Duke Perinatal and Fetal Diagnostics- Durham

Cannot say enough good things about Dr. Nunez — genetic counselor. She is professional, warm, knowledgable and above all she allowed us enough time for questions and answers. She knew exactly how to tailor a plan that fit us perfectly. If you need to speak with someone about early diagnosis in a pregnancy, she is the one.

I had my first trimester screening and ultra-​sound to check the baby’s nuchal thickness here in the fetal diagnostics center. I thought the facility was VERY nice. Probably close to brand new. It’s on one of the top-​ish floor of the building which also includes apartments, offices, and restaurants. Make sure you park on top, right near the entrance, or staff will advise you to move your car.
Check-​in and wait time for my appointment was nominal, and my ultrasound and blood work went fairly flawlessly. The ultrasound tech was very friendly and walked us through the various parts of the baby she was looking at to check for which birth defects or development deficiencies. During the ultrasound the tech found a small mass in my bladder that was causing her some concern, so she called in Dr. Sarah Ellestad to take a look. Dr. Ellestad asked me some questions about my medical history and explained that she was concerned about it and wanted me to get it checked out further, which I totally understand and I respect her opinion, however she was a bit excited (maybe a liiiitttle less coffee for her) and got my husband who was also present a little too worked up about this mystery bladder lump, too. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my medical professionals calm and level-​headed. All that aside, I’m very grateful that the ultrasound tech found this small mass. It ended up being nothing, but had it been something bad, like cancer, I would have especially grateful that they found it early because I never would have known it was there.
I plan on going back in a few weeks for my 18 – 20 week anatomy scan.