Level II Ultrasound at 25 Weeks

This morning, Dustin and I met with our Perinatologist to complete our second Level II Ultrasound.  We learned early on that miscarriage (defined as loss of the fetus prior to 20 weeks gestation) is common for about 75% of babies with Down syndrome.  Once you reach 20 weeks, the correct terminology is actually stillbirth, which occurs in about 10% of the babies that make it past 20 weeks.  Apparently the reason for death is unknown and unpredictable so it's not something that we can attempt to manage prenatally.

So, the purpose of our Level II Ultrasound today and going forward (I have another scheduled at 29 weeks) is to monitor baby's growth and verify that things seem to be progressing forward.  Our Peri told me this morning that if we get further down the road and baby's growth stops or slows down substantially, we may decide to deliver him sooner than planned, however wouldn't want to take him before 35 or 36 weeks.

Fortunately our little guy seems to be doing as well as expected and nothing new or "worse" seemed to present itself during the ultrasound (although we do have another fetal echocardiogram next Wednesday, so we'll get a much more in depth look at his heart then).  He was estimated to weigh about a pound and a half, which is normal for this gestational age.  As a bonus, we were able to bring home a few new ultrasound photos of our sweet little guy!