie, it gave me hope and made me think that maybe we too would be lucky enough to have a healthy baby. Just remember that there is always hope, and doctors dont always get things right. My Tiernan proved the doctors wrong so believe that your baby can do the same.
Leanne and Tiernan.
