Yeah, yeah. I couldn't bring myself to push. Sometimes doctors will wait to give the baby more time to develop and carry out repeat scans - this had confused several parents we talked to who had gone for repeat scans not knowing that the baby might have a problem. And, for a few hours, I'm convinced I've made a terrible mistake. It feels very lonely and isolating. It was exactly like the labour I had with my first child. No one else attended and we didn't have a service. We spent the next few weeks in a happy bubble. And having read, since read my information on Edwards' syndrome, a good 85 per cent have problems with the heart. Sometimes doctors will wait to give the baby more time to develop and carry out repeat scans - this had confused several parents we talked to who had gone for repeat scans not knowing that the baby might have a problem. Many parents were shocked by findings from the 20-week and later scans. You have rejected additional cookies. I let out an animal scream and [wife] kind of leapt onto me on the bed. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, NHS fetal anomaly screening programme (FASP), Screening tests for you and your baby (STFYAYB), nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3, more information and details of support groups. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. unfortunately the 20 week anomaly scan can pick up serious issues, hearing heart beats at midwife appointment doesn't let us know what's going on inside the body in detail. It went from bad, to worse, to worse, to dire, then to better. Our nightmare began when I went for my 20-week scan. If you are offered further tests, you will be given more information about them so that you can decide whether or not you want to have them. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. All my plans were beginning to fall down. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. The consultant showed us the letter with our result on and, yes, there were the words "Down's syndrome". I was young, I didn't need one. . DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. 'Soft markers'. Just wonder whether anyone had ever been told? The pain was excruciating, but nothing compared to how I felt inside. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. . I was booked back in to discuss management options, if nothing had happened. She describes having to make a . It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. Health professionals use the 18-20 week scan to examine the baby's size and position, and also to check if his/her brain, heart, lungs and other internal organs are developing as expected. At the time the same thing had, exactly the same thing had happened to my friend a month before, and her scan was absolutely fine. I know its hard- but i really wouldnt worry about it too much as the worry will stress you and your body out. Had 34wk scan last week and all is well - of all the babies found to have a two vessel cord, was told less than 6% experience any growth issues etc. That he - I think I was 21 weeks and 3 days, and he was coming up at 19 weeks and 4 days, or something like that. Registered office: Nicholas House, 3 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BB. So we went home, me to rest in an attempt to prevent miscarriage, my partner to reassure us both. Tommys is a registered charity in England and Wales (1060508) and Scotland (SC039280). And as, and as soon as I saw the pictures of the scan, having had two normal pregnancies, even I could see that there was a marked contrast between this pregnancy and the pictures that I'd had previously. Rather sharply, my partner tried to explain. But at the 20 week scan, which was on a Wednesday, we saw the nurse at the local hospital, the sonographer, and she did a scan and she found that the femur length was quite short in the, in the fetus. So we went home really and I sort of had to think about it all night. Because, when you're angry with the world for dealing you such a shit time, you begin to hate the people who populate it. The doctor told me he was 98% sure this was a failing twin pregnancy. The same rush of excitement. Despite this new discovery, the sonographer was still concerned. But worse was to come. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. As you felt that, you know, it was probably going to show lots of problems and it just wasn't what we wanted, but at the same time we needed to sort of see it and, we needed to prove it I suppose. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. So carried on with the plans, and, you know, planning for the, another baby to come along and then we went for a 20- week scan which is obviously the big one and very exciting, seeing all the arms and legs and once again everything was going fine, 'Look here's the baby, here's the length of baby'. But it's bloody hard being miserable the whole time. Back on the EPU unit, a doctor organised for me to be admitted into the ward, to take the medical management under supervision as the sac was now to big for me to safely miscarry on my own at home. It is also sometimes referred to as the mid-pregnancy scan. There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. The first midwife seemed to understand what we were trying to say, and said she would ask the doctor to come and talk to us. I was becoming numb to the whole process. He suggested he perform an amniocentesis immediately, to rule out any chromosomal problems. And how wrong could they be? I think I don't everything just seems a real blur because it was, it was such a strange experience. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. And I could see, before she even said anything I could see that there was something wrong with the heart. I hated my body and hated every feeling I was having. In this information, the word we refers to the NHS service that provides screening. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. It was sick. . And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. Sometimes women were told that the sonographer had found a 'marker' or sign of a chromosomal condition and had to wait for an amniocentesis to confirm the findings. No discussion, no quiet contemplation. I went home feeling crushed; Sam and I both felt helpless. Mm-hm. Could you tell? It's, I mean you can't tell from these scans what you're looking at really, but I remember thinking, 'it just doesn't look quite right' or something, but I didn't give it much thought. I believed at this point I had miscarried, they wanted me to come back I'm for a follow up scan. So that was it. I was willing the results to be normal. I don't know how we got through the next couple of days. On the next shift, the new midwife asked us again. The scan was inconclusive, but the size of my little bump was measuring a lot smaller than it should have for 10 weeks. So obviously quite relaxed. My partner spent the weekend trying to convince me that things were OK. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. It is as though our pain means we've earned the right to be taken more seriously. Sam followed and I broke down. I think I was about 20 weeks cos they, the hospital I think did the 12 and the 20, that was their standard thing and, yeah, so I got the 20 weeks one. It felt like a lifetime to reach our 12-week-scan. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. But that was too easy. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. After that I got, I, it was about in, in 19-, hang on a minute, 2001 I got pregnant again, slightly unexpectedly. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. I had hope that the little bumps inside me were fighting just as much as I was to stay with me. Specialist scans are performed in specialist fetal units and if clinicians feel that there might be problems scanning will be done up to 32 weeks. I think what everyone is saying is that most likely outcome is that there are no problems at all. It's been a heartbreaking nightmare. My partner tried to remain calm, and at my request rang my mum. Others, including those who had been given leaflets to read about the scan beforehand as well as some who were health professionals, said that they had been nave about the 20-week scan. Nights were impossible. I remember thinking, 'Gosh' I now know it was a girl, I didn't know that then, that, 'She looks just like her brother'. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. I did think it was a bit strange that she wasn't talking, and then she sort of said, 'Oh, I think there's a problem. That was an extremely difficult day. And it turned out the baby's heart wasn't forming properly, the chambers weren't forming properly. We talked about the different sorts of pain relief I could have and I opted for a morphine drip, which I could control. I've still had no cramps or bleeding so fingers crossed everything is ok I just couldn't believe I fell down the stairs, I can't remember the last time I ever did that! I had to be rescanned latter. Then, three days later, I would go to the labour ward - the ward I had been expecting to visit in two and a half months. I remember thinking, 'that doesn't look quite right'. The baby kicked, blissfully unaware of what I had done. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. I remained positive, we researched lots of cases of mistaken dates, inconclusive scans, and compared them to our situation; scrutinising everything to try and believe it was all one big misunderstanding. For five months my body had known there was something wrong, yet I had felt fantastic. Perhaps because we are alone in this, it has brought my partner and me very close. Baby loss support An hour passed and I started to panic. So I was, they couldn't actually finish the scan then, the baby was moving around too much, so they couldn't scan the heart and the stomach. I popped out from work, telling my boss I'd be back in half an hour. I felt more informed, and I felt that that was what I needed in my head to see you know, that I've got to accept now that this, all these things are real on the screen and this was really my baby that's suffering all these things [sighs], but I was sad as well. So I took the test and jumped in the shower. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." And I can just remember flashing a look at you as if to say, 'Have I made a mistake here somewhere? The 18-20 week antenatal scan and further tests, Ending the pregnancy for family & personal reasons, Deciding whether to see, hold and name the baby, Photographs and other mementoes of the baby, Saying goodbye to the baby - services & funerals, Coping with bereavement - women's experiences, Coping with bereavement - men's experiences, Men's ideas about their role in ending a pregnancy. The week that followed was an agonising wait. An appointment should be arranged as soon as possible and ideally within three working days. Tissue paper will be tucked around your clothing to protect it from the ultrasound gel, which will then be put on your tummy. If this happens, you will be offered one further scan by 23 weeks of pregnancy. It sounds crazy, but I just knew. b>Bad news at 20 week scan. 20 week scans look for 11 different anomalies as a rule, however, indicators (markers) are not terribly reliable and in all the literature I found, the targets set for stonographers look like they only pick up around 50% or less of these variants. Some people want to find out if their baby has one of the 11 conditions and some do not. Most scans are carried out by specially trained staff called sonographers. But everything seemed fine and we'd been sitting waiting to see the consultant, and I'd had an examination on the bed. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. The consultant at the time wasn't really that interested in that imagery. 15/02/2014 08:02. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". The doctor didn't come. And you could see, where you should have a picture of 4 chambers, you could really see 2.