As you all know, our baby girl was born 8 weeks ago. She is simply gorgeous and she just brightens up our days in ways I forgot were even possible. Since we do not plan on having more kids, I am simply savouring every moment with her being this tiny.
There has been something on my mind that I wanted to write about since I was pregnant. Being pregnant with Marni was much more challenging, mostly because I had to accommodate a stressful job and a toddler. But beside the normal stuff at the week 20 ultrasound, the doctor saw a bright white spot on the heart, known in medical terms as an EIF. We were told that it can be nothing, just some calcification on the valves that will go away naturally and won’t even be visible in the next few weeks, or it could indicate a bigger problem if linked with other indicators. Among the bigger problems mentioned was Down syndrome and a malformation of the heart. It was like we were thunderstruck because we were not expecting anything similar to this. When we asked the obvious question if there was anything we could do to be sure, we were told that the only test they can offer is amniocentesis which is considered invasive and that could lead to a miscarriage. Also they mentioned that they do not advise us to do this as they do not consider the pregnancy to be at risk (there was no other indication that something else was wrong with the baby). We were a bit freaked out and started reading about it and thinking in percentages. In the end my doctor that had been on holidays at the time the ultrasound was taken, told me that for our piece of mind we could do the blood test for Down syndrome that is non invasive. This is not covered by insurance, unless there are clear signs of risk of Down syndrome, so we had to pay for it. I took this as a good sign and indeed it was, because the test came out negative.
Why am I writing about it now? Well mostly because I promised myself that if our baby girl was going to be healthy I will write the post for any future parents that might deal with this. You see, when you are given any indication that something is wrong with your pregnancy, besides listening to the medical opinions, you also go online and do research. At least this is what we did and yes I am aware that sometimes this can be very unproductive and do more harm then good, but the power of the internet is there….so yes, we use it! And what helped us was to read opinions and experiences from other parents that went though this. So if you are reading this, know that the white spot, without any other symptoms, is just that, a bright spot and your chances of having a healthy baby are very high.
This was our case and I am happy I chose to be positive and to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy after the news was shared with us. The doctors could not confirm otherwise so why would I chose to believe differently? You see, this is the thing with modern medicine, it can just take you so far. I believe we have come a long way and nowadays they can identify a lot of abnormalities early on in pregnancy, but I also think there are so many things that doctors cannot see and say for sure when they talk about babies. Having said this I believe the doctor that did our ultrasound was a professional that gave us the facts. This is his job, but what he could not give us was certainty and peace of mind because there is no way to be sure you will have a health baby until you get to hold her in your arms. Such is life and bringing a baby into this world means also this…getting used to the fact that the miracle of life is indeed a miracle.
Stay strong and healthy!
XOX, Andreea
