Are you getting the Chronic Villus Testing?

[JustVanessa]

At my appointment on Thursday my doc offered me the blood test to screen for Downs Syndrome and Spina Biffida. I turned it down. I am low risk (my age+no family history) and I would not abort if my baby had either.

Are you getting this test?

[Chalex]

Nah. It was an instant response, even though the doctor gave me the pamphlet to read over. I can't even imagine the stress of having a test like that coming out 'maybe' positive. ick.

When I was pg with my DS, I remember the doctor tell me, during his first app't chat, "I can't guarentee you a perfect child". Whoa! That wasn't even something that crossed my mind. Thinking positive, here.

[*Karen*]

Nope. Didn't with DS either.

[queensgirl]

I did it with DD and this babe. For me I would rather be prepared in advance emotionally and medically if something was wrong. My friend found that her son had a kidney problem through this scan and they were able to research their options and treat shortly after the baby was born. Im a need to know girl. I think though that it is probably healthier for moms to be able to just be and know that all is well. But if you are a control type worry wort like me go for it.

[lmonter]

Nope. No testing with either of my other two kiddos before. Not the quad screen, not the CVS, nothing. Didn't even have an ultrasound at all with #2. I've pushed out two healthy kiddos, am under 30 and relatively healthy. If we find something's wrong after the birth, we'll deal with it then.

[BlueMoonBean]

I think most people in our DDC are past the point where you can have the chorionic villus sampling done, aren't we? I thought that 12 weeks was the cut-off and then you're in the period where you have to wait until ~16 weeks for an amnio, if you want genetic/actual fetal blood results.

Actual answer, no, we aren't/didn't have that test. The level of invasiveness is too high for me, and the cost-benefit (even if I was more of a need-to-know girl) is just not there, given my age/family history versus the miscarriage rate associated with the test. It's higher than the miscarriage rate w/amnio, if I'm remembering correctly....

[meowee]

Jumping in from the July DDC (although I have gotten 2 due dates, one in late june and one in early july!). I opted to have the CVS after a "grossly abnormal" nuchal scan. I was told the baby may well not be viable and that I could consider terminating based on the nuchal scan alone . Of course I couldn't do anything like that without knowing what's going on definitively, so I opted for the CVS. I had it last thursday and it didn't hurt much, and I had no bleeding, but I did have cramping for about 6-8 hours. I used the opportunity to stay in bed for 24-48 hours and make my hubby take care of the kids .

Based on the nuchal measurements the baby is at huge risk not just for down sydrome but for the other, usually lethal trisomies, so termination is something I would consider for those.

I am just waiting for the results now, I'm pretty depressed as the odds they gave me were not optimistic at all.

I think if you care enough to know if your baby has a trisomy or the other syndromes they test for, and would consider termination based on them, it might be better just to go ahead and get the CVS and skip the nuchal. Because getting the nuchal first will just drag out the process by a week or more, and while the nuchal scan will pick up 80% of trisomies it will also pick up a bunch of women whose babies actually have no problem (though my measurement was so severe that I have very little chance of things being ok, statistically, at least). In other words out of the women they pick up with abnormal readings, only 15% will actually have problems (unless the readings are extreme, like mine, then the odds get much worse). Whereas with a CVS you get a 99% accurate answer and know exactly what you're dealing with.

Mine was done through the cervix and the pain was not bad, and the procedure was over in about 5 minutes (though I wasn't timing it). And while the test has a 1-2% chance of miscarriage you have to remember that, since these are done early in pregnancy, it is likely that some of the miscarriages would have happened anyway, especially in the fetuses that were abnormal.

[OpenHanded]

Originally Posted by meowee

Jumping in from the July DDC (although I have gotten 2 due dates, one in late june and one in early july!). I opted to have the CVS after a "grossly abnormal" nuchal scan. I was told the baby may well not be viable and that I could consider terminating based on the nuchal scan alone . Of course I couldn't do anything like that without knowing what's going on definitively, so I opted for the CVS. I had it last thursday and it didn't hurt much, and I had no bleeding, but I did have cramping for about 6-8 hours. I used the opportunity to stay in bed for 24-48 hours and make my hubby take care of the kids .

Based on the nuchal measurements the baby is at huge risk not just for down sydrome but for the other, usually lethal trisomies, so termination is something I would consider for those.

I am just waiting for the results now, I'm pretty depressed as the odds they gave me were not optimistic at all.

I think if you care enough to know if your baby has a trisomy or the other syndromes they test for, and would consider termination based on them, it might be better just to go ahead and get the CVS and skip the nuchal. Because getting the nuchal first will just drag out the process by a week or more, and while the nuchal scan will pick up 80% of trisomies it will also pick up a bunch of women whose babies actually have no problem (though my measurement was so severe that I have very little chance of things being ok, statistically, at least). In other words out of the women they pick up with abnormal readings, only 15% will actually have problems (unless the readings are extreme, like mine, then the odds get much worse). Whereas with a CVS you get a 99% accurate answer and know exactly what you're dealing with.

Mine was done through the cervix and the pain was not bad, and the procedure was over in about 5 minutes (though I wasn't timing it). And while the test has a 1-2% chance of miscarriage you have to remember that, since these are done early in pregnancy, it is likely that some of the miscarriages would have happened anyway, especially in the fetuses that were abnormal.

Hey mama, Just wanted to offer support and say that my DS has Down syndrome and is the greatest thing that ever happened to us. You must be so concerned about the variety of possibilities; feel free to PM me if you find T21.

[meowee]

Thank you! I would not want to terminate over T21 but would for the other trisomies. My husband is not in agreement with me though about T21 .

I was told they were surprised that the baby had not spontaneously aborted already-- the first scan showed not only gross nuchal abnormalities (which might be a cystic hygroma) but hydrops fetalis.

[Twwly]

Didn't for DS & didn't this time either.

[queensgirl]

Meowe - just wanted to give my support as well. Thanks for being so open and informative. Sending peace and healing to your family.

[ladyelms]

It's not a fallable proof test--too much room for false positives. What do'ya do when you get a positive back and it's wrong? I've seen it happen and I've seen pregnant women worry mercilessly their entire pregnancy.

[LacieD]

No, we don't do any testing except ultrasounds.

[meowee]

Originally Posted by ladyelms

It's not a fallable proof test--too much room for false positives. What do'ya do when you get a positive back and it's wrong? I've seen it happen and I've seen pregnant women worry mercilessly their entire pregnancy.

CVS is 99% accurate, and the inaccuracies are usually inconclusive results, not false positives or negatives. The nuchal scan, on the other hand, "picks up" a lot of women who do indeed have normal fetuses, though within that total group, 80%+ of present aneuploidies will be identified.

[BirthFree]

It's the AFP I'd never do for the reasons ladyelms described. I don't do most any test (I do UP's last two pg's) and I would not terminate, so I would not do CVS. I have a son with cerebral palsy, he is the sunshine of our family.

[keeganjacksmom]

I've never even been given the OPTION of doing CVS....but I wouldn't do it regardless...not worth the risk and I wouldn't terminate anyway.

[imbarefoot]

No, we are not getting that test done. Actually we aren't doing any testing, since we are UCing.

[ladyelms]

Meowee, you're right--I should have paid closer attention to your post.

CVS is typically offered for either those who are over 35, or those who have a genetic predisposition for abnormalities/disorders. It's not something (obviously) I've ever seen routinely done in the homebirth practice I work in, nor is it something I've been offered in any of my pregnancies. From a personnal perspective, it's rather invasive for my tastes--I much prefer to function on faith. However, if I fell into either of those categories, I may consider it.

M, Please let us know how things turn out for you. Best wishes to you.

[ChristyM26]

A CVS wasn't offered to me, though I probably wouldn't do it. I turned down the quad screen. A good u/s would pick up most things that are life-threatening like heart defects and such. They can also use u/s to check for Down's markers though we're low risk for that. I skip a lot of tests. I do plenty already and I don't need anything that will cause me more worry.

[kltroy]

I didn't bother doing any of the testing - I decided long ago that I wouldn't take any action as a result of the test results (like abort the baby) so why bother?

As for the CVS, this is actually an incredibly risky test!! I think something like a 1/250 chance of miscarrying because of the testing. Definitely not worth it IMHO. I suppose if I really cared I'd do the triple screen blood test, but like I said, I don't. I'll take whatever baby God gives us, and I figure a 20-week ultrasound is likely to give us a "heads up" if it's a baby that is going to have special needs. (I agree that having a heads up about something major *would* be nice).