No abstract

No abstract

I spotted the heartbeat immediately and felt a spark of relief. The baby was alive, thank God. I studied the rest of the anatomy-2 arms, 2 legs, fetal movement, everything seemed to be OK. I had seen many prenatal ultrasounds but none quite as interesting as this one because it was of my own baby.There was one detail I could not figure out. There was a line around the baby's head that I could not identify.Wasittheedgeoftheamnioticsac?No,itonlyseemed to surround the head like a helmet. I asked the technician about it. She deferred any discussion to the perinatologist. Instead, we talked about how unnerving it was to be the patient as a health care professional.Soon the perinatologist came in and reviewed the images on the screen. He quietly announced, "Your baby has a large cystic hygroma." I quickly scanned my memory banks from medical school, residency, practice. Blank. Did that indicate something wrong with the brain? I ventured a guess. "Does that mean the baby will be cognitively impaired?" "Oh, no. Your baby will not survive." The perinatologist talked to me some more, helped me up, and set a box of tissues by my side as I sat in stunned silence. Then the tears came. I could not stop them.