First pregnancy after 35, any advice?

misteeinthecity · April 2014

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm 36 and this is my first pregnancy being over 35. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice? Are there certain tests I should be asking for or if I'm offered I should get? I'm just now starting to do my research on everything. Thanks in advance ladies!

MrsDL · April 2014

Hi - Congrats!

I had my first at 36. The NT screening between 11 - 13 weeks 6 days which is pretty much offered to most women. Also, since you're AMA, I would check into Materniti21, Harmony, Panorama, etc testing. Many insurances cover it for AMA patients. It's basically a blood test where fetal DNA is extracted and you can find out early about risk for certain trisomies, etc as early as 10 weeks. It's more accurate than the NT screening however the NT screening will tell you things these tests will not, my doc does both.

Good luck!

QOTR · April 2014

Congratulations and welcome!

CMBHolmes76 · April 2014

Welcome to the club!

MrsL2B · April 2014

Congrats and welcome!

Krisd6 · April 2014

Congrats and welcome! I agree with asking for the maternity 21 test. My MD automatically ordered it because I'm over 35. You will see AMA written as a reason for everything- the lovely advanced maternal age! I'm 38 and pregnant with my first.

My advice is to stay positive and enjoy every minute. It is such an amazing experience. Good luck!

misteeinthecity · April 2014

Thanks everyone!!

Yellow578 · April 2014

Im 35 turning 36 in a few months having my first as well. We just did the Harmony test which was covered by insurance so no out of pocket costs. It came back low risk and we don't have family history so we've decided that's all we're going to do.

Congrats!

springbeduk2 · April 2014

Congratulations and welcome!

For advice -

I second/third/fourth previous posters' (pps) comments about the Materniti21 or similar tests. Many of us actually had that instead of rather than in addition to the NT scan and the blood tests that go with that. Here is one reason why: for the NTscan package, age is taken into account for figuring the odds so it's rather likely to get a scary result only to later find out everything is fine and that stress is for nothing. The Mat21 and similar tests just look at fetal DNA in your blood and don't take anything else into account (your age is just relevant for getting insurance to pay for it) so give a more un-biased picture of the probability of your baby having a trisomy. Plus it kindof saves a step (though it does mean missing a chance to see your LO because then you probably won't have an ultrasound at 12 weeks - you'd be waiting from the dating u/s done early on until the a/s at 20 weeks unless there is some other reason you need to get an u/s in between) since if the NT scan suggests there may be a problem you would probably then follow up with either the Mat21 or similar or an older invasive test (like amnio) so why not just go right to the Mat21?

Second, you might want to consider when choosing a health care provider how much they harp on you being "AMA". If you feel high-risk because of it and want a practitioner who has the same point of view, then go with that. For me, I wanted someone who would not make a big deal of my age (but would, especially early on, take my previous miscarriages into account and understand that we were over-anxious due to those) and the midwife practice I've been going to has been really great about that - they focus on the fact that I (and my husband) are basically in very good health and say that is way more important than our ages. That has helped me (along with a long history of older mothers in my family) not stress about being AMA and have a positive and less-stressed outlook towards this upcoming birth. I do sometimes see them sneak "High-risk - AMA" onto the insurance code form at the end of the visit but I just kindof block that out and hope it means they get more $$ from the insurance company or something.

You're really not *that* old so might not be offered/pushed to have additional tests, but in case you are (and even when considering whether to do some routine, but not technically necessary for your or your baby's health, like the Mat21 or NT scan or any of those) remember that all tests are really your choice and you can evaluate each one to decide if you want to have it or not, partly based on what you would do with the information and whether the test is only to give information about something which cannot be changed or whether it could lead to changes in care that would save your or your baby's life/health if the results showed a problem.

Also ... spend more time on this board (even if it's a bit quiet) than on your birth month board especially first trimester. You're a young one here!

Hope you have a healthy and happy 8ish more months!

Kbomgardner · April 2014

Congratulations to you! I'm 39, 40 in July and recently found out we're pregnant with our first in December. Thanks for posting all these questions and to the other group members for their insight. It is much appreciated!

alittlelibrary · April 2014

Congrats! I'm 36 with a three week old babe. The best thing I did, to keep my FTM anxiety in check, was to find a provider who didn't focus on my AMA status. Feeling supported and respected were very important to me. Testing extensively wasn't for us, so I can't help there.

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