prenatal genetic screening - which, if any, tests are you considering? - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[JessNP]

Originally Posted by akemi 

Had my first u/s today! It was soooo reassuring to see that little baby in there :) It's always a little surprising to me the first time I see that there really IS a baby in there!

My n/t measurement was good which was relieving as I tend to over worry about these sorts of things.

Also, notable for us Canadians, I found out that the hospital I went to was supposed to be set up to get the Harmony test (similar to MateriT21) starting this past June, but things were delayed. She is hoping it will be soon, but it probably won't be soon enough for us.

She already has the requisition forms and the kits to send the blood tests back and everything, but the bureaucratic details still need to be worked out. She wasn't sure it would be covered by OHIP  but she thought it would be around $800 if not.

Congratulations! It always cracks me up to here people say "there really IS a baby in there" I feel the same way every time I hear the heartbeat. It's hard to believe that we are growing a little person in there and THAT'S where babies come from!

[Adaline'sMama]

Just as an update: We had the nuchal translucency screening done at 12 weeks (the ultrasound screening test.). They measured the folds on the back of the babies neck and checked their nasal bones. All of the measurements came back fine, as well as my blood work. I was surprised to get the results two days later!

[ISISandOSIRIS]

I'm nervous. I'm having my nuchal scan today and I think I get back the results from some blood test I gave myself 10 days ago that screens my blood for the big 3 chromosome abnormalities. Dh can't go with me, but at least I'll have my mom. I really don't want invasive tests like dvs or aminio,but opted for these less invasive ones. I almost regret it bc it's so scary... but I'd rather be prepared if there's a problem. I'm "AMA" (36), so part of me worries.

A'smom I'm glad to hear yours went well for both your babies.

[JessNP]

ISISandOSIRIS - I hope the nuchal scan went well. It is stressful, but it's nice to get to see the baby - I hope they gave you some pics! I just wanted to offer a little reassurance re: your AMA status - at 36, you are just barely over the line to be considered AMA. At your age, your risk for Trisomy 21 (Down's) is 1 in 294, for all trisomies its 1 in 156. At age 41, my risk for Trisomy 21 is 1 in 82 and for all trisomies it's 1 in 53. This is according to http://downsyndrome.about.com I would try not to stress about the AMA thing too much. 

So...I nearly had a stroke on Friday. My phone rang at 7pm on Friday night and it was my OB's number. I answered the phone and she said "I have to talk to you about your blood test" My heart sank and I could barely even speak! She went on to say that there was a problem with my blood sample, and the testing center was not able to extract DNA from the sample, they are not sure why, blah blah blah blah (I stopped listening at this point because I was so overcome with relief). Apparently, I have to have the blood for the Harmony test (poor man's Materni T21) drawn again. Man! It seems like pregnancy is the ultimate test in patience. I feel like all you do is wait! Wait for this test, than that test, than for each little pregnancy milestone, than to give birth. If men were the ones having babies, they would've dumped tons of money into medical research and found a way to make pregnancy a quick and painless couple of weeks. (Not that I'm advocating playing God or any such thing, just musing about the male gender) 

[ISISandOSIRIS]

Oh my Jess! That would have rattled me too. On waiting, I am glad for the 40 weeks, because I certainly need it to prepare. I feel like I have so much to do in so little time. It's so far away, yet so close. Waiting for test results and the worry that goes along with it is definitely another story though. I think we can all do without that stress.

Speaking of which, it took some doing (baby was NOT cooperative and even appeared to wave it's little fists and yell at us to stop the ultrasound), but after an hour and a half of stopping and trying again and again, we finally got the nuchal scan. That and the test results downgraded my risk of Down's and trisomy to that of a 20 year old.

The AMA thing really cracks me up, but not as much as my dx of "Elderly primigravida." Really? I'm ELDERLY now?!

I'm really hoping all of us in the Feb DDC are blessed with healthy babies.

[JessNP]

ISISabdORISIS - I'm glad the nuchal scan went so well! Funny that you mention the baby not cooperating - every so often they would bang the probe on my belly (well, maybe not bang, but not a tap either...my prego brain can't think of a word in-between, lol!) like they were trying to get the baby to move. I felt so bad for the little beanie! Like knocking on a fishbowl. 

"Elderly primigravida" - wow, that's just mean!

[lilysamsma]

I went in yesterday for the nt scan (i was mostly concerned with getting documentation on one vs two placentas and also hoping to visualize the separating membrane. Normally i would not have done this). The tech started by measuring the babies and they were both measuring at 14w4d and when she checked with her colleagues, they all decided it was too late to.perform the scan.properly, so no nt scan for me. HOWEVER, when i explained what i was looking for, she went ahead and double checked everything and the babies ARE sharing a placenta (which is higher risk than each havkng their own) but she did see the separating membrane (which was the best news of all, since without it, they would be the highest risk.for twins). So not the best news that there is only one placenta, but at lesst i know definitively and also i feel validated for being concerned about it (long story, but my ob is FIRED due to substandard care) for a good reason.

She also took a swing at checking out their goods. The cord.was in the way for one of them, but the other one did not appear to have a penis, so her guess was girls. I.dis not do the bloodowrk.part of the test since the scanning part didn't happen and i was already worried about elevated readings as a.result of it being two babies (plus my sole reason for actually gwtting the test was fulfilled anyway).

[ISISandOSIRIS]

When those two babies start arguing about sharing you can tell them what good sharers they were in the womb and you expect no less of them outside of it

I almost had the same size issue. Even though I was 13 weeks the baby was measuring over 14w in some of the measurements. In the end, some of the measurments were smaller than others so they just went by that (it's such an inaccurate science).

[kittn]

We wont do any screening except for the anatomy scan since spina bifida does run in the family. Downs runs in the family but I am not so worried about that to be honest. My biggest risk is for autism and there isn't a screening for that...so