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Nuchal Fold Measurement / Nasal Bone
The Peanut finally held still long enough to get a nuchal fold of 1.7 (13 weeks) and we were able to see the nasal bone (equal sign) unofficially.
I will be 42 when I deliver and now seem to be at ease with genetic disorders because of this mornings tests. The bloodwork results will be in late Wednesday afternoon.
Question: The risk assessments that are typically provided are mere statistical percentages, right? I already know mine will be high because of my age. Should I be concerned? How much weight is actually given for the nuchal fold and nasal bone?
It seems more weight is given to age. Hmmm.
I will be 42 when I deliver and now seem to be at ease with genetic disorders because of this mornings tests. The bloodwork results will be in late Wednesday afternoon.
Question: The risk assessments that are typically provided are mere statistical percentages, right? I already know mine will be high because of my age. Should I be concerned? How much weight is actually given for the nuchal fold and nasal bone?
It seems more weight is given to age. Hmmm.
Sure, I'd be happy to. First off I had mentioned above that I too have miscarried in the past. Prior to the birth of my son I had 5, and since then have had another. So the risk of loss scared me terribly. I am also the worlds biggest baby when it comes to needles or pain. Zero pain tolerance, although I am much better now.
When my odds of DS came back 1:13 I was of course terrified. It's funny because DS is no longer something that scares me, but that's another story. At the time it just seemed the worst possible thing that could happen. One of my other shortcomings is that I don't deal well with the unknown. To go through my entire pregnancy not knowing if he had it or not would have been awful for me. So we decided this was the best course of action for us.
My husband and I attended a seminar put on by the clinic I had been referred to. So I watched the whole procedure ahead of time on video (although I closed my eyes when they actually inserted the needle..lol). We then had the opportunity to ask questions. They told me afterward they had never been interviewed quite like that before. I found out that the perinatologist who would be performing the procedure had many many years experience. I can't remember exactly how long now, but it was a lot. That coupled with the experience of the clinic actually put their risk of complications at something like 1:1000 instead of the 1:400 typically quoted. I felt much better.
I don' t think I slept a second the night before. My husband came, they prepped me and found the baby on ultrasound. Loved that part! They patiently waited until he was in the position they wanted and told me they were inserting the needle. I closed my eyes, clutched my husbands hand and the Dr. said, "ok, we're in". I opened my eyes, looked at him and said "seriously? that's it? and started to giggle (I don't recommend that part..lol)" No kidding, it was almost painless. I felt some minor cramping while they collected the fluid, and that was it. It was so fast.
I had the procedure on a thursday, took the friday off as well and layed around and let my husband baby me. That part was great! I didn't lift anything or do much of anything really. I had no problems and only a few days later found out that baby was normal and that it was a boy (because my risk was so high, I was offered something called FSH in which you get your results in a few days instead of weeks.)
Now, I am not advocating amnio. There is absolutely an element of risk involved and you need to feel confident and comfortable with that. There is also the question as to what you would do with the info. In my case I had no intention of terminating (although I am completely pro choice and respect everyone's personal decision), but I did want to know in order to be prepared both emotionally and with the proper intervention in place. For me it would have been much harder had I found out for certain at the birth. But that's just me. It's one of the most personal decisions you can make and you need to feel ok with whatever you decide.
Hope that helps a bit. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I am also pretty certain others who have had this procedure will chime in here. Best of luck in whatever you decide.
When my odds of DS came back 1:13 I was of course terrified. It's funny because DS is no longer something that scares me, but that's another story. At the time it just seemed the worst possible thing that could happen. One of my other shortcomings is that I don't deal well with the unknown. To go through my entire pregnancy not knowing if he had it or not would have been awful for me. So we decided this was the best course of action for us.
My husband and I attended a seminar put on by the clinic I had been referred to. So I watched the whole procedure ahead of time on video (although I closed my eyes when they actually inserted the needle..lol). We then had the opportunity to ask questions. They told me afterward they had never been interviewed quite like that before. I found out that the perinatologist who would be performing the procedure had many many years experience. I can't remember exactly how long now, but it was a lot. That coupled with the experience of the clinic actually put their risk of complications at something like 1:1000 instead of the 1:400 typically quoted. I felt much better.
I don' t think I slept a second the night before. My husband came, they prepped me and found the baby on ultrasound. Loved that part! They patiently waited until he was in the position they wanted and told me they were inserting the needle. I closed my eyes, clutched my husbands hand and the Dr. said, "ok, we're in". I opened my eyes, looked at him and said "seriously? that's it? and started to giggle (I don't recommend that part..lol)" No kidding, it was almost painless. I felt some minor cramping while they collected the fluid, and that was it. It was so fast.
I had the procedure on a thursday, took the friday off as well and layed around and let my husband baby me. That part was great! I didn't lift anything or do much of anything really. I had no problems and only a few days later found out that baby was normal and that it was a boy (because my risk was so high, I was offered something called FSH in which you get your results in a few days instead of weeks.)
Now, I am not advocating amnio. There is absolutely an element of risk involved and you need to feel confident and comfortable with that. There is also the question as to what you would do with the info. In my case I had no intention of terminating (although I am completely pro choice and respect everyone's personal decision), but I did want to know in order to be prepared both emotionally and with the proper intervention in place. For me it would have been much harder had I found out for certain at the birth. But that's just me. It's one of the most personal decisions you can make and you need to feel ok with whatever you decide.
Hope that helps a bit. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I am also pretty certain others who have had this procedure will chime in here. Best of luck in whatever you decide.
Hi Jackie,
Congrats and great results. 1.7 NT is really good and seeing the Nasal bone at that
stage is also great. They start at bad odds given your age. My NT was 2.6 and the tech was happy with that until he looked at my age. Was 42 then so I had a 1:60. Halved because of my age. My blood brought me back to 1:20
I had an amnio at 31 weeks but because of short limbs. Was relatively painless.
Amnio was neg for Chromosonal disorders.
Personally I think with your results I wouldn't even go there.
Good luck
Adgal:
If you don't mind I would love to hear your story. I am starting to prepare myself for being in the high risk range. Plan for the worst, pray for the best, so part of that is getting an amnio or cvs.
Both I have heard are reality painless but the needles are freaky. It's just those risks that really have me concerned.
Also, I originally went Friday for testing but babe didn't cooperate. So, I asked about bloodwork and I was told it couldn't be done ahead of time because (even 3 days) of the changing hormonal levels. My how doctors vary.
Kelly: Thanks, I didn't realize that it was 80% bloodwork.
If you don't mind I would love to hear your story. I am starting to prepare myself for being in the high risk range. Plan for the worst, pray for the best, so part of that is getting an amnio or cvs.
Both I have heard are reality painless but the needles are freaky. It's just those risks that really have me concerned.
Also, I originally went Friday for testing but babe didn't cooperate. So, I asked about bloodwork and I was told it couldn't be done ahead of time because (even 3 days) of the changing hormonal levels. My how doctors vary.
Kelly: Thanks, I didn't realize that it was 80% bloodwork.
I have a history of m/c too..have had 6 in total now so trust me, I understand your hesitancy. At the end of the day, after I did a whole lot of research I was comfortable with it, but whether to do it or not is such a personal decision and you have to feel good about your choice. If you ever want info on my personal experience with it, let me know. Happy to tell you.
Kelly...they had me do my bloodwork about 3 or 4 days before my NT. That way I got my risk odds the same day I had my scan. You know how crazy I get about waiting...so that worked well for me. I don't deal well with wait and see..lol.
Kelly...they had me do my bloodwork about 3 or 4 days before my NT. That way I got my risk odds the same day I had my scan. You know how crazy I get about waiting...so that worked well for me. I don't deal well with wait and see..lol.
WOW, great results. I can't believe you get your BW results so quick too! I asked my Dr. how much the soft markers weighed in when doing the testing and he said not much, HUH? He said 80% was blood and with the N/T it makes 90% doesn't seem right. Oh well! I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my phone doesn't ring, lol! I agree w/being scared having the amnio and risking a possibly perfectly healthy child....We shall see :) Oh, and my perinatologist last baby said he had someone with a normal N/T, normal bloodwork and delivered a downs. Only the Amnio is 100%. Good luck to us all!!
Thank you so much for your answer, it was very informative.
We are apprehensive about doing amnio or cvs because of mc history. I would not want to cause a miscarriage of an absolutely healthy babe because we are curious. Also, this late in the game I don't know the possibilities of becoming pregnant again should we miscarry.
Honestly, I am quite frightened of amnio but heard from different people it wasn't that bad.
I guess we will deal with that bridge when and if we come to it. The results on Wednesday should help provide better insight to what we are looking at.
Thanks again!
We are apprehensive about doing amnio or cvs because of mc history. I would not want to cause a miscarriage of an absolutely healthy babe because we are curious. Also, this late in the game I don't know the possibilities of becoming pregnant again should we miscarry.
Honestly, I am quite frightened of amnio but heard from different people it wasn't that bad.
I guess we will deal with that bridge when and if we come to it. The results on Wednesday should help provide better insight to what we are looking at.
Thanks again!
Hmm...no I don't think they put more weight on age. It seemed to me that they based most of it on the combo of bloodwork and age together. The ratio between free beta and whatever the other hormone is called. At my nt (I was 40), we also saw the nasal bone and my fold was also within range. The ratio between the two hormones was fairly significant and that coupled with my age gave me a result of 1:13. I had amnio and baby was perfectly fine.
They consider things like nt fold and nasal bone soft markers only. I think that if the nasal bone is present and nucheal fold in range that is a pretty good indicator that all is well, however, if they don't see the nasal bone and nucheal fold is thicker then average, it is a red flag, but not necessarily a solid indicator that something is wrong. To tell you the truth, at my NT, the tech told me they did see the nasal bone, but that that was not a factor in coming up with the risk factor. Maybe that's just here though, it might be different in the US.
And yes, the numbers they come up with are only statistical percentages. They are certainly not diagnostic. They basically are given to help you determine whether or not you want more testing. They can also scare the heck out of you unnecessarily, but thats just my opinion. I am 42 now, and trying to conceive again. DH and I are considering skipping the first trimester screen and going straight to amnio. At least that is diagnostic, and the worry last time was awful.
Congrats on your pregnancy and all the best to you!
They consider things like nt fold and nasal bone soft markers only. I think that if the nasal bone is present and nucheal fold in range that is a pretty good indicator that all is well, however, if they don't see the nasal bone and nucheal fold is thicker then average, it is a red flag, but not necessarily a solid indicator that something is wrong. To tell you the truth, at my NT, the tech told me they did see the nasal bone, but that that was not a factor in coming up with the risk factor. Maybe that's just here though, it might be different in the US.
And yes, the numbers they come up with are only statistical percentages. They are certainly not diagnostic. They basically are given to help you determine whether or not you want more testing. They can also scare the heck out of you unnecessarily, but thats just my opinion. I am 42 now, and trying to conceive again. DH and I are considering skipping the first trimester screen and going straight to amnio. At least that is diagnostic, and the worry last time was awful.
Congrats on your pregnancy and all the best to you!
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