Feelings Amniocentesis Results...

[Circe]

Just because I''m researching this like it''s orals again ....

Recent studies show that the risk of miscarriage after amnio are much lower than suggested by older studies: as low as 1 in 1600. Thought some of the rest of you ladies might find that as reassuring as I do ....

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 7/28/2009 5:24:09 PM
Author: cara
Mara, you took a genetic counseling class prior to TTC????

OK, that takes the cake. Unless you have some specific genetic issue you are concerned about.

Hmm, what other classes did you do or consider? I kind of figured, best get pregnant first so we can''t reconsider! But maybe proactive research is better. Sigh...

On the amnio-miscarriage odds, my rough and incomplete literature searching on the subject made me think that it was better than 1:1000 if done by an experienced practitioner. Like anything surgical, odds are better with lots of practice and experience, but also it seemed that earlier studies showing a higher miscarriage risk weren''t properly controlled. Since those studies are out there, and because OB-related tragedies make people sue-happy, and people are likely to blame an amnio for a subsequent miscarriage even if the amnio was merely an associated event and not the cause, care providers are probably going to quote the less-good odds just for their own protection. For littlelysser''s care provider to quote a better number either they are prepared to defend themselves with more recent studies showing better odds or they are keeping their own institution''s internal statistics (and have enough patient volume to get reasonably good numbers - though such numbers are unlikely to be perfectly controlled as they are presumably allowing their patients to choose amnio or no amnio rather than assigning them blindly.)

Yes, she is. She''s afraid her baby will get the lust for ACA diamond gene. These things need to be sought out before birth so Greg and Mara can budget for the child''s needs.

Hopefully the baby will only have needs for J''s and not ICY WHITES!

 

[waxing lyrical]

Date: 7/28/2009 7:54:08 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker



Waxing Lyrical - I hope you don''t think that you are that different for having a child with Trisomy 21 at your age. Yes, older women have higher odds of having a baby with trisomy 21, but the majority of babies with this condition are born to younger women. That is just because there are more younger women having babies. Unless you have a balanced translocation, your chances of having another one are not much higher than the general population. I am sure you already know that. I think you did the right thing, and you were really in tune with your baby even though he was not in their world. One neo said something very true, when a baby is lost the mother will always be affected more than anyone else. And that is because the mother has felt this child move, and has ''known'' this child for several months. Everyone else is anticipating the baby, but has yet to get to know the baby. The mother mourns what she has lost and everyone is morning something they were looking forward too.



For the other points of this topic:

I think there are other reasons to get diagnostic testing other than considering abortion. For years, women picture having a perfectly healthy baby. A baby with a serious medical problem is something that needs to be faced, and the mother needs to mourn the loss of ''healthy'' baby. One OB stated, she tells the mothers that testing does not mean they have to give up the baby, but they can read ''what to expect with a Down''s baby'' instead of ''What to expect when expecting'' and prepare for their life as a mother.


I would probably choose amino over CVS, but that is just my opinion.

Firecracker, yes, that''s what I told my family and friends. Many were unaware that Ds babies are born to more women in my age group because there are more younger women having babies. I think most associate it with AMA (eh, don''t like that label). I personally know of two others in their mid-late 20''s that have a baby/child with Ds. What the neo said is very true. My husband has expressed that on different occasions. He''s expressed that while he experiences grief, it''s just very different for him. He mourns what he didn''t get to experience, since he never experienced him firsthand. Everything was secondhand and through me. His bond with him had yet to develop.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 7/28/2009 10:20:02 PM
Author: waxing lyrical

Date: 7/28/2009 7:54:08 PM

Author: LtlFirecracker



Firecracker, yes, that''s what I told my family and friends. Many were unaware that Ds babies are born to more women in my age group because there are more younger women having babies. I think most associate it with AMA (eh, don''t like that label). I personally know of two others in their mid-late 20''s that have a baby/child with Ds. What the neo said is very true. My husband has expressed that on different occasions. He''s expressed that while he experiences grief, it''s just very different for him. He mourns what he didn''t get to experience, since he never experienced him firsthand. Everything was secondhand and through me. His bond with him had yet to develop.

Waxing Lyrical

Funny thing after I wrote that post happened. I am not making this up. I was in my clinic (my days in the intensive care unit are over) and I had a 2 mo well check. It was a cute little girl who was growing well, smiling at me, following objects. The parents were asking me all sorts of questions about sleeping, eating at night ect. Typical new parent stuff.

I went though the family history and they said there were healthy. When I specifically asked if there were any childhood medical problems they said "oh well she had a brother." I realized I just opened a can of worms. "Had a brother...?" They told me he died at 8 weeks from trisomy 13. Well, it is a small enough hospital that I knew about this case. If it the same baby I am thinking of, I was there the night they withdrew, and was watching from a distance, I just wasn''t involved. I told them I was sorry for their loss and we moved on.

If this was the same family (which I think it is because they kind of looked at me like they thought everyone knew), I did not recognize them at all, because they are just so different. They were smiling, with glowing faces, and really looked happy. They are going through all the normal stuff new parents are going through, and they seem to be enjoying every minute of it. I hope that is you in a few months .

 

[Pandora II]

If, and it is extremely doubtful that we will, DH and I decided to try for another baby in the future, we would definitely opt for all the testing possible.

I very nearly died giving birth to Daisy - had my surgeon not managed to do the forceps delivery and had had to do a c-section I would not have survived. They have told me that I have an increased chance of a similar situation happening again in the future. I would not be prepared to risk my life and therefore leaving my existing child motherless in order to bring to term a child with no chance of survival.

Once you have a child I believe that you have to consider their rights as well as your own.

I would opt for CVS as well as NT and triple test. My local hospital does a huge number of procedures - both amnio and cvs every year and their miscarriage rate is incredibly low. It is also worth noting that many of those miscarriages may well have occurred regardless of the amnio or cvs due to chromosomal or structural abnormalities.

If opting for either procedure, having it performed by an extremely competent and experience doctor is the best protection you have.

My reason for going with cvs is that you can have the inital result within days, the procedure is performed far earlier in the pregnancy and if you decide to terminate it can be done in a way that is safer and less traumatic for the mother.

 

[blushingbride]

This thread is so interesting. Lots to think about and so many decisions to make when you''re pregnant!

 

[Mara]

Date: 7/28/2009 10:04:54 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 7/28/2009 5:24:09 PM
Author: cara
Mara, you took a genetic counseling class prior to TTC????

OK, that takes the cake. Unless you have some specific genetic issue you are concerned about.

Hmm, what other classes did you do or consider? I kind of figured, best get pregnant first so we can''t reconsider! But maybe proactive research is better. Sigh...

On the amnio-miscarriage odds, my rough and incomplete literature searching on the subject made me think that it was better than 1:1000 if done by an experienced practitioner. Like anything surgical, odds are better with lots of practice and experience, but also it seemed that earlier studies showing a higher miscarriage risk weren''t properly controlled. Since those studies are out there, and because OB-related tragedies make people sue-happy, and people are likely to blame an amnio for a subsequent miscarriage even if the amnio was merely an associated event and not the cause, care providers are probably going to quote the less-good odds just for their own protection. For littlelysser''s care provider to quote a better number either they are prepared to defend themselves with more recent studies showing better odds or they are keeping their own institution''s internal statistics (and have enough patient volume to get reasonably good numbers - though such numbers are unlikely to be perfectly controlled as they are presumably allowing their patients to choose amnio or no amnio rather than assigning them blindly.)

Yes, she is. She''s afraid her baby will get the lust for ACA diamond gene. These things need to be sought out before birth so Greg and Mara can budget for the child''s needs.

Hopefully the baby will only have needs for J''s and not ICY WHITES!

Oh the horror!

Also re: testing..I am turning 35 soon and there is a wealth of info out there to learn about. Our hospital is very encouraging about education which I really like...they also have prenatal nutrition classes and a whole host of other classes. You can pay like $10 to attend.