Have any of you had your NT scan?

[wonderstruck]

Is it up to you whether you want it or not? My doctor just had me book mine for 11 weeks accompanied by a blood test. Not really sure what to expect or what I'll even do with whatever information it gives me. How do you feel about this test?

I believe I am higher risk for some issues as my boyfriend has some problems that run in his family and we are being referred to genetic testing as well.

 

[jinxii]

It's totally up to you! You don't have to do any testing you don't want to. I'm just doing it because it means I get to see the baby an extra time And it only costs me $10. 11 weeks seems early, here they do it at 13-14 weeks I think. I just did the blood draw last night and have my scan in a week and a half or so. Here's a good way to look at it.. if you have it done and everything is fine, you get peace of mind and that is one less thing to stress about. We're not expecting any issues but if anything does come up I'll be more prepared for potential outcomes. I won't do amnio or anything else that carries even a tiny risk though.

 

[jenmcn1]

It's always optional. I had the test done with my first baby but opted out for my other two babies. And will opt out for this 4th baby as well.
The test results can come back as a false positive and it's just not worth the worry to me. Each to their own though. If you feel it would help with your fears and give you answers than by all means go for it.

 

[Scout]

You can choose to have it or not. It will not tell you if something is wrong, only give you a risk ratio; so, even if you were to get, say, 1:3 that baby had, for instance, Down syndrome, it doesn't mean baby does have Down syndrome, it just means that you have a higher chance. At that point, the doctor would offer you either an amnio or cvs or you could choose to do one of the newer blood tests that test the fetal DNA for chromosome abnormalities. (MaterniT21, Panorama, Harmony). Fwiw, I'm not sure why people say the test gives a lot of false positives bc the test doesn't ever tell you that there is positively something wrong with baby, like I said above. It's only a ratio with a risk and even if the results were 1:2, you still have a 50% chance that nothing is wrong. I'll admit that it is stressful to get a risk, like 1:2 or even 1:11 like I got, but you just have to remember that that doesn't mean soemthing is definitely wrong.

I was high risk with daughter bc I was over 40. I had to meet with a genetic counselor too and it was the most stressful thing ever. I was told I had a 1:11 risk for trisomy 13 or 18 (both fatal) and a 1:17 for Down syndrome. Baby is healthy.

This is how I feel about the test: I think it's an opportunity to get more information about baby. I would never terminate a pregnancy and I see a lot of women list that as a reason for not having the test, but for me, it wasn't about that at all. I've always believed the old saying, 'knowledge is power', and I wanted to know so I, as well as my doctors, would be prepared if something were wrong. For instance, I was planning to deliver at a small community hospital. If baby had a problem that I knew about ahead of time I would have delivered at the larger hospital with specialists and a neonatal unit. Also, what if baby had a heart condition that needed immediate surgery after birth; I'd want to have been prepared for that. I jsut like being as prepared as possible. And yes, I know you can't always know everything and baby could still have been born with something that needed intervention, but at least I knew baby didn't have Trisomy 13 or 18, which was the most worrisome for me.

So really it's your choice. A lot of people are better off not knowing anyhting. They don't stress unless life gives them something to stress about. My sister is like that. Me, otoh, worry until I have info that lets me not worry. LOL So for me the test made sense. Oh, and sorry for the book

 

[minties]

Any medical testing is up to you, pregnancy included.

 

[wonderstruck]

I think I'm still going to do it just because I want to see the baby again and any reassurance is good. I'm getting the bloodwork the same day. My doctor said it had to be done no later that 13w4d but recommended I do it sooner than later. She also said the same thing about it not confirming anything but just giving your odds.

 

[Starlight32]

We have an NT scheduled in two weeks but will probably cancel. We have been on the fence and ended up scheduling it as a chance to see baby again. We are now thinking about cancelling to limit u/s exposure. I think I'll still do the blood test regardless.

 

[eva1978]

I think in most (or all) places it's a choice. With my last two successful pregnancies I chose to have it because I wanted to be more mentally/emotionally prepared if we were to expect a disabled (otherwise healthy) child.

A friend of mine had the test for her first child and found out that the baby was high risk of having a severe chromosomal abnormality. They did the more extensive testing, and actually everything turned out completely fine so if you do the initial test and results are looking bad, there's always a chance they are wrong.

Good luck!