BUN study?

[amyandelle]

Are any of you going to do this? My OB says it is optional and I am leaning towards not doing it. The order says that it is first trimester screening for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy (sp?) defects. My thinking is that even if the test came back high risk it would not change anything other than to make me worry for the rest of my pregnancy KWIM? I guess when I was pg with Elle this test was not available because they never asked me if I wanted to do it. Does anyone know any details about this test? All I know is that it is an ultrasound that is done between 11-14 weeks and they take a blood test by pricking your finger and then they do another blood test between 15-19 weeks to determine the risk. Is this a regular ultrasound? Is it a 3D or 4D ultrasound?
Thanks,
Amy

[bc1995]

I think this is the test where they do a regular u/s and measure the nucheal fold of the neck and combined with the blood results assess your risk of having a downs or trisomy baby. I have never had it done, and won't be doing it this time either.

[loree]

I did this yesterday. Yes, it's the nuchal translucency test. Although it is a screening only I opted to do this because I am probably not going to do an amnio (which I did w/ my last pregnancy because of my age) unless I come back as high risk.

It is a "regular" ultrasound and blood test. The ultrasound was pretty quick.

Loree

[Sophiasmomma]

I did this last week. MY DR gives everyone the option of having it done. I want to know if something is wrong.

[Naughty Dingo]

I did it with this pregnancy. It was quick and non-invasive beyond a finger prick. Before you have the test you meet with a genetic counselor who explains it in depth. The ultrsound consists of a quick scan where the baby is generally measured, the thickness of the fluid behind the neck is measured and the presence of a nasal bone may be looked for.

It is a screening test so won't tell you if your baby has a problem or not, just what your odds are of the baby having a problem. The test screens for t21, t13, and t18. It is good for people who are seeking extra reassurance that favorable results can give or people who are open to doing further definitive testing if the tests indicate an increased risk.

There is a certain frequency of false positive results (ie. the test indicates that you are more at risk for a trisomy than you truly are) and that is a drawback of the screen. The benefit of this screen compared to the quad screen or triple screen that may have been offered to you in the past is that it picks up more of the babies with problems than the other blood tests do. With those many babies were missed who actually did have trisomies of those particular chromosomes.

If you are of the mindset that if your baby has a trisomy you would want to know ahead of time, this is a good test to have to help you make the decision as to whether pursue invasive testing or not. But, it can increase stress, anxiety, and the chance of having an invasive test if the results aren't "normal"

Hope that helps.

[Jess_n'_the_bean]

I think i have decided not to do that screening - if it came back positive it would not change my decision about the pregnancy and would just make me worry...the incidence of false positives is pretty high.

[sophiamama]

I am going for this test tomorrow. It's not part of the routine care for my midwives, but my ultrasound from last week came back with increased fluid behind the neck.

[miranda]

Originally Posted by sophiamama

I am going for this test tomorrow. It's not part of the routine care for my midwives, but my ultrasound from last week came back with increased fluid behind the neck.

I hope that your results are good.