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You typically don't want to hear a health care professional say, "I don't want you to panic, but..." That's what I heard in late February.
The Spud's second sonogram turned up a choroidal plexus cyst. These cysts, by themselves, are harmless. They appear in 1-2% of all healthy fetuses and typically go away by week 28 or so. They are also a "soft marker" for Down syndrome, though (and something called Edward's syndrome). If my blood work had been abnormal, or if I was older, or if the sonogram had showed any other signs of Down's in the Spud, the cyst might be enough reason to get an amniocentisis done.
But I'm low-risk. So the chance of the cyst "meaning" anything was very, very small. I understand prior probabilities and Bayes' Rule. And I believe I mostly succeeded in not panicking. (Although I suspect an impulse purchase of a jewelry armoire was related.) I especially liked this article, Obstetrical sonography: the best way to terrify a pregnant woman, which addresses the problem of what to do with this information from the doctor's point of view.
And indeed, on Monday, I had a follow-up sonogram. The cyst is gone; the Spud is healthy and growing well - he's even a week ahead of the curve. I'm not sure if baby fingers and toes are objectively the most adorable things ever, or if that's just the perception because they're one of the few things an untrained viewer can instantly recognize on a sonogram.
The Spud: now six to eight weeks for delivery. Insurance will thankfully cover shipping and handling.
The Spud's second sonogram turned up a choroidal plexus cyst. These cysts, by themselves, are harmless. They appear in 1-2% of all healthy fetuses and typically go away by week 28 or so. They are also a "soft marker" for Down syndrome, though (and something called Edward's syndrome). If my blood work had been abnormal, or if I was older, or if the sonogram had showed any other signs of Down's in the Spud, the cyst might be enough reason to get an amniocentisis done.
But I'm low-risk. So the chance of the cyst "meaning" anything was very, very small. I understand prior probabilities and Bayes' Rule. And I believe I mostly succeeded in not panicking. (Although I suspect an impulse purchase of a jewelry armoire was related.) I especially liked this article, Obstetrical sonography: the best way to terrify a pregnant woman, which addresses the problem of what to do with this information from the doctor's point of view.
And indeed, on Monday, I had a follow-up sonogram. The cyst is gone; the Spud is healthy and growing well - he's even a week ahead of the curve. I'm not sure if baby fingers and toes are objectively the most adorable things ever, or if that's just the perception because they're one of the few things an untrained viewer can instantly recognize on a sonogram.
The Spud: now six to eight weeks for delivery. Insurance will thankfully cover shipping and handling.
