7.6mm Nuchal Fold at 20 week scan but low risk NIPT
Hey All! I am looking for some advice/ support from those who have gone through a similar experience.
My husband and I are expecting our second baby in September. We have one healthy daughter and outside of a very early chemical pregnancy right before this one, we’ve had no issues with getting pregnant. This pregnancy has been extremely different from my first in that we’ve had one issue or another from the start. We started off strong with a low risk NIPT test at 10-11 weeks, which was amazing news. Then at our 13 week scan, the MFM flagged that he saw a 2.9cm subchorionic hematoma by the placenta/cervix. But our nuchal translucency was normal at 1.68mm. After that we had another scan at 17weeks to track the hematoma and were told that it had grown to 5.9cm and that I was now at high risk for a miscarriage and was put low activity and pelvic rest. They also flagged choroid plexus cysts in the fetus’s brain. That really worried as us we know it is a soft marker for Trisomy 18. We were assured by our OB that these cysts normally go away and that it seems to be in isolation and that the hematoma was a bigger concern.
Well I took it extremely slow from then on and was worried sick about the cysts but there was nothing we could do until our 20 week detailed anatomy scan. We completed that last Thursday (at 20 weeks 5 days) and were told that the hematoma and the cysts were not seem in the scan and that overall the baby is growing well and seems to be on track. They then flagged that they noticed the nuchal fold was thickened to 7-7.6mm. The MFM said since our NIPT was low risk (done at 10 weeks) and because the nuchal translucency at 13 week was normal (1.68mm), they felt like this was a weak finding for now. They recommended another scan at 28/30 weeks to see if baby is still growing normally.
I understand that may be true but when I looked into the nuchal fold being thickened online I learned that this is one of the most dangerous soft markers and normally people are recommended to go on to get an amniocentesis. I spoke to a midwife at our practice today and they have now scheduled time with a genetic counsellor this week to talk through our odds and potential choices.
We are sooo torn on what to do. We don’t want to do anything to harm our baby since we were already high risk for preterm labor due to the hematoma. I’ve read that amnio can potentially cause a miscarriage. However, we also don’t want to wait until 28 weeks to find out our baby has trisomy 21 or other issues and then have to potentially make super tough decision very late in the pregnancy. This baby is very much wanted but thinking about a future with a special needs child is really tough. Have any of you been through something like this? A nuchal fold of 7.6 sounds so large. My daughters in comparison at this gestation age was 3.9mm. Just super stressed out and need some support. Thanks!