And you know, we were laughing and joking. This image shows a baby's face and hands at 20 weeks, and gives you an idea of what you'll be able to see at this scan. You have accepted additional cookies. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and . Abortion has never raised any moral dilemmas for me and I am an atheist, so there are no religious issues. [Husband] couldn't make it. It was just a few little things like the kidneys were hard to find, and the stomach was hard to find, but that might be because it wasn't filled with fluid. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Having the scan does not hurt but the sonographer may need to apply slight pressure to get the best views of your baby. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, "it didn't look good" and that "my womb looked raggedy". It was positive, and I felt elated. The appointment usually takes around 30 minutes. And even at that early stage it was beginning to sink in that there was something really not right. The hormone levels had dropped, but they wanted to scan me again. For instance a couple who knew their baby was 'on the small size' were told he was fine at the 18-20 week scan, but discovered at 32 weeks that he had microcephaly. I mean, you just, you're just overwhelmed, it's so much fun. 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 they took us out of the scanning room, into a more quiet room while they typed up the report. But he was not sure. Last reviewed July 2017. If an abnormality is confirmed or suspected, referral is usually required, although some obvious major fetal abnormalities, such as anencephaly, may not require a second opinion (this should be decided by local guidelines). Last updated July 2017. The doctor explained the options I had to manage my miscarriage. This might be uncomfortable. 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. Within two days I was waiting in my local EPU unit for further tests. You have rejected additional cookies. And so we talked about it euphemistically, never saying the word "research". I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. And I remember, the first thing I remember when something might be wrong, was I saw, I finally, we finally saw an image of the skull on the screen, and there appeared to be a sort of black hole shape in the middle. I couldn't work out what was taking so long and put it down to the doctor being young and inexperienced. 18-20 week scans provide clinicians with more information than earlier scans because by18 weeks a healthy baby should be larger and better developed. Do you have any thoughts about that? Very occasionally this second scan cannot be completed, for example because: In this case you will not be offered another screening scan but you will offered an all over physical examination for your baby after birth. It was another consultant, who said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news - your baby has Down's syndrome." It seemed a very arbitrary system, and so you quite often sat outside in the waiting room for a couple of hours before you actually got to see the consultant, which was, seemed you know, I kind of remember thinking before we went in to see him on the particular day when we found out there was a problem, 'Why are we sitting here? So it was just, we were coming up to the 20-week scan and I was just getting more relaxed, just actually starting to look at maybe baby catalogues or, you know, going down the baby aisle at the shops, which I'd always avoided. The first result, which tells you if the baby has Down's syndrome, is ready in three days, but the other chromosomal problems cannot be eliminated for up to three weeks. My wife had been very, very healthy, more healthy than the first pregnancy, and of course was shattered by the fact that the news, the news was appalling, very serious faces. Scans cannot find all conditions. Some parents wondered if it was possible to have the same scan done at 16 weeks rather than 20 weeks. Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). All the time, the baby was kicking and I felt like a murderer waiting to strike her victim. Smiling at myself and picturing me and Sam becoming parents. (See. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. He sounded like a wild animal in pain, deep pain. 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. And shortly after that, that scan we'd finished and the consultant leant back and said, 'I'm afraid we have some problems here'. You've had a scan, you've had the blood tests, you've been good. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further, important decisions. I was then told yet again bad news. I want to be nice again. Did you, how did that scan make you feel? We strongly advise readers not to take drugs that are not prescribed by your qualified healthcare provider. So at least then we went to that next stage prepared for the worst really. You may need to have a full bladder when you come for the appointment. We'd sort of put those discussions to the back of our mind, and then all of a sudden there are other abnormalities so yeah it was a bit a bit of a shocker [laughs]. Our baby was beautiful. And of course some other measurements she needed to take like the width of the skull, which she couldn't take because the fetus was in the wrong position. So at 20 weeks I went for my scan with my husband, with my daughter, to get our photographs. Sam followed and I broke down. We went in, had a scan, I can't remember the exact sequence of events because the baby was still in the wrong position. By this point I had stopped bleeding, this caused problems. I am a darker, harder version of myself. Many described how sonographers and doctors were very restrained and didn't speak at all until they had analysed all the baby's details. And I knew there was no way out. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk. I was disgusted - disgusted that such a tablet existed, let alone that I should have to take it. 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. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. We left for home feeling completely numb. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. I faced another internal scan where I began to feel helpless and alone. Can you describe the difference between the scan at this later stage in a pregnancy? We spent the next few weeks in a happy bubble. But that was too easy. I had never imagined having an amniocentesis. In a small number of cases some very serious conditions are found. And so began the most bizarre day of my life. But now that's changed. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. Although the anomaly scan is often called a 20-week scan, you may have it any time between 18 and 22 weeks, although it's usually done between 18 and 20 weeks. 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. Some hospitals do offer earlier anomaly scans of the baby, but they will not show as much detail as scans performed between 18 and 20weeks. While some parents understood the clinician's restraint - even when they had to wait an hour or more for a definite diagnosis - others disliked being kept in suspense and wanted to be told what the clinician was thinking. I have horrible thoughts. My partner really wanted me to, and by that time I had no sense of what was right or what I should do. The scan yet again confirmed things were not good, however the sac had grown. Please note that the opinions expressed by users in Tommys Book of #misCOURAGE are solely those of the user, who is unlikely to have had medical training. And she said that, you know, as the, if the baby did develop further there would probably be other problems with internal organs that weren't really that visible at that stage. We didn't name him. Dont include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details. Surely he couldn't have missed anything else that is so serious x. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. And, faced with feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for my child, I know which I'd choose. And so, yeah we got to, carried on with the pregnancy, kept seeing the consultant, kept sitting in the waiting room outside, because there was a terribly long waiting time sometimes, depending on what time you had the appointment. We bought a two tests that evening (quite lucky as I messed the first one up!). 17/12/2020 17:13. So and you could see the exomphalus, this little pouch, which was obviously just the intestines where they are. It felt as if we had gone power crazy. So he was about two weeks smaller than what he should have been. When I told him what had happened, he refused to believe anything was wrong and said he'd sort it out when he came home. As though I went power mad for a week, killing my innocent unborn child, and now I am tainted for ever. But on, in the middle of March, 10th March it was, we had a 20 week scan. All women are offered a dating scan, and an 18- 20 week fetal anomaly ultrasound scan, in line with NICE and UK National Screening Committee recommendations. It took 20 minutes to push him out. I endured 12 hours of medication and in the early hours February 7, 56 days after my first scan (at nearly 18 weeks), I miscarried our babies. The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. A black and white picture of your baby will then be seen on the ultrasound screen. But for those few days they were torture. She brought up a picture of the heart on the screen. I felt I needed proof of what was wrong before I take such a huge decision and that I couldn't do it based on what someone had written on, on the paper. Three midwives came and went. ABDOMINAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT AT 20 WEEK SCAN. We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. the amniocentesis) and the pregnancy had already ended, or because the scan was not routinely offered in their region 5 or more years ago. Hugely upset that to think that the baby was so poorly. At which point they turned round and said, 'Well, there is something very seriously wrong with the baby, we don't know exactly what, but you do need to have a more in-depth scan at your regional hospital to find out the detail'. Eventually she got the measurements she wanted. But you know I knew we had, we had to make a decision that was right for the baby as well. So he went out for a walk. There was a very marked lack of amniotic fluid which made it difficult, not even for the scanners to see, that made the picture of the scan look very, very different. He felt strong and fit and healthy. So I sort of went home quite, fairly kind of happy and I, at, at this point I hadn't any idea things could go wrong anyway. Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. And they took me into another room. I think the whole experience has made me a pretty nasty person. There were also two spots on his heart, which were "soft markers" for Down's syndrome. Again the legs were quite twisted, they said that the baby's sternum was very short - things weren't in proportion you know - the head was quite large, the neck was very thick, there wasn't really like a neck as such it was just things were kind of - there were lots of things that obviously the consultant could see that we weren't aware of. I had a horrible feeling of relief. But other than that everything was fine. For women who have been given distressing news about their baby during the scan, there should be a health professional available to provide immediate support. Most hospitals do not allow children to attend scans as childcare is not usually available. Desperately trying to hold onto the glimmer of hope we'd been given. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. We're still not at the end of our journey, but we're much further along. Except for the persistent, nagging doubts. Two days, after on Christmas Eve, (my 12 week date) I had more blood tests. But he was wrong. I didn't want to be convincing him to agree with me. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. Living in this world must be unbearable for them. Emma was 20 weeks' pregnant when a routine scan revealed that the baby she was expecting had Down's syndrome and heart problems. 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. So we gave up and said we'd arrange the funeral ourselves. They said the brain was okay -, We were in there for a matter of minutes, literally -, In and out. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Mm-hm. My partner tried to remain calm, and at my request rang my mum. This is not what I imagined pregnancy to feel like', Baby Loss Awareness Week - Voice Five - Bryony Seabrook. But worse was to come. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. She just said, 'It's a bit short, it needs to be checked' again basically. He had to come to the decision by himself. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. I agreed to an internal scan as the sonographer said we could get a better picture of what was happening. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. The sonographer will be able to tell you the results of the scan at the time. Not marginalised into being a victim. It was a bit worrying but on the plus side I got an extra couple of scans and an extra couple of pictures. It was sick. All my plans were beginning to fall down. Everywhere you look, there are happy, fat, smug pregnant women. It was horrible. From losing my dad to his battle with cancer, to then having to face another battle with cancer and my mum; thankfully she pulled though. I get terribly irritated by my close friends and family. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. For example, some babies have a condition called open spina bifida, which affects the spinal cord. Parents get a chance to emotionally adapt to news and plan. 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. We both thought we would like some good to come out of this horrible experience, so wanted to talk to somebody about the possibility of using the body for research purposes.