I hope that I can provide some good information for mothers-to-be with all of my posts. If you recall many posts ago, I had an additional blood work test for cystic fibrosis. I tested positive, but Gordy tested negative – which is great! If the mom tests positive, you want to be sure that the father tests negative and all should be okay.
I am learning quickly that there will be something to worry about all the way through this 9 month long process. I wasn’t ready to share after our first ultrasound last week that the Dr. found a calcium deposit in the left ventricle of the baby’s heart – weird I know. Here is a bit of information for what it is – It’s called a Foci:
Echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) is a small bright spot seen in the baby’s heart on an ultrasound exam. This is thought to represent mineralization, or small deposits of calcium, in the muscle of the heart. EIFs are a found in about 3-5% of normal pregnancies and cause no health problems. EIFs themselves have no impact on health or heart function. Often the EIF is gone by the third trimester. If there are no problems or chromosome abnormalities, EIFs are considered normal changes, or variants.
It is however an indicator for birth defects – mostly known for indicating Downs Syndrome. I did undergo another blood test – Quad Screen Exam – and the Doctors office just called a few minutes ago with the results – All Clear! If tests come back normal, it strongly indicates that you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. In over 98% of pregnancies, normal quad marker screen results predict healthy babies and births without major complications.
We are scheduled for a more in depth Targeted Sonogram on May 9th with a High Risk Pregnancy Doctor to make sure they are not seeing any birth defects. Between a normal blood test and if the targeted sonogram comes out fine – the baby should be healthy!
I didn’t realize and now know there will always be something to worry about and I am sure this is the start of what’s to come for the next 40 plus years! A worrying parent…
