How far along were you for amnio?

Tayrusso

My doctor has offered to do an amnio after some unexpected DS screen results (back story here), and I am really nervous.  I'm in the process of getting approval for the MaterniT21 blood test (in hopes of avoiding amnio), but there's a chance I won't have coverage because of how new the test is. 

I'm having a level two u/s and echo on April 2 and I will be just over 19 weeks; I may or may not want to go forward with the amnio, depending on the outcome...but the risks are really scary to me being that far along.

Could you ladies please share your amnio experiences?  Thank you! 

angelakh

Lurker here, did you ask your Dr. how much the materniT21 test costs if insurance won't cover it?  At my mfm office it is only around $200.  DH and I decided that is the route we would go if we got iffy results with the NT scan.  

Tayrusso

angelakh:

Lurker here, did you ask your Dr. how much the materniT21 test costs if insurance won't cover it?  At my mfm office it is only around $200.  DH and I decided that is the route we would go if we got iffy results with the NT scan.  

If it's not covered it will cost $295-1900, just depends on the insurance...waiting to hear back.

Tayrusso

kitchencolors:

Big (HUGS) to you.

Honestly my amnio itself was not bad - it's quick and doesn't hurt a lot, just feels very strange. The needle is very thin, so the needle stick doesn't hurt much and then it feels like a really large cramp when it goes into your uterus.  They have to keep the needle there for a minute or so, which feels weird, but none if it hurts too badly. 

Now all of the surrounding circumstances that caused me to decide to have an amnio and dealing with the results, that's the hard part, which I imagine is the case for most people.  We chose to have an amnio after our A/S showed a lot of markers for Down syndrome. They gave us 1/4 odds, but based on our research since then I think our odds should have been higher. Because of a few factors (such high odds, our personal need to know, prenatal treatment dependent on other factors etc.), we felt that the risk of miscarriage was not big enough to deter us, but that's obviously a very personal decision. If you can have the MaterniT21 test, I'd say go for it. I didn't even know about it until after my amnio.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions!

ETA: I realized I'm not sure I answered your initial question - I was 18w1d when I had my A/S and amnio. I never had an NT scan.

I think I'm going to schedule the amnio before the next u/s...I need to know, I can't spend the next 5+ months wondering.  Thank you for sharing your experience.  I'll PM you my email, I would love to chat more about DS.  I want to be as best prepared as possible.

The pain doesn't scare me...it's the risk to my baby. My overall risk for DS is 1 in 240 after the sequential blood screen, which is an increase from my risk of 1 in 330 after the first tri screen.  (A normal risk is 1 in 1100, as I'm sure you know.) 

kmpls

2nd baby center - great place to go for amnio info, support.

I had mine at 15 weeks also d/t some scary NT screen results.

The amnio itself was no biggie, just kept my eyes closed but the waiting beforehand was very scary.

Good luck with your decision.