Less than 12 weeks pregnant club! 2

IamJen

glitter, scan date is 28th of April. Early scan is the fifth though, so just a couple of weeks.

I read something (maybe in the pregnancy book?) about the tests they do then, but it sounded like several of the maladies they tested for at the NT scan were sorta iffy. Lots of false positives and also undetected abnormalities. If we were to consider a termination at all, it'd have to be more than just a chance of something going wrong. I'm sort of leaning toward skipping this scan and relying more on the 20 week one, where they can see a whole lot more.

mirrorimage0

yes but if there was something majorly wrong then it would be picked up early enough for you to make informed decisions or come to terms with surely. i really dont undersand why you would skip a scheduled scan.

also bearing in mind tha some people have gone for thier scheduled scan only to find there baby has stopped growing weeeks earlier or there is an empty sac etc sorry i do not mean t sound horrible or worry anyone but these things happen , the scans are scheduled at certain dates for a reason.

twi1ight

IamJen - my understanding is that the scan and blood tests determine a risk factor. If they think there is an abnormality they offer further tests, amnio or cvs. They're not going to say from a 12 week scan "yeah we think there's a 60% chance your baby has X so you may want to think about a termination".

carolineb23

iamjen, you can have the 12 week scan and decline the nuchal testing (They won't measure the nuchal fold in the scan and won't take blood for testing). That's what we decided to do as we wouldn't have gone ahead with cvs or amnio had the result come back high risk anyway. But it's a very personal choice.

glittermonster

I hope the professionals explain all of these tests and risks etc to new Mums at some point cos it sounds very confusing and scary to a first timer!

Flower08

Gosh OH and I seriously need to sit down and discuss whether or not we are having the nuchal testing done, scan is on Thursday

I am 12 weeks today :j even though we havent had the scan yet I feel like its an achievement, had no problems so far so fingers crossed everything is ok on Thursday!!

glittermonster

I had a guilty pleasure - I just had a wander around mothercare!!!

pawpurrs

twi1ight wrote: »

IamJen - my understanding is that the scan and blood tests determine a risk factor. If they think there is an abnormality they offer further tests, amnio or cvs. They're not going to say from a 12 week scan "yeah we think there's a 60% chance your baby has X so you may want to think about a termination".

Exactly you are given a risk factor, and from that you then make a decision to have a CVS or Amnio, mine was greater than 1 in 2 of severe chromosonal abnormalities, and the risk of mc from cvs was way less than 1% the hospital and consultant I went to had never had a miscarriage as a result of that procedure, personally when faced with those odds and the risk of the severity of the condtion, I felt it had to be done. No one wants to be faced with that dilema or situation, but if the baby has no chance of surival and you are also at risk, you are faces with a situation of terrible or awfull, these scans are not so you can see your baby moving they are there to check for abnormalities and they are a serious buisness. I allways thought it wouldnt happen to me but it does. These scans are important. I so hope that none of you are ever faced with that situation, all I am saying is the NF test also can highlight other problems which can be a lot more serious than downs, if you think that you wouldnt have the test as you are not concerned about downs, also remember that downs children can lead a good existance, but they can also be very severe, with terrible health problems, heart condtions, and be blind, deaf bedbound etc, so these need to be looked in to.
I dont mean to put a downer on the board, but I think you should make a decision with your eyes open as to how important these tests are.

milliebear00001

pawpurrs wrote: »

Exactly you are given a risk factor, and from that you then make a decision to have a CVS or Amnio, mine was greater than 1 in 2 of severe chromosonal abnormalities, and the risk of mc from cvs was way less than 1% the hospital and consultant I went to had never had a miscarriage as a result of that procedure, personally when faced with those odds and the risk of the severity of the condtion, I felt it had to be done. No one wants to be faced with that dilema or situation, but if the baby has no chance of surival and you are also at risk, you are faces with a situation of terrible or awfull, these scans are not so you can see your baby moving they are there to check for abnormalities and they are a serious buisness. I allways thought it wouldnt happen to me but it does. These scans are important. I so hope that none of you are ever faced with that situation, all I am saying is the NF test also can highlight other problems which can be a lot more serious than downs, if you think that you wouldnt have the test as you are not concerned about downs, also remember that downs children can lead a good existance, but they can also be very severe, with terrible health problems, heart condtions, and be blind, deaf bedbound etc, so these need to be looked in to.
I dont mean to put a downer on the board, but I think you should make a decision with your eyes open as to how important these tests are.

I think, for many women, that the problem lies with the 'risk' calculations and the high possibility of a 'false positive' for abnormality. Most people do not get the one in two risk factor that you did. Many will be told they are 'high risk' when their calculation is simply much higher than a similarly aged woman - for example, 1 chance in 100 is considered high risk in a woman aged (for example) 22. Clearly, it's then a very hard choice for a woman whether or not to have an invasive test (CVS/amnio) where there is a risk to a baby that may be healthy.

My concern is that these statistics are rarely discussed with women in detail. They undergo all the blood work/nuchal etc, without really thinking what they would do if they came back with a 'high risk' result for abnormality.

pawpurrs

Yes agreed, the decision is harder if you are borderline, but I still think the tests shouldnt just be poo pooed they are there for a reason, and they are NOT just for downs syndrome, as many people percieve when they refuse the tests. It is of course a personal choice and some opt to have a cvs just so they can make provisions and start to make plans for a special needs child. The risks are very low nowadays for CVS and amnio should you come back with a high risk result. Each case has to make decisions, based on information given at the time, I am glad I decided to take the decision to have the test, and I did consider not having it, although the outcome was heartbreaking, would I have the test again absolutley.

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