Ehhh should I do first trimester screening?

[mlward3]

I really don't know what I should do? My book says they do ultrasound around 11-13 weeks to check nuchal translucency to check for Downs and trisomy disorders, if it's + they can offer CVS sampling or amio at 15wks! I don't want to stress over something and do something to risk the pregnancy and end up being false +! I know that's just the risk you take with these screenings! I've always thought I could never abort a pregnancy but after reading about trisomy 13 & 18 its terrible and they don't live much past birth! I think I might if It was a trisomy disorder? What do you ladies think? I'm 28 no history on either side!

[Lemenna]

Oh and this is my 6th pregnancy - 4th child. I didn't do testing with the others.

[Lemenna]

My doctor asked me if we were going to do it and I asked her if I should.  Here are her thoughts:
She said it is an ultrasound and finger poke and even if we knew we were going to keep it no matter what that we should at least let the insurance company pay for an ultrasound.  I know we wouldn't terminate it no matter what, but I think I will go for the ultrasound!

[needhelp24121]

I decided not to get the testing done either.

[mlward3]

So I've decided I will not be doing any of this testing! I'm going to leave it in God's hands! He does not give us more than we can handle!  Thank-you ladies for all of your advice, this is such a personal decision & and I certainly do not judge what may be the right decision for other women!  I just know I could not abort at this point in my pregnancy! Thanks ladies!

[dtravis87]

I can understand why some people may want to have these tests done just so that they can prepare themselves for what they may need to deal with and educate themselves on but personally I think that its selfish for someone to have these tests done just so if they think something might be wrong (since nothing is for sure) they can abort the pregnancy......Im not saying that its easy to deal with if something is wrong with your child but I think you should love them no matter what....its your child that you created and for the people that would actually consider aborting after the tests what would you do if all your tests came back normal but your child was still born with problems? I personally will not do the testing because my child will always be perfect to me and I will love them no matter what..................I think before anyone does all these tests they should ask themselves...Is it going to change how much I love my child?...if the answer is no then i suppose the test are just added stress that noone ever really needs..........

[mami2karina]

I've done the testing with all 3 of kiddos and will do it with this one as well. I was dumbfounded when my OB didn't offer it with my last one. He said "well you won't do anything about it if it comes back abnormal would you?". Well no I wouldn't, but I'd like to know if there is a possibility that there is something wrong with my baby instead of find out surprised as heck at birth. Going all those months thinking my baby is perfectly fine and then have my perfect baby turn out to be sick. I couldn't handle that. And my husband is from a third world country and has seen the suffering that children have gone through because of these disorders and he has already told me he couldn't bring a child into the world to suffer, I couldn't either. I do not believe in abortion so I just pray to God that he would never put me in such a situation. But I have a friend who's son has severe problems, he wasn't even suppose to survive his birth, he's 2 1/2 now and has no life, he only suffers, he can't eat, he has severe issues with breathing, is in the hospital all the time. He has to have 18 hours of nursing care a day. He will never be able to walk, he cannot sit up, he can't move anything except his head and arms. It's just horrible. I just couldn't do that to my child. Ever.

[JoyRenee]

I have never done this test and only one doctor offered it to me (when pregnant with my second daughter). When I turned him down he thought I was nuts but I didn't care. I wouldn't abort and Down Syndrome babies do not die shortly after birth unless they have major issues with their heart.

[Cmhjrc]

I opted not to do the testing because  I didn't want the extra worry and I wouldn't consider an amnio or other further testing and I wouldn't terminate.  but it's a personal decision.    

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Typically they will do a triple screen or quad screen which is a blood test.  IF it comes back high risk they will do the ultrasound.  

Many women opt NOT to have those screenings done.  I've ALWAYS had the blood test done (fortunately it's always come back normal) but if it ever had come back NOT normal, the farthest *I* would go is the level II ultrasound.  Beyond that I would NOT opt for amnio or anything else.  

If my pregnancy were to show high risk for a trisomy anomoly I would NOT terminate.  Even having the amnio done it CAN Be wrong.  Tests are not 100% foolproof.  I could never terminate knowing there was a chance that my child was fine.  Even if the baby DID have an anomoly or something else, I believe that it's GOD's choice on how long the baby should live.  Miracles happen and I could, personally, could not live with myself knowing I terminated a pregnancy knowing there was a chance my child could have lived, even a short time.  As far as termination to keep the baby from suffering.  A termination causes terrible pain and suffering for a baby.  

As the above poster said, you are only 28, your risk is low.  It's a very personal decision and no one can tell you what to do.  We can only give you OUR opinions and let you decide for yourself.  Good luck..(BTW I'm 34, I've had 6 full term pregnancies and all of them were perfectly normal)

[kerriekab]

Try not to panic. You can worry yourself into a frenzy about the things that can go wrong!!!

The nuchal translucency scan can only give an indication if there is a high or low risk. You may be offered a blood test also at 16 weeks. If you are considered high risk they will offer you CVS or amniocentisis. They both carry a risk of miscarriage but its very low, 1% for amnio and 1-2% for CVS.

Please try not to worry until after you have the scan. If there appears to be a problem then they will explain it all to you. What you need to consider is what you have already said basically. If there was a problem would you abort the baby? You said you might if there was a problem so if there is a problem i would recommend the test just to put your mind at east. As i said, the risk for miscarriage is very low but i would request amnio rather than CVS as i think this is slightly less risky.  

My auntie had amnio in 2 of her pregnancies and they carried on fine!

Try not to stress until you have to!!! Your risk at 28 is still very low anyway!