Fluid seen in stomach of my unborn baby UPDATE 14/01/10

[sweetlady2009]

Hi can someone please help me, please
Im 21wk pregnant today and i had my 20 week scan yesterday. On the scan they said that there was fulid in the baby' stomach and that there could see a bright area on the baby's bowel. In regard to the fluid they said that the medical term is called "ascites" and it is dangerous for the baby. I was so upset that when they were talking to me that i could not take anything in like it was a dream all i know is that i have to go back tomorrow at 12:30 for another scan. Can someone please shed any light on what this means for my baby, has anyone else been through this. please can some one help me as im so scared because if i lose this baby i dont know how much more i can take. Please help as google has not been helpfull
Thanks

 

[Mamafy]

You poor thing I have no knowledge of this but I hope your next scan can give you better news

Be sure to take someone with you to the scan that will be able to take in any information that's given, like your mum or a friend in addition to your partner.

I hope things work out for you xx

 

[laura dec 1988]

Hope all works out for you hun xx

 

[katiejane]

Honey I have no idea i'm afraid, have you looked it up on the nhs website? I agree having someone else with you tomorrow for extra questions if needed is a good idea. Good luck with the scan tomorrow x

 

[Rowesb]

no advice but wanted to Hope tomorrow goes ok

 

[mrsH2009]

Hope someone comes along soon that can share there experience. Thinking of you tomorrow, hope all goes well

 

[Toonlass]

I know nothing of the condition i'm afraid. I just wanted to offer my support i hope you get some positive news at your scan xx

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

I hope everything is ok at your next scan, thinking of you and wishing you all the best wishes.

 

[Sam's Mum]

Welcome to Pregnancy Forum, and I'm so sorry you've been left with so many questions after your scan. I don't think any of us will be able to give you much more information before your scan tomorrow as even the doctors will need more information to determine causes and treatments, and none of us would want to cause you any more worry by talking about worst case scenarios (which you have probably found is what you get if you start searching on google).

It could be isolated fetal ascites (just the fluid in your baby's abdomen), but it can be a sign of infection or associated with a variety of syndromes, so I assume they will look in more detail at your scan tomorrow to find out more. If it's isolated, it may resolve on its own before you give birth or not long after your baby is born - some babies also require bowel surgery after birth.

I hope none of this scares you as it doesn't necessarily mean that your baby will even need treatment, but it might be worth writing down a list of questions that you want to ask after your scan tomorrow when I assume you'll speak to a specialist. I hope everything goes well for you tomorrow

 

[ToffeePop]

Is it just me or are doctors becoming inept at explaining what the hell it means when there is "something" there on a scan for ANYone? It must be SO frustrating being pregnant and being left hanging, it's bad enough when it happens in normal situations

Big for you and as Sam's mum said, get a list of questions together and DO NOT MOVE until you have all your questions answered . They are paid to help out and explain things

 

[Sam's Mum]

It's awful how little detail they'll give, but I assume it's because any details need to be given by a specialist and not the sonographer - but I do think that when more information is needed someone should be available who can give that information, rather than making people wait

 

[Terrie]

fingers crossed for your scan 2moro xx

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

I hope you get some answers xx

 

[mrsH2009]

Any news?

 

[xxsammyxx]

Hi hun,

Don't panic just yet... we had some bad news at our 20 week scan and the sonographer scared the living hell out of us.

I don't know this condition but I will have a quick look and see if I can find anything...

They can do amazing things these days (not saying they will HAVE to) I wish you and baby all the luck in the world xxx

 

[joanna0110]

Hope everything goes well with your scan and you get the answers you need

 

[lauren86]

I hope everything goes well for you tomorrow and you get all the answers you need to put you mind at rest. I know exactly how you must be feeling i have to wait another 5 weeks for my next scan to see if my babys heart has become normal on it's own. Fingers crossed for you keep us posted xx

 

[sweetlady2009]

I had a futher scan with two consultants on 31/12/09 and they said that they think that the fluid in the stomach looks like it has reduce a little bit but they can still she a white area coming up on the scan when they look at the bowels. They said that this is called echogenic bowel but they still could not tell me the exact reason for this. I was told that it could be that the baby had swallowed a bit of blood when i was bleeding in the first few weeks of the 1st trimester but i doubt it is this as my 12 wk scan never showed this problem. I was also told that it could be a abnormal chromosome even though i came up as very low risk when i had my n.t scan. She said that i could have a amniocentesis but was a small risk of miscarriage, 1% which is 1 out of 100 women will lose their baby but that i should think about it first.
When i previously attended my 20 wk scan when i got the news they tested my blood for any infections such as Cytomegalovirus, Toxoplasmosis and Pavovirus. Thankfully they have come back negative but im still awaiting the result for the Pavovirus but the consultant seems to think that this will come back negative as well as im no longer anemic.
The consultants then said they will refer me to UCLH hospital down warren street for me to have a cardiac scan to check the baby's heart. After leaving the two consultants i felt a tiny bit better then i did after speaking to the other consultant when i had my 20 wk scan as they were taling to me about possibly termination and about the baby dying the womb, me still having to go into laour which really, really left me and my partner in distress
on Monday 4th I saw the specialist at UCLH hospital and had a really in dept scan. He said that in his opinion he thinks the fluid in the baby's stomach is moderate and not severe as previously stated on my 20 wk scan print out. He could also still see the white area coming up on the scan over the baby's bowels. This has not got any better or worse from the 20 wk scan. he said that he is cautiosly optimistic that the baby has a perorated bowel and not an abnormal chromosome but could not be 100% sure. He said that i could still have a amniocentesis but said that having that procedure is not on his high list of priority for me to have but for my own piece of mind that i could have the test if i wanted too. We also got tested for cystic fibrosis.
Me and my partner left the room for a bit to discuss it and agreed to have the amniocentesis as the specialist was not 100% sure what the problem was which is fair enough plus i think i could of mentally handled the rest of he pregnancy not knowing.
The consultant who carried out my amnio said my chance of miscarriage was 0.5% which is 1 in 200 due to me having the test at 21wk 5days.
Anyway i got a call today saying that the first part of the test for Down's syndrome, Patau's syndrome, and Edward's syndrome all came negative which we are over the moon about the 2nd part of the test results will be back in 2-3 wks. I was told that if the first part came back ok the second part will most likely will do as well but im not too sure how true this is. I will just wait for the result
Anyway guys i just wanna thank you for your help and support over this distressing time i had to go through. Dont know what i would do without you all xxx

I will keep you all updated

 

[inky]

I'm glad you're getting more in depth care, hopefully you will get some more accurate answers now. Good news about the amnio results you've had so far, I will keep everything crossed for you and the little one

 

[Sam's Mum]

Thanks for the update, and I'm glad everything is sounding more positive. UCLH is a fantastic hospital, so I'm sure you'll get the best care there I hope the second set of results come back all clear as well