Thank you everyone for the virtual hugs and thoughts. Doc called last night, Trisomies and DS were low risk. However there was an elevated risk for DiGeorge Syndrome.Today they are going to call me with the name and number for a genetic counselor. Doc was very helpful but he said it would be best to see one because they can do a better US at 18 weeks to clarify any noticeable issues.
I hope you get good news!
FWIW, natera reports that there is only a 20% positive predictive value for it (so, 20% chance of it actually being there when flagged as high risk) so you have a high chance its a false positive. I don’t want to give false hope, but there is some to be had here
@cmbt2 Yea, my doctor was explaining that last night, I'll be honest all the numbers were really confusing me lol. But were trying to not stress out until we do additional testing with the counselor.
@PenelopeSnuz77 Mine was through Progenity, and I haven't received a single bill. I'm 35, though, so I think my insurance is covering more than you might expect.
~*~*~*~*FTM!*~*~*~*~* Married 10/17/09 TTC since 2/16 BFP 2/4/19 EDD 10/15/19
Thank you so much for all your positive thoughts ladies! You ladies are such a supportive group.
We had a meeting with the genetic counselor today. She said she wasn’t concerned with my results, but because I was above the threshold that the NIPT would be offered to me. I am 1/70 which is less than 2% risk but more than the 1% risk so thats why it was offered. She doesn’t recommend the amnio but she thinks the NIPT would put all our minds at ease. We did end up discussing it but, we declined. I did the blood draw the same day and will hear back from the genetic counselor within a week. I also got blood drawn for a carrier screening, but that won’t come back for 3 weeks.
Added bonus though since the test screens for chromosomal abnormalities, we will get to find out the sex! We didn’t need any additional screenings with our son so it wasn’t offered last time (we were team green). I didn’t expect this to happen so I wasn’t planning on finding out until the anatomy scan (My sister is throwing us a gender reveal party so we won’t find out then) but I’m excited to get the results earlier! I’m gonna try really hard not to peek 🙈
@rachelgreene-2 Glad that you will have further testing to rule out those results. Keeping my FX for you
I had been ranting over in Randoms that the NIPT results were delivered to the doctor that did the blood-draw (not my regular OB) but they claimed they didn't have it. So I emailed my regular office and the nurse was super kind and got the results. She said everything came back negative and all results were normal!! So very relieved. She also put the gender in a separate message and it is taking all of my willpower to resist looking. Cannot wait until Saturday to find out!!
TTC #1: September 2013, BFP 01/01/14, DS 09/14 TTC #2: October 2018, BFP 02/02/19, EDD 10/14/19
My results have been sitting in the patient portal since yesterday and I didn’t think to check! Low risk for everything and waiting for a response back to find out the sex! By a stroke of luck, DH and I are both working from home today so we should be able to find out together as soon as we get the message.
Had my 11 week check up today and my OB actually said that she wouldn’t mind skipping the NT scan and just going with the blood work to check for chromosome abnormalities, which I’m good with. But I’m the worst and she asked if I wanted it to report the sex and I was strong and said no. Then at the end of the appointment I said ok will you check that box 😬 what if I change my mind?! I don’t think I’m gonna make it as a team greener ha. It really won’t change anything for me if we find out now vs later except narrowing down the name pool, but curiosity is getting to me..
@Schumerator haha your checking the box at the last minute made me laugh. Well maybe you'll surprise yourself and stay Green. When we got the genetics result on the phone and they asked at the end "we know the sex as well, would you like those results?" I was surprised by how little temptation I had and I was able to decline.... It was a proud Team Green moment.
@Schumerator haha I'm team green too and they asked me three times if I was sure I didn't want to know before they sent the NIPT off! But like @marbellie I found it pretty easy to stay strong. Yay Team Green!
@obsessedwithoranges@marbellie@Schumerator Agree with being able to stay Team Green. I too thought I would want to know when they told me they knew but we held strong. It is amazing how proud of myself I felt not finding out! I did tell her that it is super weird I am talking to someone who knows the gender and we don't, but besides for that, I am good with it still! They actually told me they request patients doing the NIPT test to get the gender because they like to confirm it is the same as the anatomy scan since they have seen issues. I was like isnt it 99% correct, and she was wishy-washy, but said there might be other problems if the results are not the same, they need to figure out why. So even if we didn't want to find out, the doctor had to!
I know this isn't the perfect place for this because it's about the anatomy scan, but we don't have one yet and I figured it was still relevant to the info here.
I'm super annoyed at my local hospital of choice. I want to do my AS at 18 weeks for reasons discussed here relating to TFMR. Plus my midwife wants me to get it at 18 weeks so we can discuss it at my next appointment (19 weeks). The hospital just called to schedule during my 20th week and said that's what my midwife put and that they don't schedule earlier than the 19th week there. Then said "I know you want to know the sex, but baby grows so much between 19-20 weeks..." 🙄🙄 I told her we already knew the sex and that finding out if anything was wrong as early as possible was actually my top priority. Called my midwife back and she said they've been going back and forth with them all day and sent my request 4 times! I decided to just give them permission to call the other local hospital to put in my AS request there haha
@nnaelilak I *hate* trying to get the anatomy scan scheduled. HATE IT. Hospitals usually have policies that don’t line up with providers, so getting them scheduled is such a pain
@nnaelilak, I also asked about scheduling my A/S at 18 or 19 weeks, but my doctor said my insurance won't cover it until 20 weeks. I'm going to ask again at my next appointment just in case.
@nnaelilak, I also asked about scheduling my A/S at 18 or 19 weeks, but my doctor said my insurance won't cover it until 20 weeks. I'm going to ask again at my next appointment just in case.
This is odd to me, maybe call your insurance? I mean, I’m sure there’s companies that do this, but I’ve never seen it 🤷🏼♀️
I had different insurance for DS1 than I did for DS2 and this one, and not once, did they go “oh, 18w is too early.” I’m sure plans like that exist, though, I’d expect that from the ones that refuse to cover any other scans
@nnaelilak, I also asked about scheduling my A/S at 18 or 19 weeks, but my doctor said my insurance won't cover it until 20 weeks. I'm going to ask again at my next appointment just in case.
This is odd to me, maybe call your insurance? I mean, I’m sure there’s companies that do this, but I’ve never seen it 🤷🏼♀️
I had different insurance for DS1 than I did for DS2 and this one, and not once, did they go “oh, 18w is too early.” I’m sure plans like that exist, though, I’d expect that from the ones that refuse to cover any other scans
I didn't phrase my first post very well, let me clarify: the doctor said they don't like to schedule A/S prior to 20 weeks "for insurance reasons" but not necessarily because my insurance doesn't cover it prior to 20 weeks. (I realize that's exactly what my first post said, so my bad.) I think what she meant was insurance will only cover one A/S. And then the concern is if the A/S is done too early and they need to repeat it because some body part is not yet developed enough to see, that insurance would not cover the repeat scan. I'm also somewhat rural, so it's possible my U/S place has a lesser level of imaging that plays into this? Or else my doctor is just being overly careful. Either way, I plan to ask for clarification at my next appointment, because I'd really like it done a little sooner if possible.
Babies blood work came back with no issues!! Yay I’m so relieved 🙂 I’m glad we skipped the NT scan, it was just stressful when DS’s came back with potential risk, and this just said yes or no to abnormalities. Also they didn’t change the form from when I changed my mind at the end of the appointment, sooo no sex reported 🤣 I’m just laughing at that!
Warning about Natera Billing: I took the Natera Panorama and Horizon tests a few weeks ago. I was worried about whether or not my insurance covered the test, but my OB said that the company has an out-of-pocket max price of $250, and I was comfortable with that.
So yesterday 4/16, I got an email that said it was adressed from "Support" with the subject line "Your Insurance Estimate." It turns out that email was from Natera, letting me know that my estimated cost, if I chose to go through insurance, would be over $1,500. Or I had the option of paying Natera directly and getting the lower rate of $500 ($250 per test). I had to pay that by April 19, or else they'd just bill insurance. That gave me three days. So I called my insurance company and confirmed that the Horizon test would not be covered, and the Panorama test is technically covered, but since we haven't hit our deductible yet, we'd be paying for it. So obviously, I'm going to pay Natera directly to get the better price, but it sucks that it won't count towards our deductible.
I just thought it was so sleazy that a) they only reach out via email and not with a call or paper bill, b) the email was so nondescript, being from "support" regarding "insurance estimate." I almost didn't open it because I thought it was spam trying to sell me auto or life insurance and c) worst of all, they give you three days in which to decide and pay them, otherwise you're on the hook for the full amount. It's like a shakedown. And what if this had ended up in my spam filter? Or what if I'd been on vacation or something when this email came in? I'm definitely going to complain to my OB's practice about Natera. Not everyone is able to pay a $500 bill out of the blue on such short notice. Not everyone has the time to call their insurance company and sort out what the cost would be through insurance. Hell, a lot of people don't even check their email that often. Anyway, I just wanted to pass this on, and warn everyone to keep a close eye on your email inbox if you had Natera tests! Otherwise you could be liable for a huge chunk of change.
@Snaps816 call them about it. They’re very reasonable on the phone, and that email sounds shady. I got a bill in the mail last time and 30 days to pay or set up a payment plan
@Snaps816 call them about it. They’re very reasonable on the phone, and that email sounds shady. I got a bill in the mail last time and 30 days to pay or set up a payment plan
This. I would absolutely call them before paying ANYTHING. I got a notice in the mail about the insurance estimate, but it clearly said that if insurance didn't pay, I would not be expected to pay that amount. It made it clear that it was not a bill and didn't set any terms for me to respond, etc. This sounds very strange to me.
NIPT results are normal - after I called to check on results they left me a voicemail to say everything checked out! They won’t leave the sex on VM so we have to wait until Monday to find out. I was hoping to do it this weekend with family but oh well!
Got our results back today. Our son has a growth on his 13 week ultrasound. We've been so scared but we got low risk for nipt today!!! Can't even explain the happiness I feel. He will be 15 weeks tomorrow. Hopefully clear sailing from here.
I met with the genetics counselor on Monday. Boy was it overwhelming, so much information in one meeting. I felt like I was in a sales call for family history testing. She went over the next steps for testing which okay great. Our next US is at 20 weeks, and then possibly a fetal echo cardiogram. The only thing that I didn't like was she asked me if I went for the Translucent Nuchual (spelling?) US and I was told that it was optional. I didn't and now I feel like a complete idiot that I should have gone.
At my OB appointment today, they ordered a maternal serum AFP screening to be done between 16 and 18 weeks. My results for NT scan and NIPT were both low risk, but I guess this is just another way to discover potential problems. This is a new one to me and was not even offered in my last pregnancy even though my risk factors were the same (I was AMA for #1 as well). Anyone else having/had this done?
@greenbean-2 Yes that's the one. I'm going to go ahead and have it done, but feel I'm back to being nervous about the potential for more invasive tests being needed if results come back outside normal limits. Just thought I'd crossed that threshold with the other tests. Oh well, I guess that's the name of the pregnancy game.
I was pretty stressed about sending my harmony test through insurance because of horror stories about them charging full price and not negotiating... I was totally regretting not just paying the $200 or whatever knowing it would be denied.
I got the bill today and insurance paid about $700 of it and negotiated the price down, so now I only owe $75!! I'm so, so happy right now!!
So I'm way behind on these tests thanks to a crummy nurse. Anyway, I got them done (I was told on Thursday that everything came back low risk, thank goodness!), and Natera called me yesterday telling me I can either pay them outright by May 22nd in the amount of $498, or have it submitted through insurance for $1,350. I'm planning to call my insurance and see if that's before the insurance discount or after, because that's such a ridiculous spread.
Those with similar "issues" with Natera billing, what was your outcome? @nnaelilak is giving me a little hope!
@meagan-t natera has gone down so much in the past 3 years, they billed me for $8600 when insurance was denied with my son!! They also did not bill me until after his due date which really bugged me. We were dealing with the NICU and a craniosynostosis diagnosis and I didn't have time to deal with it, so I ignored them or maybe called them once with no real resolution... I never saw a third bill lol probably shouldn't recommend that though 😬😂
Re: NT/NIPT Discussion Thread
FWIW, natera reports that there is only a 20% positive predictive value for it (so, 20% chance of it actually being there when flagged as high risk) so you have a high chance its a false positive. I don’t want to give false hope, but there is some to be had here
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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@SLou24 Thank you
Married 10/17/09
TTC since 2/16
BFP 2/4/19
EDD 10/15/19
We had a meeting with the genetic counselor today. She said she wasn’t concerned with my results, but because I was above the threshold that the NIPT would be offered to me. I am 1/70 which is less than 2% risk but more than the 1% risk so thats why it was offered. She doesn’t recommend the amnio but she thinks the NIPT would put all our minds at ease. We did end up discussing it but, we declined. I did the blood draw the same day and will hear back from the genetic counselor within a week. I also got blood drawn for a carrier screening, but that won’t come back for 3 weeks.
Added bonus though since the test screens for chromosomal abnormalities, we will get to find out the sex! We didn’t need any additional screenings with our son so it wasn’t offered last time (we were team green). I didn’t expect this to happen so I wasn’t planning on finding out until the anatomy scan (My sister is throwing us a gender reveal party so we won’t find out then) but I’m excited to get the results earlier! I’m gonna try really hard not to peek 🙈
I had been ranting over in Randoms that the NIPT results were delivered to the doctor that did the blood-draw (not my regular OB) but they claimed they didn't have it. So I emailed my regular office and the nurse was super kind and got the results. She said everything came back negative and all results were normal!! So very relieved. She also put the gender in a separate message and it is taking all of my willpower to resist looking. Cannot wait until Saturday to find out!!
TTC #2: October 2018, BFP 02/02/19, EDD 10/14/19
I'm super annoyed at my local hospital of choice. I want to do my AS at 18 weeks for reasons discussed here relating to TFMR. Plus my midwife wants me to get it at 18 weeks so we can discuss it at my next appointment (19 weeks). The hospital just called to schedule during my 20th week and said that's what my midwife put and that they don't schedule earlier than the 19th week there. Then said "I know you want to know the sex, but baby grows so much between 19-20 weeks..." 🙄🙄 I told her we already knew the sex and that finding out if anything was wrong as early as possible was actually my top priority. Called my midwife back and she said they've been going back and forth with them all day and sent my request 4 times! I decided to just give them permission to call the other local hospital to put in my AS request there haha
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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I had different insurance for DS1 than I did for DS2 and this one, and not once, did they go “oh, 18w is too early.” I’m sure plans like that exist, though, I’d expect that from the ones that refuse to cover any other scans
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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So yesterday 4/16, I got an email that said it was adressed from "Support" with the subject line "Your Insurance Estimate." It turns out that email was from Natera, letting me know that my estimated cost, if I chose to go through insurance, would be over $1,500. Or I had the option of paying Natera directly and getting the lower rate of $500 ($250 per test). I had to pay that by April 19, or else they'd just bill insurance. That gave me three days. So I called my insurance company and confirmed that the Horizon test would not be covered, and the Panorama test is technically covered, but since we haven't hit our deductible yet, we'd be paying for it. So obviously, I'm going to pay Natera directly to get the better price, but it sucks that it won't count towards our deductible.
I just thought it was so sleazy that a) they only reach out via email and not with a call or paper bill, b) the email was so nondescript, being from "support" regarding "insurance estimate." I almost didn't open it because I thought it was spam trying to sell me auto or life insurance and c) worst of all, they give you three days in which to decide and pay them, otherwise you're on the hook for the full amount. It's like a shakedown. And what if this had ended up in my spam filter? Or what if I'd been on vacation or something when this email came in? I'm definitely going to complain to my OB's practice about Natera. Not everyone is able to pay a $500 bill out of the blue on such short notice. Not everyone has the time to call their insurance company and sort out what the cost would be through insurance. Hell, a lot of people don't even check their email that often. Anyway, I just wanted to pass this on, and warn everyone to keep a close eye on your email inbox if you had Natera tests! Otherwise you could be liable for a huge chunk of change.
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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BFP #2 5/4/14, EDD 1/15/15, DS1 1/19/15
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Me 39 - DH 41
Married 8/26/07
TTGP #1 Jan '15 -
BFP 9/11/15 - DS born 5/31/16
TTGP #2 July '17 -
CP July '17
Blighted Ovum MC Dec '17
CP June '18
BFP 1/30/19 - EDD 10/13/19
Me 39 - DH 41
Married 8/26/07
TTGP #1 Jan '15 -
BFP 9/11/15 - DS born 5/31/16
TTGP #2 July '17 -
CP July '17
Blighted Ovum MC Dec '17
CP June '18
BFP 1/30/19 - EDD 10/13/19
Those with similar "issues" with Natera billing, what was your outcome? @nnaelilak is giving me a little hope!