For ladies over 40! About testing...

[Bebica]

Did you all have your NT and AFP done? Results? Did any of you come up NEGATIVE(or NORMAL) on AFP or were you all abnormal because of the age? And what did you decide as far as Amnio(unless you've had it already before all other testing)...I am waiting for my results and dying waiting...Dr told me it may come up positive (abnormal) because I am 41...And yes-how do they usually tell you the reslut,like you are one in how many chances or they just say it's posotove so you don't know how to interprete that...My Nt was fine.
Help ladies!

 

[knitbit]

I've had NT tested with all my pregnancies. My boys had normal NT. My oldest had 1/10,000 odds and my youngest had ~1/600 odds. I opted not to do amnio with them. Last year I lost a baby that had abnormal NT. It was 5.3mm. They stopped the test and did an immediate CVS. Chromosomes were normal, but there were probable heart issues.

With twins, I'm a little more reluctant to do CVS or amnio because the risks are double.

If you do the "sequential" scan, they roll the afp into the first trimester NT odds and give you final odds of a problem. Afp by itself has a fairly high false positive rate.

 

[Wind]

I have opted not to have any testing done, simply because I wouldn't terminate regardless. Some days I think it would be nice to know, but then I decide it's not worth the stress of worrying if the tests are right.

 

[mztova]

I also have opted out of the testing....I am 43.

 

[ambreen359]

We have opted out as well i have a few friends who are older i am 40 one was 42 when pregnant and was told that she was def having a downs baby and she was born perfectly healthy so all that worry for nothing and what if she had terminated it does not bear thinking about x

 

[Andypanda6570]

I lost my Ava at 18 weeks 9 weeks ago and I did have the testing my Nuchal came back fine. My numbers were bad though 1 in 62 for downs and 1 in 89 for trisomy. These were not the cause of Ava's death, they think it's chromosomal but the tissue did not grow so they don't know which chromosome may have been effected . So the day I was to do the amnio her heartbeat was gone my world collapsed and i thought i was going to die but I am still here and willing to try again. My sil also just lost her baby at 17 weeks and she is 36 we lost our babies 7 weeks apart from one another. how freaky is that If I do get pregnant again I am sure I will do the CVS and whatever else there is/

 

[ambreen359]

Andypanda so sorry for your loss

 

[Andypanda6570]

Andypanda so sorry for your loss

Thank you so much for that xoxoxo

 

[ciarhwyfar]

I did the NT and the bloods. I don't know what it is called because it isn't the same as three years ago and is supposed to be more accurate. I came up negative.

Even if I didn't, there is no way I would do CVS or an amnio.

 

[Andypanda6570]

I did the NT and the bloods. I don't know what it is called because it isn't the same as three years ago and is supposed to be more accurate. I came up negative.

Even if I didn't, there is no way I would do CVS or an amnio.

I think I would have to do the CVS as my recent lost of Ava\ they feel was chromosomal I would not feel all great doing it either, but if the baby had like a trisomy 18 it would not really be live long and the problems associated it with are devastating , that is if the baby even went to full term, most don't. It is a very had choice for me, but the right one.

 

[pip7890]

OH and I have decided that, for us, testing is not appropriate. Having had previous miscarriages I wouldn't want to go down a route leading to an amnio which has its own miscarriage risks. I'm also quite a worrier so if they started quoting odds at me - good or bad - it would give me something else to worry about. We're just leaving this particular issue to fate.

Pip x

 

[ciarhwyfar]

I did the NT and the bloods. I don't know what it is called because it isn't the same as three years ago and is supposed to be more accurate. I came up negative.

Even if I didn't, there is no way I would do CVS or an amnio.

I think I would have to do the CVS as my recent lost of Ava\ they feel was chromosomal I would not feel all great doing it either, but if the baby had like a trisomy 18 it would not really be live long and the problems associated it with are devastating , that is if the baby even went to full term, most don't. It is a very had choice for me, but the right one.

I can see that but for me, the odds would have to be very great to do an invasive test. My family has no history at all of birth defects and my mc was very early so it could have been anything. Still, I wouldn't want to risk losing one.

 

[Andypanda6570]

I did the NT and the bloods. I don't know what it is called because it isn't the same as three years ago and is supposed to be more accurate. I came up negative.

Even if I didn't, there is no way I would do CVS or an amnio.

I think I would have to do the CVS as my recent lost of Ava\ they feel was chromosomal I would not feel all great doing it either, but if the baby had like a trisomy 18 it would not really be live long and the problems associated it with are devastating , that is if the baby even went to full term, most don't. It is a very had choice for me, but the right one.

I can see that but for me, the odds would have to be very great to do an invasive test. My family has no history at all of birth defects and my mc was very early so it could have been anything. Still, I wouldn't want to risk losing one.

My family also has no history of anything either, but before I lost Ava my numbers were 1 in 62 for downs, which they said it wasn't cause of the Nuchal, that was normal, but my numbers for Trisomy was 1 in 89 that to me is worrisome. So that is why I would opt for CVS, if my numbers are low next time around then I wont get the Cvs. Most chromosomal abnormalities are not genetic, it just happens and increases with age, but really can happen to anyone/

 

[mafiamom]

my dh was very sure he wanted the testing so we went ahead and did it. never ever again....

the 12week scan and bloods were fine. the 16 bloods came back with a 1:5 chance of trisomy 18. the scan showed choroid plexus cysts on his brain which brought me down to a 1:3 chance. i had the amnio and everything came back 100% perfect.

it was the absolute worst 2 weeks of my entire life and (not that i plan on getting preggo again) i will never do those tests again, nor will i advise anyone else to do them.

 

[knitbit]

For me, if there was indication of a major problem, I would do the amnio or CVS. Carrying a terminal baby full term would likely mean that I would have no more children. 40 weeks to carry, 6 months to get a cycle back, conceiving and carrying another baby 40 weeks to term is not necessarily an option. Time is not on our sides.

 

[Andypanda6570]

my dh was very sure he wanted the testing so we went ahead and did it. never ever again....

the 12week scan and bloods were fine. the 16 bloods came back with a 1:5 chance of trisomy 18. the scan showed choroid plexus cysts on his brain which brought me down to a 1:3 chance. i had the amnio and everything came back 100% perfect.

it was the absolute worst 2 weeks of my entire life and (not that i plan on getting preggo again) i will never do those tests again, nor will i advise anyone else to do them.

I am so very happy everything turned out wonderful for you/
xoxooxox

 

[mafiamom]

thank you andypanda! it was a very stressful time and i am sooooo glad it is all behind us!!

 

[creatingpeace]

I am getting my NT scan next week and really do not want to go! It was a comprimise as OH wants it and there will be no compriomise for a Amnio! Crossing my fingers...
Mafiamom how horrible I am so glad all is well!

 

[mumoffive]

I havent had any testing with any of my children. I had my dd at 39 and my ds at 40 and this is my last. I am 43. I was due yesterday! x

 

[hamster10]

So happy to see this thread. I've brought up this issue somewhat in another thread as well. Great information here and thanks for everyone's honesty. This is a tough one. I have my NT scan and blood work tomorrow. NT scan will determine whether I opt for CVS, but CVS where I am is not that easy to obtain and time window is small. Amnio is 2nd choice... b/c it happens so much later in the pregnancy. More weeks to obsess!

My pregnancy has gone beautifully (I'm 38, it's a happy accident... and my first!) but the only draw back for me is my obsession with something being wrong. Further testing would ease my mind (best case scenario) but I just wish I could sit back and have faith like many of you.

So again, thanks for the posts. I learned a lot here and hopefully will log back in tomorrow with some comforting news.

Best to you all,

-e