Fluid Around The Heart...Please Help

I went in for my 20 week to go over the ultrasound results. My Dr.
said everything looks perfect except there was "Trace" amounts of
fluid around the babies heart. I immediately freaked out & my Dr. told
me not to worry, there is nothing to worry about & she promises she
would tell me if there was any concern on her part & that she is very
upfront with her patients. They do want to do a repeat ultrasound in 4
weeks just to be sure. I can't help but worry...I know I'm going to
worry myself sick, but I need to listen to my Dr. she really wasn't
concerned at all & said everything else is perfect. Anyone been
through this or know anything about it? Thanks in advance, there is
little info about this on the web =(

There are two key peices of information that should be giving you a clue as
to how freaked out to be about this -- one is the word "trace". There
aren't too many catastrophic things that happen with just a "trace" of
somethign. The second, and more important, is that your doctor isn't
worried about it and has told you not to worry. She's not blowing smoke.
If she were concerned, she'd let you know, and you probably would be going
in for some sort of additional testing, much sooner than just another u/s in
4 weeks.

Try to relax. I know (personally) how scary it is to be told that something
is not right with your baby. But not all somethings "not right" are
catastrophic. Sometimes they are nothing, and sometimes they are minor and
go away on their own, and/or easily fixable. So until you know more, just
try to keep on, keeping on.
--

Jamie Clark



"rchelle3" wrote in message
...
I went in for my 20 week to go over the ultrasound results. My Dr.
said everything looks perfect except there was "Trace" amounts of
fluid around the babies heart. I immediately freaked out & my Dr. told
me not to worry, there is nothing to worry about & she promises she
would tell me if there was any concern on her part & that she is very
upfront with her patients. They do want to do a repeat ultrasound in 4
weeks just to be sure. I can't help but worry...I know I'm going to
worry myself sick, but I need to listen to my Dr. she really wasn't
concerned at all & said everything else is perfect. Anyone been
through this or know anything about it? Thanks in advance, there is
little info about this on the web =(

On Apr 4, 2:10*pm, rchelle3 wrote:
I went in for my 20 week to go over the ultrasound results. My Dr.
said everything looks perfect except there was "Trace" amounts of
fluid around the babies heart. I immediately freaked out & my Dr. told
me not to worry, there is nothing to worry about & she promises she
would tell me if there was any concern on her part & that she is very
upfront with her patients. They do want to do a repeat ultrasound in 4
weeks just to be sure. I can't help but worry...I know I'm going to
worry myself sick, but I need to listen to my Dr. she really wasn't
concerned at all & said everything else is perfect. Anyone been
through this or know anything about it? * Thanks in advance, there is
little info about this on the web =(

I do agree with what Jamie says, follow the lead of the doctor, if
it's just something they want to check on in 4 weeks then chances are,
it really is an incidental finding that means very little. However,
ultimately it is your baby, you are it's advocate, doctors don't
always pick up every problem and the mother's diligence can make a
difference. Did they give you a number, a measurement of the amount of
fluid? This abstract looks reassuring http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7932994,
under 2mm is a normal finding and they looked at outcomes for babies
with 2mm-7mm of fluid around the heart and found in the absence of any
other abnormal finding it didn't change outcomes at all.

Cheers
Anne

Thank you so much for your replies...I had a follow-up today & there
is still a small amount of fluid around the heart...they are referring
me to a high risk OB who will call me soon. I just want some answers
=(

rchelle3 wrote:
I just want some answers

Of course. But the answer you are likely to get is that many
anomalies seen on prenatal scans turn out to be nothing but you don't
know what the outcome will be until it comes. In the meantime you
receive / are subjected to "watch and wait" (WAW). Hang in there.

Pologirl

"Pologirl" wrote in message
...
rchelle3 wrote:
I just want some answers

Of course. But the answer you are likely to get is that many
anomalies seen on prenatal scans turn out to be nothing but you don't
know what the outcome will be until it comes. In the meantime you
receive / are subjected to "watch and wait" (WAW). Hang in there.

Pologirl

And as hard as it may be right now, trust me, "watch and wait" is a far
better answer than -- "incompatible with life." So while it may be scary to
be told that there is *something* going on, praise be that it's something
minor enough to be put in the "watch and wait" category. Watch and wait
pretty almost always goes to term, and can be dealt with after birth. The
other...not so much.
--

Jamie Clark

Jamie Clark wrote:
And as hard as it may be right now, trust me, "watch and wait" is a far
better answer than -- "incompatible with life."

That's for sure. No answer can be a lot better than an answer you
really, really don't like.

Pologirl

Very true....thank you all for your replies. For now I'll just try to
keep a positive attitude =)