And they actually asked my husband to come in before they spoke to me. And the local hospital wanted to send us off to the regional hospital to actually confirm that, and were not really prepared to say at that time that there was something very seriously wrong. I would be put to sleep, and when I woke up I wouldn't be pregnant any more. Not a good sign in a hospital consulting room. When I think about how long it took them to deliberate ultimately, maybe not, but it just felt like a bit of a fast food situation, didn't it? Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and over again. That was the first time I had heard him cry. No, you couldn't see there was anything wrong. We would terminate the pregnancy. DS had 2 soft markers: talipes (club foot) and 'echogenic locii' somewhere - heart I think. Yeah - in, stomach, out. On January 18, my baby was born, at 23 weeks - a little boy. I still feel guilty, I still cry at random times. I broke down and started hitting my disgusting body that had done this. And I felt like a murderer. It feels very lonely and isolating. I should stop being dramatic and pessimistic. It was probably all right but hadn't had any fluid in it at the moment. If you choose not to have the scan you can still have all other parts of your routine antenatal care. This scan takes place between 18 weeks and 20 weeks 6 days of pregnancy and is commonly called the 20-week scan. It can be such a shock so do whatever you need to feel better. 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. My belly was growing and I was feeling great. Wishing to be anywhere, but here being told the same agonising truth over and . Purpose of screening. And you could see, where you should have a picture of 4 chambers, you could really see 2. So we had to go in and out a couple of times, and we were just waiting around for ages and ages. Sometimes specialist scans such as 3D scans, or MRI scans, are used to examine the baby in greater detail. It went from bad, to worse, to worse, to dire, then to better. The 18 -20 week fetal anomaly scan is a watershed in most pregnancies because for the majority of women it will be the last time they are scanned before giving birth. It was just sort of deadpan faces, very serious looks, someone else coming to check. 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. So on the Monday we went in to see the senior sonographer, I think she was a consultant at the hospital. It's quite common, perhaps 1 in 10 they find these, and within a few weeks they disappear. The next day, it was confirmed that my bloods had again dropped. This was on the Friday. And I'm glad I did and she's glad she didn't. Chances of bad news at 20 week scan mumsnet We had amnio and then spent a week in absoute anguish waiting for the outcome which was no trisomies. The scan yet again confirmed things were not good, however the sac had grown. (See. It was a bit worrying but on the plus side I got an extra couple of scans and an extra couple of pictures. The thing about that which I felt was difficult is that we could tell when being scanned that there was something very seriously wrong. We, I was with my mum, and they scanned and found choroid plexus cysts on the brain, which is just a mark, it's a marker on the brain, it's a, what they call a 'soft marker'. Maybe. Thick milky discharge at 14 weeks.tmi pic attached. I had to stop myself from yanking out the needle. And I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. Picture every packed football staduim up and down the country - all healthy pregnancies and births. Looked exactly like our two year old as a baby. As two youngest siblings, we were both permanently stuck in the irresponsible, childish role. I returned to be told they wanted to scan me again, another internal to see exactly what was happening. I felt empty, scared, guilty and incredibly heartbroken. And with each one we had to have the same conversations. Thankfully I was met by an amazing sonographer, she was compassionate and understanding. 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. I was given a leaflet and told to return four days later to see the consultant. 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. Bad news at 20 week scan, please help. | Mumsnet Last updated July 2017. She didn't say at the time that it was a major problem or that it was something to watch out for. And I, and, I felt the weight of deciding what to do about it. But the closeness has remained after the drama has died down. Fine, go on my own. I'm trying to understand because I haven't seen a 3-D scan, what it tells the parents? Eventually, the midwife said to us very sweetly, "I think we should deliver the baby now." But that was too easy. I used to think the feeling of your baby kicking inside you and the sight of a foot poking against your skin were the most fantastic things in the world. So we hid in our house. And it all seemed so near at hand, you know, 31, 30 weeks, you feel like you're nearly, you're on the home stretch. This does not mean there is anything to worry about. I had an appointment with my consultant 2 days later, and again he said, you know, 'Very common - shouldn't worry about it too much, you know, if, the problem is if they find anything else wrong'. It doesn't remove the guilt, but I don't know what else to do. And the first few things they said it didn't sound as thing, as though things were terribly wrong. He then told us what the prognosis would mean for the child. No sort of questions about, 'Do you want to know whether it's a boy or a girl?' Entering the labour ward, I waited for someone to say, "Go home, you are 16 weeks too early." Sam followed and I broke down. It would be a personal tragedy for my partner and me, but that is all. Well, at the regional hospital it was a 3-D scan. She endured many agonising rounds of scans and tests, and unfortunately met with some unhelpful attitudes from some healthcare professionals. The blood test confirmed it was twins. 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. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. 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), tbh, they never give you good news at scans. Sometimes a post mortem was needed to confirm the 20-week diagnosis to see if the baby had inherited a genetic problem (such as Fowler syndrome - see 'Resources'). We must have had one before that as well, we must have had one before that, but it came back quite normal. We don't know, but it's not looking good'. Again, no notes can have been written down because the midwife asked the same question. The clinic advised a follow up scan the week after, to check on progress and to see what to do next. I felt crushed, I wanted him to at least acknowledge what had been found already. 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). Has anyone been told the sex incorrectly at their 20 week scan? These were said to be soft markers fo a range of trisomies, 2 of which were incompatible with life. After the triple test you stop thinking, you stop thinking that anything can go wrong. I took my vitamins, stuck to the healthy diet and put on a brave face. It is impossible to escape them and each one underlines your loss. This article was amended on 24 November 2015 to anonymise the writer. Your mind has closed to the possibility that there could be anything wrong. I felt the dread run through me. I had to wait for a doctor to explain the situation. Specialist scans My partner watched the baby come out, and for a split second I saw a look of joy on his face. Nice people shouldn't hear about what we'd done. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. He was tiny, perfect and a Down's syndrome baby. I know it is still early days. I didn't think my instincts were worth much. By my own hand, I had to end the pregnancy. See you in -. Seated in the antenatal clinic with lots of expectant mothers with baby bumps. Well send you a link to a feedback form. Still, the consultant thought things would be OK. Living in this world must be unbearable for them. Forcing my hand to my mouth to take the tablet was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. And as soon as she said those words, both of us were like, 'Well what's wrong?'. He told me that they may want to do blood tests, but that 'he didn't see the point'. And, so they sent me home at that stage because they said the specialist wasn't available till the following day, which was awful. But now that's changed. 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? 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. I had my little leaflet, printed off leaflet about choroid plexus cysts. The consultant explained that this was just very bad luck and not, as far as they knew, genetic. 2022. And again, you know, you read all the books and it tells you 'this is the diagnostics', but after a while you don't hear that inside your head any more No, no, no, I'm fine - because everything's perfect. 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. Though the 18-20 week scan can detect when certain parts of the baby's body have grown abnormally, it may not be possible for clinicians to identify why it has happened or make a firm diagnosis based on the scan alone. I have horrible thoughts. We'll make an appointment with the senior sonographer, the consultant at the local hospital, and she'll do your scan and she'll be able to tell you more things'. I was told this was common as my body and hormones still thought I was pregnant. We couldn't say we'd lost the baby, because he was still kicking away, but we couldn't pretend everything was fine, either. And my husband, we never got to sit next to each other in the consulting room, my husband was across the room from me, and I was sat next to the consultant, and we were laughing and joking with him about, you know, the home delivery, and everything was going to be, 'Are you still on for the home delivery?' So at least then we went to that next stage prepared for the worst really. Sometimes it is difficult to get good views of a baby. 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. Intellectually, I knew this was not the case. I could hardly breathe. So we decided to book an early 10 week private scan. So that just left the talipes. We were bound to each other because of the blood that was on both our hands. Previous scans in this pregnancy and with my first child had been fun - a chance to see the baby wriggling around and perhaps find out its sex. hi ladies. But I was struggling mentally with the anguish, grief and endless hospital visits. We had to discuss what we wanted to do with the little body after delivery. I give obsessively to charity, especially those linked to sick children. For example, the babys brain, kidneys, internal organs or bones may not have developed properly. 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. Some things can be seen more clearly than others. 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! The contractions started very quickly and within an hour my waters had broken. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me, 'it didn't look good' and that 'my womb looked raggedy'. 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]. That they could have spotted something, or not? She asked me how far gone I thought we were, and if I could have been mistaken. I was saving my child from pain and suffering. Some of the conditions that can be seen on the scan will mean the baby may need treatment or surgery after it is born, for example cleft lip. Our baby was beautiful. So instead, I was advised to go home and let nature take its course. Tears started to roll down my face. 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). It was far too much power; neither of us wanted it. He started to scan me with a cold expression, then told me - Tommy's There is more detailed information about the main conditions that are looked for during this scan on NHS.UK. We just couldn't use the words. I couldn't work out what was taking so long and put it down to the doctor being young and inexperienced.