Wanted to share some news....

[laurasnowbird]

We are expecting an addition to our family! I think I may be a basket case for the next nine months, so please bear with me. I am 42 years old, and will be close to 43 when we deliver this baby, so of course I am concerned about having another with DS. After a lot of thought, Rod and I have decided to forgo testing unless our doctor finds real reason for concern about the pregnancy. I'll be honest, I'd really like to KNOW up front if this one has DS, only because our birth experience was so negative last time. We are unwilling to have an amnio because there is a risk to the baby, and we would not terminate a pregnancy for DS! So that limits our options in terms of knowing ahead of time.

I was really impacted by all the heartache that the prenatal testing brought to Jackie's niece. I've checked out lots of information on the various kinds of testing, including the nucal fold translucency, and it seems the results can be very ambiguous. I read lots of comments on a board where people had it performed, and so many of them turned out to have a very stressful and anxious pregnancy for nothing.

Sooooo, typical of me, I really want the answer, but am unwilling to pay the possible price to the baby. We are going to stick it out and pray a lot. I am curious to hear the experiences that others here have had with prenatal testing. I'm a bit of a basket case today, quite frankly. Prayers would be greatly appreciated. Laura

[WANDA3CEE]

Hi

Congratulations !!!!!


You need to relax enjoy the good thing about having a baby with in you. I will pray that you have a happy and heathly baby. If God decied to give you another baby with DS then you will have two gems instead of one. God bless you and yours

Wanda

[Cbean]

Congratulations Laura!!!! I wish you all the best. Yes, Nuchal Fold testing alone can be ambiguous. However, they say when you team it up with a blood test called Pap-A () you can get 90-95% accuracy. When I went for the nuchal, my risk factor increased to 1 out of 137. So I opted for the blood test (note this is not the AFP!) and that number changed to 1 out of 19. All I can say is it worked in our case!

I did go on to have the Level II and an amnio. Terminating the pregnancy was not going to happen, but I just had to know for sure. Could not deal with the guesswork! During the level II the doc didn't see any markers and the amnio confirmed what the nuchal combined with that blood test were telling us. Yes there is a risk to the baby during an amnio, but usually when something happens to a baby after amnio, it is probably because the pregnancy would have terminated on its own.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chew the fat on this. Meanwhile I will keep you in my heart and prayers for a good, safe pregnancy. Congratulations again!!!!

[Valerie]

Can't really help with the testing question, all we had done was the AFP, which did not suggest DS.
Just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! A new baby is ALWAYS a treasure! Enjoy the experience!

[momofrussell]

CONGRATS LAURA!!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!

You know, I knew before Russell was born and like you, I wanted to know. I had the amnio. But when I was pregnant with Reece, we decided that the amnios, ect, would not change our decision and I was actually AOK with NOT knowing in advance. I figure if I can do one w/DS, I could do two LOL.

So, I think you will be ok girl! Just enjoy the pregnancy!!!! You know, THIS is why my husband got "fixed"... because I'd be right there with ya!

HUGS!!!!

A.

[donnita]

Congratulations Snowbird!!!!!

[newmom]

Congrats! Try not to focus so much on the medical and focus on the joy! You sound like this may have caught you a little off guard. Even if it did, just enjoy the little bundl of joy you are about to have!!! CONGRATS!!! Whether the baby has DS or not, it will be loved and well taken care of i'm sure so the rest is just fluff. We have all dealt with this (the DS) already, this time would not be as difficult I think because you have already been through it? Just a thought! And, if you are a basket case, we are here for ya!

[Kristen]

Congrats!

I didn't have any with Syd, either. Not even the stupid AFP because I was at that point where I didn't care. I did have days, though! Either way it will work out fine!

[Jessie]

Whoo Hoo!!!! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you.

So, do you have a due date, etc., yet?

Jessie

[marisa]

Congrats!!!!!!!

I just wanted to give my opion and experience on the whole pre-natal testing. I had the first trimester screening done (ultrasound to measure neck and a blood test) and the AFP blood test. Neither test showed any abnormalities. When I had my 20week Ultrasound, they saw a marker for a "possible genetic abnormality". The doctor was pretty lighthearted about it and my husband and I got the feeling that they were just sending us for more tests because our insurance would pay for it. Anyway, when I went for the fetal-echo test (just another ultrasound), the doctor said "why did they send you here?". He said they baby was fine, but would have a heart murmur, which is no big deal. My brother has a heart murmur, so I wasn't worried one bit. With all that being said, my opinion is that there are no certainties (unless you have an amnio). So try to relax and just enjoy the pregnancy. I am sure your baby will the perfect addition to your family!!

[PaigesMom]

Congratulations Laura !!!

I totally understand your feelings of 'needing' to know beforehand just so you can know what to expect., not for termination reasons, but just to know ahead of time. I felt the same way when I had my second - I wouldn't do an amnio either, the nuchal fold test, not sure that I would trust that one, but I did have a CVS at 11 weeks. It was pretty painless, sort of uncomfortable for a few minutes, and the risk of miscarriage is less than 1%. The results are of the same accuracy as an amnio.

Good luck and congratulations again!!

[wrblack]

Congratulations, Laura! And, oh, goodie, another baby to look forward to, naming contests, birth pools, all that good Uno Land stuff.
I sure hope you're going to be able to kick back and enjoy your pregnancy. But, of course, can't tell you how to do that -- never been pregnant myself.
So, maybe I should shut up and leave it at that. But you know me, always running off at the mouth. And besides, you asked for others' experience with prenatal testing. Have you been hanging around the BabyCenter prenatal testing board? And of course, I've never had a needle stuck in my belly either.
My long suffering and almost saintly wife Lynn, deserves some sort of accolade for putting up with me, was 37 when we conceived her 4th child, my first. Triple screen gave a worrisome AFP value but by the time we were able to discuss this with her OB, already had good results from a level 2 ultrasound. OB offered amnio as an option but did not clearly recommend it, possibly because he was picking up on fact that Lynn didn't like the idea of a needle going anywhere near her baby. Pregnancy went along well until about week 28 when testing for possible beginnings of pre-eclampsia led to detection of fetal arrhythmia which led to dx of IUGR. Amnio was then recommended by a perinatolgist. More early nonstress tests led to hospital bed rest. Deceleration indicating fetal distress led to emergency C-section at 30 weeks gestation. We got the results of amnio 3 days after delivery, dx trisomy 21, clinical dx Down syndrome. Charlie, our little guy with Down syndrome and a bunch of other stuff to deal with, was born when Lynn was 37 because he couldn't wait a few weeks for his mom to turn 38, though that was when he was due.
Okay. Four years later, baby number 5 for Lynn, my no. 2 son. Lynn (OMG, she may kill me for this) was 41 at conception, due date month and a half after 42nd birthday. Can get different risk numbers from different genetic counselors. Some would say, risk for mother age 41 is 1 in 60; already have a child with Ds, double that to 1 in 30.
I think we were both worried. And I think we would have been fools not to have been. We talked about what kind of prenatal testing and we chased down our favorite OB, had to go to PA to find her, and talked to her. She sent us to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia for UltraScreen, that combination of nuchal translucency, nasal bone, PAPP-A and freeBeta-hCG that has to be done between 11 and 13 weeks gestation. Results of that screen (and it's still just a screen, not diagnostic) changed risk of T21 to 1 in 311, and gave risk of T18 as something like 1 in 30,000. So, once again decided against going for amnio. Charlie's little brother Robert was delivered by emergency C-section, after Lynn had once again received steroid injections for the baby's lungs and this time got to experience magnesium sulfate, again at 30 weeks gestation but this time due to mom's severe pre-eclampsia, HELLP syndrome.
Indulgent neonatologist got me Robert's karyotype in about 5 days, results boring, commonplace, nothing special arrangement of 46 chromosomes with an X and a Y. Later a neurologist at CHOP would, just to make sure we weren't missing anything, order a FISH assay to rule out 22q deletion; did, no 22q deletion; Robert's just got a big head and a crooked face.
But they look pretty good to me. I think I'm extremely lucky to have both my little boys. And I love them both and each more than I ever thought I could love anything or anyone.
So, I guess the moral of my story is that I've often found myself worrying, needlessly and/or uselessly, about the wrong thing at the wrong time. I think a wiser, better, smarter, stronger man would have just enjoyed life as it happened and dealt with whatever he was dealt.
And instead of telling you all this stuff, I should have just wished that you have as happy and healthy pregnancy as you can manage. And we all hope you have a happy and healthy baby, with or without an extra 21st chromosome, though I'll hope for without, if you don't mind.
And to make a long post even longer, I'll give in to tacking on then and later photos of my boys.
Congrats again,
Bob


newborn Charlie


newborn Robert


my boys

[Cathy]

Hugs Hugs and more Hugs!!! You and your family will be in my prayers.

Cathy and Katie and Emily too!

[sharen]

Ya Hoo!!! we are happy for you Take it easy and enjoy everyday.

Sharen

[Debi]

Oh Laura, congratulations!!!!!! ;D ;D

I wish there was an icon for female squealing nosies., you know the kind we make when something really REALLY great happens!!!

The only thing I know for a fact is that you are a great, wonderful Mom and this new baby is lucky lucky lucky ;D

Congrats to all of you and yes, I will pray that all goes well.... that you have the bestest pregnancy EVER ! Love ya!!!