Advice? DH and I disagree on nuchal scan..

[aspiringmum]

Hey all,

We are pregnant with our first and beyond excited! For some reason our doctor refuses to do any scan until 20wks for the anatomical scan (she swears insurance won't pay for it otherwise). We do have the option of having our nuchal translucency scan at 12wks, which will be covered by insurance. I'm 100% for it for the sole purpose of seeing our little one for the first time and drawing some comfort from seeing a heartbeat, etc. HOWEVER, DH has just tonight decided that he thinks it's a bad idea to do the genetic screening because of the high rate of false positives. He thinks that it will cause us undue stress if something shows up that could indicate a genetic problem. If we pass up on this scan, I won't even see the little one until 5 months! The thought of that makes me want to puke (and I already have MS!)

Thoughts??

 

[Misscalais]

I didn't do with with my 1st two. But I had early dating scans with them so got to see something before the 20 week scan. I'm only doing it this time so we can see baby again
DH is right it can cause unnecessary stress, my friend had a high chance her baby would have downs and he was perfectly healthy.

 

[petite ping]

You could look at it the other way and say that seeing your LO kicking will reassure you even more and help you bond. If it is your first (even your last) I'd say go for it.

For my first I didn't even feel pregnant until I saw her the first time. It helped my OH realise that he was going to be a dad.

A "bad" result for a nuchal scan doesn't necessarily mean bad news and needs to be backed up with other tests and it may mean that the doctors will monitor you more closely.

 

[jerryjo]

Not sure if this helps but we didn't have it and the sonographer said that if she saw anything which was cause for concern and would make her think we should have it she would be obligated to tell us - pretyy sure they know what they are looking for xx

 

[FlatShoes]

Can't you just have a growth scan and not ask them to do the tests?

Would be nice to see baby

 

[pinkpassion]

My Dr told me yesterday that I don't get another scan until 20 weeks, but offered the nt scan at 12 weeks if I wanted it... I said originally I didn't want it but I really want to see my baby again, she told me I could have it done and request to not know any results... I'll probably still inquire about the results later on, and we have the materniT21 test available to us which would tell us 100% without risk of amnio... either way it wouldn't change anything... I would never personally terminate, so for me it would be more of a prepare thing and getting to see baby again!!!

 

[ledzep]

On my son we had a 12week dating scan that went fine. Then on the 20 week scan there was an enlarged nuchal fold and we were told.
they didn't ask did we want to know.maybe they have to tell?
Anyway our baby had 1 in 20 chance of having downs. It wasnt any stress to know. We didn't want amnio and just waited to see. He was born with no down syndrome. But if he had been it couldn't had been avoided and we would have dealt with it.
On the plus side they gave me a scan about every 4 weeks to keep an eye on him so I got to see him loads and for free. 3d scans and all.
During pregnancy there are so many things that can worry And stress you. I think I'd prefer seeing the baby at 12 weeks than wait.
Like someone else said-maybe you could not get the test just a dating scan?
good luck whichever you decide!

 

[lxb]

DH does have a point in terms of the rate of false positive and it can certainly cause unnecessary stress. If it's covered by insurance, I would most probably go for the scan as I know how eager first time mom would want to see the little bean~!

Just know what you're getting yourself into~ Good luck

 

[Jslyn9996]

You could maybe not look at the results? I'm having it done just to see my baby again

 

[junebabycomin]

I didn't have a 12 week scan, but at 11 weeks the doc was easily able to find a heartbeat with the Doppler. Not quite as fun as actually seeing baby, but still very reassuring! And you'll be able to feel baby moving before your 20 week scan. I think women tend to feel like scans are for their enjoyment, and forget that they are a medical procedure and should be approached as such. Personally, we wouldn't take the risk of an amnio so any testing could only cause more stress if the results were unfavorable.

 

[xdxxtx]

I always do the ultrasound, JUST To get a good view of my baby, and then refuse the blood work. I agree with you, and I don't get a "1 in _____ chance of _____" when I do it that way, which keeps me from getting stressed out.

 

[aspiringmum]

Thanks all. I appreciate the help! At this point we've decided to go with the NT scan. We would never terminate and would like to see the bean as well as prepare ourselves for whatever God has in store for us Also Junebabycoming, we have the same EDD!

 

[Moom7900]

I agree with some of the other ladies - it's worth having it done to see baby (I could NOT wait until 20 weeks lol!), but you could not look at the results if you don't want to know! Or, you could get your DH to pay for a private scan to see baby as it's him who's choosing not to have this one

Hope you reach an agreement soon! xxxxxxxxx

 

[bluejen]

There's no false positives Hun , they give you results as 1 in 100 or whatever chance, so no such thing as a false positive. You could get results of 1 in 1000 of downs and baby could obviously still have downs and test of 1 in 20 and baby has no downs. I understand you hubby's concern but if you don't do it , you'll probably just worry anyway.

 

[sar]

I didnt have the nt with my daughter, and she is 100% healthy. 2nd time something made me want the test, DH not so keen as he thlight all would be fine and i do stress a lot, but he went along with it. Nt thickness was fine, but blood tests gave 1 in 6 chance of downs. Had cvs test which was 100% positive for downs so we made the awful decision (our decision, based on our circumstances) to terminate the pregnancy. Yes, false positives can cause stress, but the stress is worse for me if I dont know. I am now tentatively pregnant again, and will certainly be having whatever tests are offered.