While still on vacation in October of 2000, we learned that Jenny was pregnant! Aren't those home pregnancy tests cool? Upon arriving home and having a doctor confirm the pregnancy, we were given a due date of June 13, 2001.
All was going well with the pregnancy, aside from a bit of nasea, and Jenny was esctatic that she didn't have a large weight gain first thing (as she did with Katie). She even started a class at the local YMCA, called Stretch 'n' Tone, that combined stretching with light weight lifting.
However, problems showed up at the standard 20-week ultrasound, in that a large fluid-filled sack was found protruding from the base of the baby's skull. Also noted was a slight enlargement of the lateral ventricles, and the posterior fossa was slightly small, but both of these were considered to be within the normal size range. At that time we were given a tentative diagnosis of a cystic hygroma. No other malformations were found, and the baby's growth was normal for her gestational age.
We were also able to determine at this time that the baby was a girl. Although we weren't given any images of the hygroma at that time, they did give us some images of her face and other body parts. The thumbnail to the right is a link to her face. Jenny is still of the opinion that illicit drugs may help in seeing the face... but in a poor attempt at clarification, Click Here for a scribbled on image.
The image to the left, taken a couple of weeks later (3/26/2001), shows the larger portion of the sack (it has another lobe a little lower down). The sack seems to change shape from time to time as well, and is more elongated in this image than usual. Normally it appears more round, as can be seen in the next two images which were taken April 27, 2001.
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As more images were taken over the next few days, a 'communication' or hole through the skull was noted. However, this was very small. Amniocentesis was performed, and the chromosomal structures are fine. The chromosome analysis also confirmed that the baby is a girl. Trace levels of CSF were noted in the amniotic fluid.
Over the next couple of weeks and months, slight continued swelling of the lateral ventricles combined with the continued presence of a slight hole (as well as the CSF in the amniotic fluid noted earlier) has led to the possibility that the sack is not a cystic hygroma, but may instead be an encephalocele.
Consulation with a neurosurgeon was not able to confirm or deny this diagnosis from the ultrasound images alone--he said that there was still a possibly it is a cystic hygroma. Final diagnosis cannot be made until Jade is born, and possibly not even until after an MRI and/or CAT scan can be performed.
We had a consulation with a pediatric cardiologist, merely to confirm that there were no problems with her heart. He did not find anything of concern, and initially seemed puzzled as to why we were there (as this technician wasn't concerned with Jade's head, the sack never showed up in this particular ultrasound)!
Jade will be born via a scheduled Cesarean section (tentatively scheduled for May 24, 2001), and will most likely undergo surgery for removal of the sack within a day or two of her birth.
