We had another ultrasound done on Monday. I always look forward to seeing the baby. However once again we weren't very prepared for any bad news. Over the last 7 weeks we have been wondering exactly what is going on with our baby. So far all we knew was he/she was missing the left radius bone and it is not a genetic disorder. Other than that all we kept hearing was "it could be this or that", "we will know more when the baby is born", things like that. The last Doctor said he thought it was an amniotic band. I was confused because what I knew about that, the entire arm would not have grown. But he is the Doctor right? So we really just thought this was a random thing.
The Doctor yesterday was the most knowledgeable we have had so far. During our ultrasound there was a lot of focus on the heart, never a good thing. After that, he said that the right side of the heart was a little more dominate than the left. Just one more thing to keep an eye on. He said as of right now he can't see any Major problems like holes or openings in the heart but until we can do a chest xray after birth we won't know for sure. Then he moved on to the stomach. He said he really can't see a left kidney or it might be a pelvic kidney (in the pelvis not upper back). He looked and looked but there was no definite kidney where it should be. As the baby gets bigger you can see things a little more clearly which must be why the other Doctors and techs always measured 2 kidneys. Unless they were all idiots :)
So the term for what the baby has it VACTERL association. It is not a syndrome or condition it is just a grouping of birth defects. Our baby has 3 of the 7, so far. It is really hard to hear. I don't want a long NICU stay which is what will happen if things are worse after the baby is born. I just hope they chest x ray shows nothing serious. The only thing we won't know is the kidney. You just can't tell how bad or not so bad something is from inside the womb. We really have no idea what to expect. We are so extremely lucky there is a Shriners Hospital here in Utah. That is where we will be sent for all future visits.
That is what we know so far. The baby is growing and developing normally expect for those few thing and as of now they are not a concern in the womb at this point. We have another ultrasound in 4 weeks. The baby will be much bigger by then and maybe we can learn a little more. I am grateful that it is not something worse. We could have found out our baby won't live past birth or have some terrible genetic defect.
Less than 3 months now!!
