Could y'all talk me into the NT scan?

NoeliaV · November 2014

I prefer a less-is-more approach to pregnancy/childbirth. We did no additional testing with DD. My only reason for wanting the blood test now, is that I would like us to prepare ourselves and DD, in the event of a genetic abnormality.

My initial thought was that we could do the blood test (panorama) and then do the NT scan to double check on any issues, if there were any indicated by the test. But, now my window for that option is closed (ie- the results wouldn't be back until after the NT time-frame has past). So now the options are: NT scan only, NT scan plus blood draw at same time, or blood draw only.

DH would like the NT scan, but says its ultimately up to me. My parents will be here for that appointment, so they could participate in the ultrasound which they didn't get to do with any of my mom's pregnancies (only while she was pregnant with my sister was the anatomy scan available. #soold).

My preference, I think, would be to only do the blood work, but if any of the results came back high-risk for abnormalities, I'd be really unhappy that I missed the NT scan-- I'm 100% not okay with an amnio or CVS.

So. Tell me what to do. Tell me that the NT scan is good, or fun even. Tell me that one extra ultrasound with this pregnancy will not turn my child into a mutant (I know, I know).

(Holy shoot. That got long. Eeps. Cookies for those who didn't TL;DR it.)

angielayne926 · November 2014

I did it with my DS because of issues with family LO's. It honestly gave me a lot of reassurance that he was OK. I was a paranoid mess my whole pregnancy, though. I do believe doing it to prepare your DD would be a good idea. Then you could read books, or show pictures, or visit children with special needs just in case so she knows what to expect. Ultimately, though, it's your choice. GL!

jrush89 · November 2014

An extra ultrasound won't turn baby into a mutant, and how awesome would it be for your parents to be there! Even if you didn't want any testing I'd say go with the NT. But I'd love to see baby as much as possible if I could so that may be just me

housewifebecomesher · November 2014

For us, it was an opportunity to see our little bean one more time and to prepare ourselves if there were any abnormalities. I would hate for you to choose it because internet strangers convinced you! Everyone is different

finchfeeder80 · November 2014

I'm struggling with this myself. Mostly because my insurance won't cover it. I've also heard there is a decent chance for false positives/negatives. It's a tough decision, and I'm quickly running out of time.

brody624 · November 2014

For me I want that peace of mind that nothing is wrong, and if there is something wrong, then I want the time to prepare. I want to be able to research doctors if needed so when LO does arrive, I'm not overwhelmed by a newborn and worrying about making sure they have the are they need.

Honestly, I think everyone is different. Some people are patient, and others (like me) need to know.

NoeliaV · November 2014

Ajm11 said:

I'm not getting an NT scan, but I did want to bring this up. My insurance will not pay for the scan or bloodwork alone. It will only pay for both tests together. Apparently it is considered investigational otherwise. This may only be a thing for my specific insurance, but I would recommend looking into the policy if you have any insurance concerns. Good luck with your decision!

That is interesting!

My insurance will not pay for the blood test (I'm just shy of being 35) but my OB/MW practice has a direct contract with the panorama people so it's just a $25 fee for me. I think I will look into the NT fee again, though. Thanks.

NoeliaV · November 2014

@housewifebecomesher

I'm good with internet strangers convincing me on this one

I'll take any options or guidance at this point!

shibby00 · November 2014

I'd get the panorama test. It's more accurate than the NT, which just gives percentages. This seems like a no brainer if the blood test is $25.

mamahawk12 · November 2014

NoeliaV said:
My preference, I think, would be to only do the blood work, but if any of the results came back high-risk for abnormalities, I'd be really unhappy that I missed the NT scan-- I'm 100% not okay with an amnio or CVS.

I've posted this on here before, and I think we've even had an exchange about it, but what is posted above is exactly why I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE everyone I know to get the NT. We are also not willing to do any invasive testing (amnio, etc) so when something questionable came back during our anatomy scan with our youngest, it was *only* because of our perfect NT results that we were able to rule out the worst (with pretty high certainty, obviously not 100%). Had I not done the NT (I skipped it with my first) we would have spent the entire rest of my pregnancy playing the "what if" game. The NT ultimately saved my sanity.

And it IS fun!! It's incredible to see how much your baby is actually developed at just 12 weeks.

NoeliaV · November 2014

mamahawk12 said:

NoeliaV said:
My preference, I think, would be to only do the blood work, but if any of the results came back high-risk for abnormalities, I'd be really unhappy that I missed the NT scan-- I'm 100% not okay with an amnio or CVS.

I've posted this on here before, and I think we've even had an exchange about it, but what is posted above is exactly why I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE everyone I know to get the NT. We are also not willing to do any invasive testing (amnio, etc) so when something questionable came back during our anatomy scan with our youngest, it was *only* because of our perfect NT results that we were able to rule out the worst (with pretty high certainty, obviously not 100%). Had I not done the NT (I skipped it with my first) we would have spent the entire rest of my pregnancy playing the "what if" game. The NT ultimately saved my sanity.

And it IS fun!! It's incredible to see how much your baby is actually developed at just 12 weeks.

We've bantered about the Zofran issues, but not this one (yet)

And, actually, this is really helpful. Thanks

pinkcallalily · November 2014

It really depends on how much you want to know. We chose not to do any testing with our son because we had spent 3 years TTC and finally got pregnant after IVF. I think we were just more concerned about the stress it could cause during what should be a happy time and didn't truly think anything would be wrong (or we didn't want to face it if there was).

We chose to do the NT scan for our 2nd pregnancy even though we were considered low risk and learned our baby would not survive due to hydrops. Knowing ahead of time gave us the opportunity to do CVS to get answers (she had Down syndrome). Unfortunately we also had to deal with weekly ultrasounds waiting for her heart to stop because we chose not to terminate.

If we hadn't done the NT scan then we would have gone to an appointment around 18 weeks and learned that our baby didn't have a heartbeat.

I still don't know if I would have preferred having those extra weeks of happiness thinking everything was great only to be shocked by the news later in pregnancy or if I preferred knowing ahead of time that she wouldn't survive. It's a very personal decision. However, after our experience, we now choose to do as much non-invasive testing as we can to know our children are healthy or we would be too stressed to enjoy any of the pregnancy.

ETA: the NT scan can tell you things the blood test can't. In our case, the abnormalities during the nt scan were caused by heart defects ( which were caused by down syndrome), however, it could have just as easily been a heart defect not caused by a trisomy. We plan on doing both tests.

NoeliaV · November 2014

@pinkcallalily

I'm sorry for the loss of your sweet girl ((( hugs )))

Thank you for sharing.

Schnurette · November 2014

We did integrated prenatal screening with DD - basically they do a blood test and u/s between 11 and 14 weeks, and then another round of blood tests between 18 and 20 weeks and then give a ratio for the chances of genetic defects.

(i.e. 1 / 800 or 1 / 21,000) from there we could decide if we wanted more testing or would just go with the flo.

We did it because DH has a cousin with Downs and he is nervous about it.

honeybunches101 · November 2014

I don't see any downside to doing the NT scan, with or without the blood work. Our insurance won't pay for one of the free cell DNA type tests, but there is a blood test componant to the NT scan. Aside from learning health information, I thought it was a fun ultrasound. He/she looks like a baby but is still small enough to see the whole body on the screen. Hopefully the scan will reassure you that things are on track, and if you get bad or inconclusive results, you can have further testing.

jbartsy · November 2014

My deciding factor was that my insurance will cover it (and it's another excuse to see my baby). It turns out that my clinic bills it as a basic ultrasound and blood test, and as long as it is ordered by the doctor, I have unlimited coverage. I keep having to remind myself to not get too worked up if the outcome is less than desirable, but I'm so excited to see the difference between my 8 and 12 week ultrasounds

You have to make the best decision for you though - your peace of mind should come first.

ohiodoxiemama08 · November 2014

housewifebecomesher said:
For us, it was an opportunity to see our little bean one more time and to prepare ourselves if there were any abnormalities. I would hate for you to choose it because internet strangers convinced you! Everyone is different

This exactly. It's reassuring to see baby again and gives time to prepare. DH's cousin's wife had a baby with trisomy 18 so we also knew there was a chance of abnormalities and wanted all the information we could get.

ElleJDubs · November 2014

I decided to not do it bc it is not a definitive answer. I didn't like the idea that it comes back like this for example: 1/25000, 1/5000 or 1/400. 1 in 400 is still slim but would make me worry.

Edit: just realized it said talk me INTO it lol sorry about that!

dkleid · November 2014

We are.doing it. DH actually can't come to this appointment but all of the other genetic testing we have had done (ie Jewish panel of blood work, look it up a whole list of genetic disorders) have come back negative. I want to know if something is wrong sonthat I can prepare myself with all of the knowledge the world has to offer. I will love my baby no matter what but anyway I can prepare myself I will.

tahitiandreamin · November 2014

I wouldn't do the NT scan without the panorama test. The NT scan can detect other things (like spina bifida) that panorama can't BUT the accuracy of the panorama is so much greater than the NT scan for the trisomy issues. The chances of getting a false positive on the NT scan are so much higher than with panorama that having the panorama done as well can save you the stress of getting a positive screen with an NT scan when there is no problem.

We almost did only the panorama test but at my dating ultrasound this week the sonographer was gathering images for a study and when he saw how small the NT fold was he had to tell us from there we just did the rest of it.

Since you have the option to do panorama as well, I would do both.

CMDD · November 2014

@NoeliaV I've been considering this too and I think I'm going to do it because it's one more chance to see the baby so early and if something comes up with the screening I'll have time to learn about it and plan. But, my doctor just told me today that to do the nuchal US I also need to do a blood test, but she didn't say which blood test (it was in a text).

edit- spelling

NoeliaV · November 2014

@CMDD and @tahitianddreamin

Thanks! Those are both very helpful perspectives/information.

I'm leaning more towards being okay with doing the NT scan and the panorama together. I think I just need to sit with that for a couple days before I fully commit in that direction.

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts on this

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