18 weeks with EIF and CPC

[jls7780]

Hello Everyone,

Let me start by saying this website had been my saving grace since my ultrasound on monday.  All of your information and positive stories have really helped me "try" to stay calm!  Ok...  I am 29 and my husband is 27, this is our first pregnancy.  At my 18w3d ultrasound everything seemed to go well and we found out we are having a little girl, well a few hours later a doctor from my OBGYN office called us and informed us that our baby has an isolated CPC and and isloated EIF.  Of course this has sent me into a panic and downward spiral of crying and walking around like a zombie, just in a total daze.  I can hardly talk to my husband without crying.  The doctor said we should not really worry at all, but how can I not worry when they tell me these soft markers are linked to Trisomy 18 and 21?  I can handle Trisomy 21, although it is not how I envisioned my babies life, we can handle it.  I can't even wrap my head around Trisomy 18.  My doctor also said that everything else looks perfect, and that isolated markers shouldn't even be linked to Trisomy 18 and 21, and they used to see these things all the time and for some reason or another, they tell us now and send us into this nightmare.  We passed on the quad sceen because of the false positives, and now look at where we are...  We are going to a genetic counselor tomorrow and then I guess they do another ultrasound and give us the option of an Amnio (which we are NOT doing).  My doctor said the risk of and Amnio far out weighs the chances that our child will be born with a chromsome abnormality.  Any advice to calm me down is greatly appreiciated, Thank you for your time.

[Been_There]

Your doctor's correct -- isolated findings like CPCs andEIF do not significantly change risk factor from what it already would be if the findings weren't present. It is even debateable whether there is an actual weak correlation between T21 and EIF, but regardless if one does exist it is very weak. As for t18, most but not all cases present with major abnormalities showing up on US such as severe heart defects, structural abnormalities and severe growth restrictions. If these weren't present that is more significant than the presence of the CPC and is a good sign. The genetics counselor can help you better ascertain risk in your specific situation. Best wishes to you - let us know what you find out.

[jls7780]

Thank you Been There,

I think I can speak for most people on this board that your words truly carry us through the day!  We are going to our level 2 ultrasound today, hopefully they tell us not to worry as the doctor did on monday night.  If anyone reads this today, please keep my family especially our baby girl in your thought and prayers today.  Thank you all!  I will update as soon as I can.

[jls7780]

We went in for gentic counseling on Thursday and the doctor said that we have nothing to worry about.  She said our baby looks healthy and said she saw everything on the 1st ultrsound and that we didn't need to do a 2nd (however we are doing a follow up ultrasound in 8 weeks to see if they have gone away).  She said they typically do not even say anything when they find 1 marker, our baby had 2 isolated markers for 2 different chromosome abnormalities (1cpc and 1 eif), so in our opinion we would have rather not been told either!  She said they are very small and right were they typically see them.  She said they see them on ultrasounds every day.  She said it might increase our risk from .1% to 1.1%

I just wish the maternal fetal medicine office we went to, when they have these findings and feel the need to share this news, would do so at the time of your appointment and NOT have some random doctor call you 4 hours later, after saying everything looks perfect and your initial appointment.  Then tell you to google CPC's and EIF's and Trisomy 18 and 21...  ugh, it really disgusts me how this was handled.  Had we had this genetic counseling appointment right away, following our ultrasounds, I wouldn't have freaked out nearly as bad as I did this past week. 

Anyway, we are putting this behind us and moving forward with a happy healthy pregnancy.  I will continue to pray for all families that are told this frightening news and that doctors become more informed on these topics before scaring the life out of expectant parents.  May peace be with each and everyone of you.

[Lavender]

We also had the findings of a CPC and EIF on our 18 week ultrasound.  When I spoke to my OB about it, he said that in his 30 years of practice, he has never seen this be a problem.  He did not even offer us an amnio, as he felt that since our nuchal test and bloods were good and that these markers are nothing to worry about, then we didn't need it.   He said the only reason he would conduct an amnio was for my peace of mind.  No other reason.

I don't think he really knows what all the fuss is about!  We have decided not to go ahead with amnio as I would NEVER forgive myself if something happened to the baby and it was all for no reason.

[jls7780]

I just wanted to update, we had our follow up ultrasound this morning,  I am 29w4d...

My baby Blakely had a Choroid Plexus Cyst (soft maker for Trisomy 18) @ 18w2d... and today at our 2nd anatomy scan, it was GONE!!!  Little girl is measuring closer to 30 weeks, which is good to hear since before they said she was smaller.  Our ultrasound tech showed us everything and was even training someone, so we got to hear what she was looking for and why and what she actually found (no scary silence) and we even got to see her hair, lol... I didn't know you could see that on an ultrasound! 

For all of her measurments she is in the 60th-70th percentile, weighing in at nearly 3lbs!  Also she is head down (which I already knew) with good amniotic fluid...  just wanted to share my good news!  It has been about 10 weeks since I could exhale all of this worry and I even started to cry during my ultrasound when they said her CPC was gone... 

As for her EIF, that is still there.  It is extremly small and no one seems to be remotely worried about it.  Before we started the ultrasound, our tech said it will probably still be there, they usually are and she has seen "gazillions" of them and they mean nothing!  I hope this update helps someone, somehow, because I know how scary this time can be, and it can be helpful (at least it was for me) to hear that these findings do go away. 

[Lavender]

That's great news.  I am in a very similar situation, and will be going to my follow up ultrasound next week.

Thanks for the update.

[jls7780]

I keep forgetting to get back on here and update everybody!  I had my healthy baby girl on January 15th 2010!  She had 1 CPC  found at roughly 19 weeks (which was gone by week 30) and 1 EIF, also found at roughly 19 weeks,  which never disappeared ( from my understanding they rarely do).

Just wanted to update and hopefully give hope to someone who has to go through the same thing we did. 

[Lavender]

Thanks so much for the update and sharing the news of the birth of your precious daughter.  My baby had the same markers at our 18 week ultrasound.  The CPC was gone on our 28 week ultrasound, and the EIF was gone at our 37 week ultrasound.  Bub is due next week, so I will let you all know the outcome.

[1stDoodlebug]

Great news jls7780, so happy for you... it is also my first pregnacy at 32 and I felt like I waited so long for the perfect timing and eveyrtihng and I got the same news... isolated CPC... I have been spent nights crying and not knowing what to do... reading this blog for the past month has REALLY helped me and I really thank everyone for sharing their stories... The CPC was found at our 17 week ultrasound... same thing found out the sex... a GIRL and we were on top of the world.  Had the ultrasound on Friday and got the call on Monday that this was wrong... I flipped out... they made the appt for the Level II and we went out.  The tech told use she saw 4 people just that day with the same thing... we were told our odds were 1 and 10,000 (something) for T18 and 1 in 4700 for downs.. ARE THESE ODDS in my babies FAVOR? 

I almost wanted the Amnio, but my husband did not...and the doctor did not recommend it either, but I wanted to be sure...I want to enjoy my pregnancy not worry... my husband is 38 and I am 32, this may be our only child and I just feel like am I to blame?  I am so happy to read that these go away and everyone is having healthy babies... I pray everyday.  I am 21 weeks now and I did the same called my doctor and said I couldn't wait for the level II, but I am almost thinking I should have waited to see if they went away further down the line... or can I request another to see?  The doctor that came in at the end of my level II said even if the CPC didn't go away, it didn't effect brain function or anything... and all other signs were good.. the cleft lip they checked for and like 40+ other things, the woman said is the protocol for CPC level II.

Well again, these happy endings are wonderful and keep me going everyday until I know more.  Myself, just like all expecting mothers, want my baby healthy...

[Lavender]

I had the same soft markers at ultrasound (CPC and EIF) and have recently delivered a perfectly healthy baby girl.  These markers mean nothing, so don't waste your pregnancy worrying about them.

The numbers you were given are great.  They are similar to mine. They mean that for DS, your bub has a 1 in 4700 chance of having it.  I also thought about an amnio, but am glad that I didn't have it.  My OB also didn't want me to have it as he said that the chances that my bub was healthy were excellent.  He thought nothing of these markers and told me not to worry.  I should have listened and not worried.

I am part of a non public facebook page for women that have these soft markers at ultrasound.  It is a great support and there are heaps and heaps of healthy babies being born that had the EIF, CPC etc.  Let me know if you are interested in joining.

But really, I wouldn't worry about your bub, the chances are excellent that he/she is perfectly healthy.  These markers are very commom and are seen by OB's and sonographers everyday.

Good luck.