Second trimester screening?

[Tobi40]

I did the screening as I did with my first and my second trimester screen came back with an elevated risk for Downs Syndrome. Going for anatomy scan to look for soft markers but the whole thing is very scary. The validity of these preliminary tests is not certain with a lot of false positives. Lots of emotions here.

[Adaline'sMama]

:hugs.
I know this must be creating a lot of anxiety for you. Im still waiting on my test results, and Im glad you reminded me about how many false positives there are. When is your anatomy scan? Are you planning an amino or is that something that will happen if the scan shows other markers?

[vancouver sarah]

my thoughts are with you.

I just went today for my second of two blood draws for the serum integrated prenatal screen (SIPS) which screens for Down syndrome (trisomy 21), trisomy 18, and open neural tube defects (ONTDs).  I'm right there with you all full of emotions wondering what it will tell us.  My midwife reminded me of how many false positives there are for these sorts of things.  And, pretty much everyone I know has at least one anecdote of a friend or friend-of-friend whose screens/scans indicated increased risk and their babies all came out perfectly normal.  But in the end none of it helps much because it's all just a bunch of probabilities and statistics and goodness knows I have always avoided thinking about/comprehending/fully understanding all things mathematical.  I just try and take comfort in the fact that I know my husband and I will find our way through any eventuality.

So...taking a little inventory here...the first trimester was spent worrying about miscarriage.  So far, the second trimester has been spent worrying about the SIPS screen.  I'm sure the third trimester will be spent worrying about a smooth, uneventful labor and delivery.  And, what, the next 18+ years will be spent worrying about...everything?!?!?!!

[SeekingSerenity]

Originally Posted by vancouver sarah 

....pretty much everyone I know has at least one anecdote of a friend or friend-of-friend whose screens/scans indicated increased risk and their babies all came out perfectly normal.

This was me with Baby #3.  She was born Oct. 27, 1998, and I had a positive MSAFP.  Ended up having a level 2 ultrasound, amniocentesis and all the genetic testing you can imagine.  She's now a happy, healthy, bouncy 12-year old who, aside from giving me the scare of my life, was born perfectly fine. 

Of course, none of that is to say that the positive screens are always false.  But maybe it would help ever so slightly to keep in mind that the screens run with about 5%-7% positive returns (this number I just got today from my hospital's paperwork), and of those, my previous midwife said about 85% are false positives for mamas who have never been identified with a risk factor before. (I don't have an official source on that, btw.  My numbers could very well be off.  )

In any case, they just did the blood draw on me today for the second trimester screening.  All this stuff has totally different names now, I didn't even know what that was when they told me.  Back when I was doing hospital births (1995, 1997, 1998), testing was referred to by different titles, done at different times and I pretty much knew what to expect.  My next three were homebirths and involved none of the testing, so I guess I have to re-learn all this medical stuff for this time around! :-)

[bluedaisy]

One of my best friends was told her ds had markers for downs at her anatomy scan.  It caused her tons of anxiety but in the end her son is perfectly normal.

I was on a different message board when I was pg with my dd and I can't even tell you how many women were really anxious because of the results of these tests and then everything ended up being fine.

We decided not to get any of those tests done because there are SO many false postives.

I'm not trying to minimize what you are going through - I'm sure there are so many emotions right now - but just trying to reassure you that it's likely everything is just fine.  Please keep us updated

[MountainMama2Be]

I had my 2nd Trimester screening blood tests done last week and got the results back last Friday 9/2. You KNOW it's bad results when the actual OB Doc calls you HERSELF! We were so nervous for her return call.

Finally she called back and said that our Spinabifida test results were a little off....The normal result is around 517 and mine was 490 or something like that (uh...pregnant brain here....I'm lucky I remember she called! Lol) and that she wanted me to do another ultrasound so we booked that for this Thursday. She wants them to check out the baby's spine in detail.

She said that it COULD be caused by the (brownish) spotting I've been having on and off the last couple of weeks (barely any and usually once a day) so I'm hoping that is what caused the numbers to be off. She said her "gut instinct is that it's nothing to worry about....even though I know you'll worry anyway." She knows me. Lol 

I'm fairly positive and upbeat about it. I really don't think it's Spinabifida. No one else in our entire family nor anyone I've ever met in my life has ever had it....or the children they had since I've known them. It must be VERY uncommon these days....since women are pounded by information to take folic acid prior to conceiving and during pregnancy, etc. I've been taking prenatals with 800 Folic Acid for years now....so I know that I was up on my intake and I didn't have a horrible 1st trimester full of vomit (that would potentially cancel out my vitamin absorbtion) so....I'm not super worried. But....there is the menacing question....WHAT IF? But....trying to stay calm and NOT think about it.

Anyone have this happen to them or know of anyone that has? What was their results?

[FrannieM]

hugs to you, I am just now on the other side of this, we also had elevated risk for Downs syndrome with the initial screening... we did decide to do an amnio which was really scary but went very well and our results came back with a 100% healthy chromosomal baby.  It is a great relief after so much anxiety!

 

[SeekingSerenity]

Well, I already posted up-thread about my 3rd pregnancy having the false positive.  I was sooooo stressed out, even though the ultrasound came back negative.  We had to wait 2 weeks for the amnio results and I remember feeling so nervous, falling more and more in love with my baby and thinking it really didn't matter what the test said.  She was perfectly healthy, but no one had told me the numbers of false positives at the time so I was still stressed that maybe they missed something right up until she was born.

A number of factors played into the fact that I didn't want another hospital birth after that, but the immense stress of that false reading was a big one.  My next three were homebirths and I voluntarily opted out of all the bloodwork.  All babies were absolutely healthy.  This time, I am stuck with Medicaid and can't do a homebirth, so I chose a birth center affiliated with a hospital, and naturally had to submit a gallon and a half of blood for the workup at my initial appointment.

So, here we are again, the quad screen is positive.  I am actually over 35 this time, but as far as I know, DS is the most common in mamas who are having their first baby after 35.  There's no spina bifida or neural tube defects in my family, though I can't say what is present on the other half of the genetic sequence.  The fact that Babydaddy still refuses to acknowledge the pregnancy and I have no clue what runs in his family is part of why I had the screen done anyway.  In any case, it's a big question mark this time, and the midwife says hey, it may even be twins, who knows.  Riiiiight, I didn't need that suggestion!  LOL....

At least this time, the stress is lower, knowing that in all likelihood it's a false positive.  So anyway, I will keep you posted.  They are scheduling the level 2 ultrasound and possibly an amnio sometime this week or next.