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Pregnant after a Loss
jeffrae
member
Update: Decided to NOT get amnio (long)
jeffrae
member
Hi Girls. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!!!! Today was one of the hardest in my life. After about 4 hours of sleep and my nerves so shot I was about to pass out or throw up....I am happy it is mostly over.
We decided to not get the amnio (well at least not today). Here's where we are:
Our morning started with the one hour ultrasound where they checked for trisomy 18 markers (clenched hands, club feet, delayed growth, skull deformations, cysts on brain, kidney/stomach/heart issues). The GOOD news is that there were ZERO markers!!! (again, thank you for the prayers!) They spent so much time looking over every section of the body and the tech said that normally with T18 (which is very rare) that there are multiple noticable problems. The baby was just chilling out and moved just a bit when probed or got flipped by me changing positions. The doctor that looked at our pictures (104 of them) said everything looked normal and perfect.
Then we met with the genetic counselor next. She went over my results -- which all in all were not stellar for anything compared to the 1 in 27000 results I have seen posted. It was 1 in 5300 for downs, 1 in 4200 for NTD, and of course the reason we were there was the 1 in 8 for T-18 (normal is 1 in 2900 for me). She said that based on our ultrasound that we have an 80% chance of the baby being healthy, and that sometimes delayed growth shows up in the third trimester.
DH did some math based off of percentages she gave us (I am an engineer, but HATE and don't really understand statistics) and said that based off of the two results 88% chance of not having it from bloodwork combined with the 80% chance of not having it from the u/s that we have less of a likelyhood of having T-18 (in the normal range for my age) then the 1 in 1000 risk of miscarriage from the amnio (what their office states as their percentage, and they do ~1000 a year by one of three doctors).
So right now, we decided to leave the baby be -- comfy in its home without messing with it. I left a note for my OB (who does not work on Wednesdays) with my decision and that I wanted to talk with her. DH is 100% certain that we made the right decision to not get the amnio. I am about 85% certain it was the right decision, but 100% certain it was right for today (I am just going way too back and forth on this after the good u/s). We can go in for the amnio if we (well, really me) decide that it is the best decision for us.
My analytical mind will be going over this nonstop today and I just want to sleep on it at least. I have no clue if this was the 'right' decision -- but I think safer is easier to handle right now. Especially as I have felt this entire pregnancy that everything is okay.
So again -- thanks for your prayers and support. I really believe that God was with us today and heard our family and friends request to support us.
One more thing to add...my intuition was right. 90% sure we are on:
TEAM PINK!!!!
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Re: Update: Decided to NOT get amnio (long)
Hi Rae,
Congrats on your little girl! I am sure everything will be fine, I'm praying for you & yours.
Wow!!! I'm so happy for you!! That's fantastic that your sweet girl had zero markers!!
I'll keep you in my prayers!!
This all sounds so positive compared to yesterday! I've been thinking of you all day, and I'm so glad to hear that things are looking up. It sounds like you definitely made the right decision, and I understand why you decided to hold off for now and maybe hold off for good. Fingers crossed that things continue to look so good going forward. And - team pink, huh?! 90% contrats on that as well! Will continue to send positive vibes towards you and your baby.
Rae,
Great news! It is absolutely true that most babies that have T18 have many markers that show up in an u/s. Our baby had pretty much all of them (clenched fists, rockerball feet, cysts on brain, heart problem, bladder problem, 2 vessel cord, etc), which led us to the amnio. If we hadn't seen the visual evidence ourselves, I think we would have also skipped it. I hope you are feeling lots and lots of relief right now! Hope you can get some sleep and rest a bit easier.... Many hugs to you!
My Blog
I think you made the right choice. Amnios can be wrong too. My cousin and he wife were told that their 2nd daughter would have downs and be severly handicapped and they were actually urged to terminate. Well, she's now a perfectly healthy 4 year old. So be at peace about your choice.
DD#1 born June '09
DD#2 born April '11
TTC #3 as of July '14
Rae, I' praying for your little girl that she keeps growing in her nice warm surroundings and that she is just trying to show her Mommy what worrying for the rest of your life over her will be like
I probably would have made the same decision given your good results from the blood test and u/s.
Yay for baby girl Jeffrae! I can't believe you are having a girl! Don't ask me why I thought it was a boy, but I did.
Start thinking pink! I definitely think you made the right decision about the amnio for today. Like you said, you can choose to still have it, today just wasn't the day for it. If you decide later on that you want to have it, then you still can. The only thing you wouldn't be able to "undo" is having it done, and I am a firm believer in that it is always better to wait on something if you are unsure about it. I will continue to send you lots of healthy baby dust, but something tells me Baby Jeffrae is going to be just fine!!!! 
I'll keep you and little baby Jeffrae in my prayers, whatever decision you make in the end- I would be on your hubby's side though, FWIW, especially after the good u/s! Yay for little girls!!!
Congratulations on a great u/s and on Team Pink!!!
I hope everything is fine from here on out!!
Mom to Annabelle (Aug. '06), Aaron (Apr. '09) and Eleanor (Jan. '12)
Oh Rae it sounds like you made the perfect decision, especially because it was YOUR decision, and not anyone else's.
Congrats on your baby girl..... I will keep praying for her health
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