cvs and amniocentesis testing?

[Tennesseegirl]

Im on my 12th week and have the weekend to decide if Im wanting to do the cvs test. Just wondering what everyone thinks. I had my second ultrasound done today and the baby looks good. measures where it is sapose to and all. saw it stretch and open its mouth. I m thinking yawning with a good stretch arms up and legs extending. looked very comfortable. I dont know the sex yet. I read somewhere you can find out at 13 weeks. Im 12w6d today. the tech. told me it was too early.   I really freeked out when I found out I was pregnant! gave the idea of having another child up many,many years ago. but now that I am and have adjusted...... I really dont think I could ever terminate a baby, no matter what. I guess the only reason Im even concidering  the test   is for  peace of mind. but is that even a reason to put the baby at risk ? my husband just tells me that he is behind me on what ever I decide. geez not alot of help there. would love to hear others view or even experiences.

[Tennesseegirl]

yea... thanks I will ask him my numbers Monday. he wanted me to call with an answer for the amnio so he can schedule an apt. he doesnt have the equipment so I will have to go an hour away to get it done. I didnt relieze the blood test should show some signs already. if it is 1/1000 I wont have it. atleast now I have something to go with. I wonder why my dr didnt sugest this to me.? Perhaps with my age the numbers get lower odds. geez... got over the hump of the first trimester now for the testing.


not to exclude anyone thanks to all for your information and input.. this is really crazy to me and am still adjusting. the baby wasnt planned by all means, but at 44 Im getting very nervous and uptight. smile guess its my mood swings. I just keep telling myself this is such  a natrual thing....why should it be so confussing.

[redeft]

I just wanted to add that when I went for the n/t testing the literature they gave me said the test worked for trisomy 13 and 18 as well as downs.  But it is not "diognostic" - meaning it dosn't tell you yes or no in any case only probabilities.  

I am 40 and almost 13 weeks.  My feeling is - I have wanted this baby so long and having expierienced 2 miscarriages, I will do nothing that carries any risk of losing the baby.  I don't have results yet from the n/t, but that will be good enough for me, I know at my age the baby is at higher risk for various things and if any occur I will deal with them as best I can.

[stephie4]

i had the blood tests done, waiting for those results to see if i want an amnio. i wouldn't abort either, i guess i'm testing to be prepared.

my dr. suggested if the blood test numbers look great, then don't bother with the amnio, if blood work shows 1/500 chance or greater of having a genetic disorder, then think about the amnio, but if its 1/1000 - 1/10,000 - why risk having an amnio.

he also assured me that in his 12 years he's never had a miscarriage due to amnio.  so that was reassuring. its important to ask your dr. what his amnio/miscarriage rate is too.  if its greater than 1 in 200 go elsewehre.

[chiromom]

I'm going to add another point of view.  The amnio is NOT 100% accurate for diagnosing genetic conditions.  I had a pregnancy that MC @ 10 weeks - with twins.  It was Trisomy 8 - done by tissue karyotying at the D&C.  So, I started researching chromosomal issues.  If you have a mosaic presentation - where not all of the cells are effected - just some - it can be missed during the amnio.  There have also been instances where abnormal cells have been found, but the baby has been normal.  I have heard stories of women that have aborted due to the amnio results, and found out later that the fetus was normal.  I thought that amnios were 100% accurate.  Knowing this, I would never do an amnio.

This website - http://www.livingwithtrisomy13.org/album58.htm has a story of a woman who they told was positive in the amnio - but negative at birth.  This was scary.  So, if the fetus has a full trisomy (not a mosaic) - the amnio is accurate.  If there is an absorbed or missed twin or is there is a mosaic presentation - the amnio can be wrong.  Nice.  Not to confuse you more - but if you are already on the fence - it's better to understand.

[Ravencmt]

Well, just to confuse you further  :) , I fall on the opposite end of the comments here - I needed the peace of mind, even though I wasn;t sure that I would terminate even if positive.  The deciding factors for me were as follows - you find out abount more than just Down's with an amnio - there are other genetic disorders tested for that can cause your child to be born severely deformed and unlikely to live even a year.  Should one of those been present (trisomy 18 or 13) it would have been an easier choice to terminate. Also, the risk during amnio is quite low - less than the risk that your baby has Down's, once you are over 35.  Finally, I liked not having to guess at gender, or rely on a sometimes unreliable ultrasound result...  The amnio will tell you gender for certain.  

I agree that the NT / blood tests first and then amnio if that test shows any possibility of a problem is a good middle of the road solution, but I'm not sure that the NT/blood screens will cover the other possible genetic disorders - I think its only for down's.  A good genetic counselor can tell you for sure, as can your OBGYN.

Good luck!
Good luck!

[dsmommy]

I agree w/ AshleysMom.  If it doesn't change your plan then why risk it.  I know it's overwhelming and I'm struggling w/ the amnio thing too a little.  One of my twins was a 1:185 chance after the NT scan and I go in for the second round of screenings Monday.  They want me to know then depending on the results of this test Monday whether I want the amnio.  If so they will do it Monday.  I think I've finally decided that regardless its just not worth risking the babies since I wouldn't change anything even if one has DS.  All i can do is pray.  Everyone is different and you just really have to decide if its worth the risk to know for sure.  I think the screenings are a good indication.

Good Luck!

[AshleysMom]

If you wouldn't terminate, I wouldn't do the CVS or amnio.  I hear the screening tests are pretty accurate.

I had an m/c after a CVS.  I had an amnio with DD no problem and will have one again with this pregnancy.

Good luck to you!

[Tanker Chic]

I forgot to make the point that after the NT scan and blood tests, the results were good enough that I didn't even feel the need to consider amnio or cvs.  I don't know if that point was obvious or not, so I thought I would point it out.  

[Tanker Chic]

At 36, I didn't feel the risk of downs was that great.  I had pretty much decided not to do any of the prescreening (NT u/s and blood tests) but I started to get worried that if I didn't do it, and I let the time run out to where I couldn't do it any more, than I would be constantly worried about, so I changed my mind and did the both the NT u/s and blood tests. My dh was the same way as your, "whatever you decide I'll support."  

At 44 the risk is much greater.  I think I read 1 in 39.  I would do the NT scan for sure.  Once you get the results of that, then you can decide if you want to do amnio or not. If you want for the official results of your NT scan, you might not have time to do the cvs tho.  I don't know how important it was to you to do cvs instead of amnio.  The only benefit I saw to cvs was that you can do it ealier, so if you had a bad result you could make whatever decision earlier.  It is hard to even imagine..  

Best of luck with whatever you decide.