Amnio experiences or thoughts?

ajs89 · December 2014

On our 18 week ultrasound they found a bright spot in the bowel, otherwise known as Echogenic bowel. This is sometimes a soft marker for chromosomal abnormalities, although we did the genetic testing and the results were negative. On Friday we have an appointment with the specialist, in which they will do another ultrasound to see if the spot is still there. If it is, we are offered the choice of an amnio for further answers. I know there is a risk of miscarriage and just wanted to see if anyone else has went through with this procedure?

theinvadermothership · December 2014

I personally haven't. I would have considered it if there was something that needed further attention. But I guess you have to to consider whether or not an invasive test is worth it whether or not there is a problem.

I hope that everything for your sake is okay. Good luck.

balcerekc · December 2014

We got a diagnosis of spina bifida and in order to qualify for fetal surgery to repair I had to have an amnio at about 18-19 weeks. It wasn't too bad it was a very strange sensation initial pinch of a pain when the needle went in then just pressure. I think if I remember correctly the risk for miscarriage is pretty low and they really don't take that much fluid in comparison to what's in there. They told me to give myself 3 days of no lifting and staying off my feet as much as possible and to drink lots of water to help avoid cramping. I did experience some cramping but nothing worse than a light period cramp. Obviously it's up to you the amnio is more definitive but less invasive options may be available. Good luck!

missab · December 2014

I posted the (very long) post below about my amnio experience a couple of weeks ago when someone was faced with the possibility; here again if helpful, and also those threads might be good reads - one of them is "amino" not "amnio" if you search:

I had elective amnio despite no (low) risks on my Maternit21 blood test. We would not have done amnio solely to get the confirmation of low risk for downs etc (remember that amnio is a test, not a screening like the cell-free DNA tests). But, there is advanced genetic testing called a microarray that can be done with the amniotic fluid. If you do proceed, I would suggest inquiring about this testing (note it is very expensive so you'll also want to see if your insurance covers it). Amnio for me was not scary at all once I was in the actual room with my doc and perinatologist. I watched the baby on the screen the entire time and saw what they were seeing in terms of putting the needle as far away from the baby as possible. The needle "pain" itself was no more than a pinch, like getting the flu shot. Of course everyone is in a different market and has a different situation and relationship with their doctor, but, for us, my doctor had done thousands of amnios without in incident and had high tech equipment that set my mind at ease that I was in good hands (from what I read, much of the historic risk with amnio comes with doctor error).

My decision to have amnio is obviously a rather unpopular and unique one on this board, but if you do some reading around the interwebz, you'll find lots of stories about how modern amnio is no longer the scary procedure they used to tell us about -- pre ultrasound, they had to put the needle in blind and just hope they didn't hit baby (!!). That was not the case for me, and, if I understand correctly, is no longer how the procedure is performed (however confirming that could help set your mind at ease if you do choose to proceed).

Ultimately, remember that no matter what you read on this board: there is no "right choice" - only what is right for you.

All that said, the decision about whether to get the test, I think, was the easy part. Deciding how you feel about and what you'll do with any information you receive is the challenging part and that part that requires much exhaustive contemplation (with your SO if he is involved). My husband and I ultimately decided that "knowledge is power" and while there are things we may learn that will lead to more questions than answers with the microarray, we would rather know and be able to potential get our child whatever help it needs throughout its life than be behind the ball at some point wondering what's going on. I didn't find much other than horror stories when I tried reading about people's experiences with microarray (everything was either "this allowed us to assemble a NICU team at birth that saved my baby's life" or "this test lead to more questions than answers and my stress is now through the roof about when in life my child will exhibit traits of a syndrome he carries - I wish I didn't know.")

Apologies for the long post, but as someone who struggled to find many examples of others' experiences, I hope this is useful.

As for me, yesterday, my amnio results came back normal, confirming my low risk Maternit21 reading and we are currently awaiting the results of our microarray. So I cannot even say we made the right choice on doing the microarray, but the above is a window into the pros and cons we weighed as we came to our decision.

Whatever you decide will be what you are comfortable with for your pregnancy and baby. Read as much as you can, ask your doc lots of questions and make an informed decision is my best advice -- hard to beat yourself up either way if you trust yourself that you did your due diligence in coming to your decision.

melissa721 · December 2014

I just did one last week. It wasn't awful. Barely hurt. I was more emotional than anything. For me, I couldn't go the rest of the pregnancy not knowing what we were facing--if anything at all. I have too much stress and anxiety about this pregnancy to begin with.

It took more time to explain the process than to actually do it. I've been feeling the baby move consistently this week.

My dr said the m/c after amnio stats look at pregnancy loss from 4-6 weeks after the amnio. But he is of the opinion that if you're losing your baby 5 and half weeks or so after an amnio...you likely would have lost that baby anyway. Losing the baby within 48 hours of it? Yeah, probably due to the amnio. I kind of agree.

melissa721 · December 2014

Got interrupted and posted too soon. GL at the follow up u/s. It's never fun to get bad news when you're pregnant. I hope it clears up on its own and you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.

Stucas · December 2014

This post is exactly me. I'm going today for my fetal echo so we are going to check on baby boys echogenic bowel too. Everything else says my risk is low for chromosomal abnormalities so I don't know if we will do the amnio or not. I am very torn on what to do so we will just have to see what happens today. Good luck on Friday!

ajs89 · December 2014

Thanks everyone! We go tomorrow morning and are hoping for positive news. If the ultrasound still shows the Echogenic bowel, we have decided to go through with the amnio. I don't think I can go 4 months of not knowing. Stucas, how did your appointment go today?

melissa721 · December 2014

ajs89 said:
Thanks everyone! We go tomorrow morning and are hoping for positive news. If the ultrasound still shows the Echogenic bowel, we have decided to go through with the amnio. I don't think I can go 4 months of not knowing. Stucas, how did your appointment go today?

Update?

missab · December 2014

If it's like mine was, OP won't have the results for at least 6 days, maybe longer.

Stucas · December 2014

ajs89 said:
Thanks everyone! We go tomorrow morning and are hoping for positive news. If the ultrasound still shows the Echogenic bowel, we have decided to go through with the amnio. I don't think I can go 4 months of not knowing. Stucas, how did your appointment go today?

Thanks for asking, baby's bowel is no longer echogenic

ajs89 · December 2014

So glad to hear the good news Stucas

After going through genetic counseling, having blood work done and an ultrasound- they told us that the spot did not seem abnormal. I guess sometimes if you are on the thinner side, the ultrasound's waves produce these bright spots. We felt MUCH better after hearing that. Although this is what they suspected, they could not be 100 percent sure. I am an extreme worrier and a need to know all that I can kind of person, so we decided to go through with the amnio. We will get the results in a few weeks, but we are feeling positive about the results.

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