L.M.
M K
We had the same issue with my daughter. If you want to know for certain the only way is an amnio. I had one with each pregnancy for different reasons but was lucky enough to have 2 healthy children.
One of the reasons the baby could show up with echogenic bowel is if you bled in the beginning part of the pregnancy. I didn't - at least not bleeding out. They told me it could have been a little internal bleeding that we didn't see. If the baby swallows the blood it can show up as echogenic bowel. But of course it also is an indicator for downs or spinabifida.
I had the amnio done because if I had to deal with either of these issues I wanted to know about it before hand so I could talk to other families dealing with it and how they have coped. Some people told me if I wasn't going to abort don't have the amnio some said have it. In the end it has to be a decision you are comfortable with - do you want to know for certain or not? If you want/need to know then have the amnio. I didn't have any issues except a little cramping with my first daughter and none with my second. Take it easy for a day or so and you shouldn't have any issues.
Hope this helps. Good luck, I understand the stress of it all.
L. M