Now, I'm pretty educated in world of infertility. I can spout off infertile mumbo jumbo with the best of them. But, I'll admit I don't know near as much about pregnancy stuff, and choroid plexus cysts were something I knew absolutely nothing about. So, when I heard these words it felt like everything was over. Like my world was ending. You have to admit cysts on a baby's brain sounds like some pretty scar sh*t.
From that Friday afternoon to Monday night, I didn't do much besides research choroid plexus cysts. I couldn't think about anything else now matter how hard I tried. But today is Wednesday, and I'm finally feeling much better and I KNOW that everything is going to be just fine. Here is what I was told by 3 different professionals:
1. That day, the perinatologist told me that there was a small choroid plexus cyst on my baby's brain. She said that is most of the time a completely normal finding but sometimes has been associated with chromosomal abnormalities, specifically Trisomy 18. If you know anything about T18, you know it's fatal. Most babies die in utero or are stillborn, and the few that are born alive die shortly thereafter. But, the doctor told me that 99% of babies with CPC's are born totally healthy, and it's only about 1% that are born with T18. She assured me that everything on the baby looked perfectly healthy, which is a very good sign. Normally, there are several structural abnormalities seen on an u/s when a baby has T18, specifically with the hands, feet, and heart. Our baby had none of those. She also said my NT scan results came back at 1 in >10,000 for having Downs or T18/T13. With all of those factors combined, she said my chances of anything being wrong are very small.
2. My OB received the report on Monday and called me that day. She started by saying she was ticked at the perinatologist's office for even mentioning the CPC to me. She said they usually don't even flag a CPC that is smaller than 3mm and Greer's was only 2mm. My OB said she believes this is a perfectly healthy baby based upon our first trimester screening and the normal u/s.
3. Monday night, Abby, a genetics counselor called me. The perinatologist recommended I talk to a genetics counselor because they could give me more information about my risk. I am so glad I did. She made me feel 100 times better. She basically told me my risk is still most likely around the 1 in 10,000 range for having a baby with T18. She said in my situation (good NT scan results and normal u/s), they wouldn't even consider the CPC a "soft marker" for T18. She said that T18 is so severe that almost always their are several other abnormalities found on the ultrasound.
All three of these people recommended I not get an amnio to test the baby's genetics because the risk of miscarriage (1/300) is much higher than my risk of actually having something wrong with the baby. I do have a follow up ultrasound at the perinatologist's office in a couple weeks. We can check and see if the cyst is gone (they usually disappear pretty quickly) and check the baby again. I think this is more for my own peace of mind, but I will gladly take another u/s.
Overall, I am feeling much better about this now. I know there is more than a 99% chance that Greer is perfectly healthy, so I'm trying to focus on that. I also found some medical studies showing that the risk is 0% with an isolated CPC and age < 35. I'm starting to get excited about decorating the nursery and picking out all of the baby gear. Here are some pictures from the anatomy scan.
I think she has Fields's nose in the top pic :)
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