12 to 24 week pregnancy thread

galvanizersbaby

anderson8 wrote: »

i get the nuchal screening at my 20 week scan, which is another reason for me not to get the bloods done.
even if they told me i was high risk i wouldnt have the amniocentesis, due to the risk.

i hope Ecoelle is ok[/QUOTE]

Me too

I didn't realise that the nuchal measurement could be taken as late as 20 weeks? - I thought it must be taken between 11 and 13 weeks to be accurate - I know the bloods for downs etc... can be done later.

In my area the nuchal scan is done between 11 and 13 weeks - it is not just for indication of downs syndrome but can also can pick up markers for other conditions (some of these sadly may not be compatable with life) - the scan is combined with a blood test as apparently this makes the resulting risk factor more accurate.

The 20 weeks scan in my area is the anomaly scan and they are looking at all aspects of the baby (heart, lungs, stomach etc... for any abnormalities) - the nuchal fold measurement is not taken at this scan.

I know all areas differ with screening thus was wondering if ecoelle had a nuchal fold measurement taken at her scan aswell as a blood test.

Apricot

I didn't get offered a nuchal fold measurement at all. I simply had bloods taken at 16 weeks but my 20 week scan is the same as yours galvanizer looking at the heart, spine, brain etc.

Ecoelle Hope everything has gone ok today?

galvanizersbaby

Apricot wrote: »

I didn't get offered a nuchal fold measurement at all. I simply had bloods taken at 16 weeks but my 20 week scan is the same as yours galvanizer looking at the heart, spine, brain etc.

Ecoelle Hope everything has gone ok today?

Apricot I think I am fortunate (if that's the right word?) in my area to get the nuchal fold scan offered on the NHS - it used to be only available privately and I paid for it when I was pg with DD.
It's a limited time window though as far as I know 11-13 weeks.

I didn't get the bloods offered at 16 weeks as they are done at the same time as the nuchal which also serves as the 12 week scan so I guess sort of a saving fir the NHS.

It is confusing that all the services offered are so different and views on screening tests also differ - it is quite an emotive subject I know.

Ecoelle - hope things are clearer for you and you've been given all the info you need x

anderson8

im probably making it up about the nuchal scan then at 20 weeks! Doh.
Can you tell this is my first baby?
im guessing it wasnt done at my 12 week scan as we were only in for about 5 min.

on a plus note, a woman on another pregnancy forum gave me a huge box of like new maternity clothes from next, her gorgeous wee girl was born at 24 + 4 so she didnt get much use out of them. she also gave me two 100 boxs of huggies newborn nappies. i got to have a wee hold of her daughter when i was picking them up, she 5 months now and a wee cutie!

galvanizersbaby

anderson8 wrote: »

im probably making it up about the nuchal scan then at 20 weeks! Doh.
Can you tell this is my first baby?
im guessing it wasnt done at my 12 week scan as we were only in for about 5 min.

on a plus note, a woman on another pregnancy forum gave me a huge box of like new maternity clothes from next, her gorgeous wee girl was born at 24 + 4 so she didnt get much use out of them. she also gave me two 100 boxs of huggies newborn nappies. i got to have a wee hold of her daughter when i was picking them up, she 5 months now and a wee cutie!

I think they need your permission in advance for it - if it was it would have been written on your scan notes - most people ask or are told the measurement.
The measurement can help give a risk factor for downs and possibly be a marker for other things early in the pregnancy.

That said I am not sure this is what ecoelle is awaiting the results of - it could have been just a blood screen so the talk of nuchal scan rather irrelevant.

Doglover

Hi girlies, how are you all doing? No news from ecolle yet? Hope she's ok.

Not much to report here - looking forward to the weekend.

Apricot

Hello DL Im very bored tonight but yay for it being friday tomorrow!

twi1ight

I'll be 39 weeks pregnant for my 30th I wanted to have a joint big party with a family member but will have to tone it down to a small family do. Don't want everyone else enjoying fine wine without me! As long as baby doesn't come, it's MY birthday and no one elses

ecoelle

Morning ladies and beans, well we went to the hospital yesterday and we were givent he results of the NT and bloods, they said that my age as an indicator put us at the normal risk factor of 1:900 but when they added in the results of the hcg levels in the bloods our odds shot to 1:70 because my levels were three times as high as "normal". We had already looked up on the net about the two different tests we could have done to know for sure but the risks of miscarriage were almost as high as the risk of the baby having downs. I find percentages easier than ratios to undestand so it's like this.

We have a 98.5% chance of having an unaffected baby and a 1.5% chance of a baby with downs. The risk of having a CVS test is 2% miscarriage it can be done now and we wpuld have the result in two days. The amnio test can be done from 16 weeks and carries a 1% risk of miscarriage and we would get the results 2 days after the test.

The thing is we had the NT scan and bloods done so we would know if we needed to prepare, i only said wewould agree to it because there was no risk to me or the baby. We have decided that we are not going to have the tests done as regardless of the outcome we would keep the baby, and we aren't prepared to take the risk of losing it.

They said at the 20 week scan they may be able to pick up if the baby has a heart defect, if it does then this would increase our risk factor further, but if not then our risk factor stays the same.

I have a friend who was told that her baby had a 1:20 risk of being downs and she went for the amnio and found out he was absolutely fine. My issue is i don't know if i would cope with having a miscarriage if it was because of something i'd chosen to do.

It's a very persoanl decision and i'm not judging anyone else who has had to make this choice. We have told a couple of friends and they have been very supportive and helpful. I knwo it's going to be hard but i am going to love and look after this baby no matter whether it is downs or not, and i can't risk losing it knwoing that even if it is downs then we can provide it with a fantastic quality of life. If we had had a test done that showed our baby would have no quality of life then maybe i would think differently.

We are trying to stay positive and think about how brilliant it will be to see our gorgeous baby again in 7 weeks!

Thanks for all the messages and support and for thinking of us. It helps as we have decided not to tell any other friends or family, we don't see the point until the 20 week scan, if the risk gets higher then we may tell them but if not then i don't think we will.

anderson8

Ecoelle- i would be doing the exact same thing as you.