Pregnant after 35

12 week NT scan

Bug is great, and I am s.l.o.w.l.y. allowed to resume normal activity after my 3 1/2 weeks bed rest.  The baby has such long legs and wasn't very cooperative, making it a long and uncomfortable ultrasound, but that's ok...  I got to see it for a longer time =)  NT measured .9 mm, and doc went over everything, but wanted us to come home and discuss if we wanted to do blood work and amnio, as he didn't see a reason, but he leaves the choice to his patients.  I kind of thought that was weird, but ok.  DH and I discussed it, and he wants me to have everything done, but after talking to the doc, I am not quite sure it is neccessary. I am writing questions down to ask the dr for my visit in 2 weeks.  For some reason I feel really confused/conflicted about it all right now.  Yesterday wasn't anything like what I had expected based on all the stories I have read here, along with the research I have done.

Any thoughts?

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Re: 12 week NT scan

  • I think it is a personal decision. I want to do all the testing to make sure evrything is ok. I am a concrete person and that is how I function best. At 38 I am worried all the time that the baby will be fine. I did all pre genetic testing and everything looked great but I think you need to sit with your dr. and dh and discuss all the odds. many women say on the nest that when asking about amnios you need to gather the dr.'s stats and make an informed choice as to what to do. Good luck
  • What did you think was weird? I'm confused.
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  • I thought the bloodwork and NT scan went hand and hand. I've never heard of anyone doing just the scan. Your number was great though so it is totally up to you. We did the accompanying bloodwork at 12 weeks and then the next one at 16 too just to know. ( even though our NT scan was great)

     

     

     

     

  • I had the NT scan and blood work done on the same day a few weeks back. They told me right away that the NT scan measurements were good, so I had to wait almost a week for the blood test results and they also came back fine.

    My doctor also advised that the amnio was not necessary, but that the decision was mine. Like everyone said here, it is a personal decision. For me, my DH and I decided not to have it done. Due to my history of previous miscarriages, we didn't want to do anything to risk losing this baby no matter how small the risk unless it was absolutely necessary.

    I am having the level 2 u/s done at 20 weeks (again a personal decision) just to ensure that the baby is fine.

    Good luck with your decision and I am sure that what ever you and your DH decide will be the right one for you.

    Dawn

  • I've also never heard of only doing the scan. They usually do the scan with the bloodwork. We weren't going to do an amnio- at our 12wk appt the doctor said that unless it would affect our decision to keep the babies there's no reason to have it. We didn't do it. We did the follow up bloodwork too at I think 16 weeks.

    We had our 20wk anatomy scan and that showed probable chromosomal problems with one of the babies. I'm NOT trying to scare you. Just saying that at that point our doctor was more positive about having the amnio because it could affect future treatment/decisions by having the knowledge if it was chromosomal or not. He also said that based on what they were seeing, the benefit of what we would find out and how it would help us proceed with the pregnancy outweighs the small chance of miscarriage. He did say even if we had done it earlier though, it would not have changed the course of anything to this point, as there is nothing they can do to change the situation.

    I don't think there is a right or wrong here. Even having going through this, I'm not sure I'd do the amnio early if we have any more children since there is a (small) risk of miscarriage from it.

  • First of all, *none* of the chromosomal testing is "necessary." 

    Secondly, the NT test (along with the accompanying blood scans) provide a percentage liklihood that your baby has a chromosomal abnormality.  Your result (I'm assuming it was negative) means that you have a smaller than .6% chance of having a baby with a problem.  The amnio, by contrast, will tell you definitively whether your baby has a chromosomal abnormality.  If it's yes, then it's yes--it's not a chance of yes.

     So what your doctor was saying was that the liklihood of having a healthy baby is at least 99.6%--there's only a tiny fraction of a percentage chance that there will be a problem.  He thinks those are pretty good odds and he'd be willing to roll those dice, so he wouldn't have the amnio (and a definite answer).  But there is still a chance (no matter how small) that there could be a problem.  Some people aren't comfortable with any chance at all.  And only you can decide what your comfort level is. 

    My advice is that if you wouldn't terminate the pregnancy in the event of a chromosomal defect, then don't have the amnio.  You'd just be putting yourself through a painful and stressful test that is almost certain to tell you that the baby is fine.  GL!

  • I have a measurement of .9 and that coupled with my bloodwork made it easy for me to decided to forgo an amnio. I will complete the sequential screening, however, as recommended.
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  • Ah see that was my confusion as well.   I thought that the bloodwork that happened at the NT scan was the blood work that you needed for the full results.   Apparently - the 16 week bloodwork is part of the whole deal also.   That's when I got my so so results... and decided to do the amnio. 

    It's definitely a personal decision regarding the genetic testing.   I got good results from my nuchal the first time around and opted not to do any further testing.   The results I got this time made me do an amnio - and I'm glad to have done it.   It's just about what you need to be comfortable with results. :)

    Christine

  • I had all the early tests done and everything looked great.  They offered genetic counseling for me at 20 weeks in conjunction with the fetal health u/s.  At the u/s, they found one soft marker for Downs.  We decided, for my mental health, to go ahead and do the amnio, and everything is fine.  It was a hard decision, but for us, it would have made a difference on our decision to terminate.  Everyone is going to be different.  You have to weigh what you are willing to accept vs the risks. 
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