To Test or Not to Test
Almost one more week down. They are finally starting to move at a speed a little faster than molasses.The testing issue
Being a pregnant woman over the age of thirty five (hey, I'm thirty five spot on, I don't think I should officially be considered "over", but WHATEVER) you have hit the magical mark, the arbitrary moment where you go from assumed to be healthy to assumed to have problems. You are assualted with words like "downs syndrome", "nuchal translucency" and "chromosomal abnormality". Instead of relaxing and enjoying your pregnancy, you are faced with a million different decisions.
I once sat in on a genetic counseling session with a pregnant woman over 35. It was scary as hell. In the state of WA your practitioner is require to tell you of the risks and possible screening involved in having a child when you are over the age of 35. Isn't that nice? Basically, they are required to scare you.
M. and I have settled on NO SCREENING or TESTING.
Yes kids. We're not going to do anything. Because screening leads to diagnostic testing and diagnostic testing leads to a risk of miscarriage from an amnio that we just aren't willing to take on. We would only end up worrying and we worry too much already.
M. wants to get an early ultrasound. I'm comfortable waiting for that until 18-20 weeks. This is irrational, but I just don't want to NOT see a heartbeat. If we have truly experienced fetal demise, my body will tell me. I don't want a machine to tell me. I don't want to go into an ultrasound all full of hope and walk out completely and utterly crushed.
I want to hold onto all the hope this baby represents as long as possible.
posted by Sacha @ 9:17 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
We are not testing either. Even if I was 35 and not 29, we wouldn't bother. I remember when my mom was pregnant with my brother. She was 35 and debating on getting the amnio done. We talked it over and she decided not to because she would have the baby regardless. There is a risk and if you know you'll carry on with the pregnancy regardless of the results, it's just not worth it. Chances are, your baby is healthy. I figure, I'll think of the baby as healthy and if anything should come up, we'll deal with it. I think sometimes there is overkill in testing and ultrasounds. And really, it's a personal decision. :)
I had both my kids over 35 (38 and 41) and it drove me crazy that I was forced to go through that counseling. The first time we did agree to the triple screen blood test (I'm not sure why since it has so many false positives), but we didn't do amnios. I know a lot of women feel good about doing them, but we just didn't. Some people looked at us like we were being irresponsible, but we were very secure in our decision, and it sounds like you are too.
We did the Nuchal test (measurement of neck thickness in 12 week ultrasound) and blood test, and then got a risk element from that (they tell you if it's low, medium or high risk of DS). If we got a medium or high, we would have been offered the amnio. Is this just an Australian thing?
Megan & Sacha
you are so right on about all the anxiety/scaring we healthcare providers are required to do...it's ridiculous.
i admire your decision; perhaps only because my dp & i made the same one (should we ever make it to that point in a pregnancy that it's an issue...) i'm not sure i could give up the early US but you raised a good point...why not hold on to all hope as long as possible until (i mean UNLESS) your body tells you something is not right?
I will hold on to all hope for you both!! I'm so happy you're pregnant!
Well I had the nuchal translucency test done when pg with Aidyn and ended up in the high risk catagory...actually 1 in 50 and I was 30. It was the most horrible thing...we ended up doing cvs testing to find out that Aidyn had "normal" chromosomes. If we ever get pg with #2 I won't do the test again.
I think you just have to go with your gut on it. We only wanted one ultrasound at 20 weeks(but ended up with an early one due to bleeding I had...and I was then glad I had one to put my mind at ease but that's b/c I was bleeding)
It *is* hard to wait until 20 weeks, but then they can actually check for stuff like a 4 chambered heart, kidneys, etc. Because we had to have an early ultrasound and then another follow-up to make sure the bleeding was resolved, I decided I don't want to do the 20 week one. I feel like everything is fine so I'm just going with my gut feeling. And I'm with you - you have to think about "what would I do with the information"?
As people have said, testing is a very personal decision. I, however, wanted to give a different perspective and maybe some insight into the benefits of testing (and let me preface this by saying I am NOT trying to scare you....I know that my situation is rare). At 12 weeks, I had an ultrasound and found out that my baby was very sick. Its heart rate was 215 (with 180 being the fastest they would want to see it) and it had other abnormalities that were consistent with chromosomal problems. It was so, so sick...it had a massive hygroma that was 3 times the size of its brain and also had fetal hydrops. My husband and I were completely, utterly devastated. Words cant express the love I had for this baby and what I felt I needed to do as its mother. We ended up terminating the pregnancy. (Please dont judge me for this -- I always said I would never do that either, but if it was your baby and you saw how malformed and sick and suffering it was, THEN YOU CAN HONESTLY SAY WHAT YOU WOULD DO.) It would take me too long to tell you how much and how hard I grieved, and how hard that decision was for us. How it affected my marriage and my faith. Anyway - to my point, your body doesnt always 'do its job'. My odds of having a healthy baby were 98%....but the odds have to find someone I guess. It was just shitty, awful luck but it happened. I had NO symptons that my baby was sick and I already have a healthy 3 year old. I dont drink, smoke, use drugs, heck I didnt even eat deli meat! And I am in pretty good shape and I'm 30 years old. I had no reason to think I wasnt having anything but a healthy baby. But I am so happy that I didnt wait until the standard 18 week ultrasound. My doctor said the baby probably would have died by then but I wouldnt have miscarried naturally. (and...I cant imagine what that would have been like). It was devastating at 12 weeks....but I can honestly say it would have been worse at 18 weeks. Since then, I have been to geneticists and other doctors and have done so much research that I honestly feel I could be a geneticist myself. Did you know that if they find out that a baby has spina bifida, it is possible to operate in utero to improve its chances and its quality of life? I guess I differ in most of the views here because I believe knowledge is power. I could never go through another pregnancy just completely ignornant of what was going on with something (someone!) that I love so much. If I have to get all those blood tests and strep B and gestational diabetes test, then why in the world wouldnt I test the baby too?! Knowledge is power. Use it to your advantage. Although my situation ended in termination, I am NOT talking about using this knowledge for that purpose. My baby was too sick for any help. For instance, if you have the AFP test and amnio and you find out that you are 1 in 20 for having a baby with Trisomy 18...wouldnt you at least like to know that?? It's wonderful if you would never terminate if that was the case...that's your decision. But you've got to know that your baby, and the pregnancy is at a higher risk so you can be given more attention, and your baby too. The ultrasound is the LEAST effective in detecting abnormalities, even something as simple as a heart defect. And it's not a matter of 'you would love your baby no matter what'. Of course you would!! Your its mother! Mothers love unconditionally. I choose to view it as, if my baby was sick and there was something I could do about it, I would want to know that. Granted, tests are not perfect. They are scary. They are just screening devices and they give a lot of false positives. And yes, it is stressful...but the stress of being pregnant NEVER ends just because you dont get tests and screens done...wasnt getting pregnant stressful for you? You handled it. Stress is a part of life. Also, your risk of miscarriage after an amnio is less than 2%. Did you know there is virtually NO risk for a nuchal screen? You are only 8 weeks pregnant and you are 35 (as you said, this doesnt qualify you as the newest inductee to Guiness as the world's oldest mother) but there ARE reasons why you are considered to be at a higher risk...just please just educate yourself to know what your options are. Every decision regarding the welfare of YOUR baby is obviously yours and yours only. Everything I have talked about is a personal decision. I respect that entirely. I personally have never thought 'ignorance is bliss' though(and I'm not saying that's what you think) but we live in a day and age when there are benefits to what technology and medicine can do for us. This is definitely one of life's great debate and I just wanted to give you another pespective from my own personal experience. I wish nothing more for you than a wonderful, healthy pregnancy and baby. Best wishes.
Post a Comment
<< Home