Hi I had a amnio done through Monash Clayton (public, the wait was a bit shorter, they offered counselling, and if follow up was needed/or problems after the procedure I thought through the hospital would be better), I can't imagine why they would'nt do a CVS also.
The genetic counsellor told me who woul ddo it beforehand, I did'nt know her (Andrea, sorry have no idea of last name Asian doc ) but was told she was very experienced and her risk ratio was much better than the quoted figures. We were borderline CVS or amnio, I choose to wait and take less risk with amnio...I had already decided if there was something wrong that I was going to birth my baby and I was planning on waiting until her birth could be registered.. I wanted her to be reconized as part of our family and not hidden away and naming her, having a birth certificate etc was extremly important to me.
I hope everything falls into place for you, these are hard decisions and hopefully you won't have to make the hardest ones of all, GOODLUCK!!!!
blackduckies that is very interesting and sound reasoning - I have not come across someone who waited for the reason you did, but what a lovely way of looking at your situation.
Ok so I have just heard back from Genetic Health Services Vic. The lovely genetic counsellor answered my questions very satisfactorily! She said that, while several of their practitioners (who may perform the CVS) are as experienced as Paul Shekleton, that they also have a significant number of practitioners who are certainly not - who are completing their training in this specialist area. Indeed, one of them may perform the CVS (supervised). And there is no way to control who will perform it.
So for me, that answered my question - and the genetic counsellor agreed that, for my own peace of mind, it sounded like going private with a known practitioner was a good option for me. I'm glad they called back, they are a great resource!
Thats great hun, I am glad they explained to you what you needed to know. Definately sounds like private is the way to go for you. Goodluck with everything hun. hugs
For me going public there were only a couple of doctors who perform cvs. So there weren't many options. I was told in advance who it would be, but that was only because that was the only doctor who would be working that day. Of course if he had been sick or something else had come up things may have changed.
I didn't really think about this sort of stuff when I decided to have a cvs. I was given a 1 in 5 chance of my baby having down syndrome and I had to know, despite the risks.
But money is not important. In your situation Talia I would be paying extra for some piece of mind.
I also want to explain more about my preference for a surgical termination. With the timing of my amnio it would have been just before 18 weeks I think. I had been in limbo since 13 weeks, first with the 1/5 risk for DS and then the diagnosis of trisomy 7 mosaicism. I didn't know if my baby would survive and I just had to distance myself from what was going on. I avoided everyone and didn't wear maternity clothes. It was my way of coping. I have also had a c/s for dd's birth so a surgical termination was a better option for me. I could have ended up with another c/s.
Luckily it didn't come to that and hopefully (fingers crossed) my baby is ok.
Oh Holly your reasonings make perfect sense. What an awful situation for you to be in *hug* I know how you feel about 'distancing' yourself from the pregnancy - as much as I want this baby, I have not allowed myself to picture my baby born. I am focussed on the here and now.
Thats great you have come to a decision on which way to go with testing and also going private.. just one less thing to worry about. I also have had CS x3 but decided I would take the chance with giving birth if it came to it, also was prepared to have another Cs if needed, apparently it is'nt like a full CS , but I guess it would still hurt afterwards, just the cut is much, much smaller just a tiny pocket.
I could't stand the thought of the baby being dismembered, I wanted to hold her and have photos and footprints afterwards.. But I certainly respect peoples individual choices, these are the some of the hardest decisions that anyone will have to make in their lifetime.
Thankfully it did'nt come to it for me.
One last note i believe that they can give you a drug so that the baby is stillborn, so it does'nt suffer at birth.
A bit late to this thread I guess, but I am in this exact situation right now. I had my nuchal translucency scan earlier this week and it has come back 1 in 60 chance of Downs, 1 in 258 for other trisomy conditions.
I am going straight to amnio because although according to my dates I was only 12w 3d at the time of the scan, the baby was measuring 13w 2d so they are treating me as being already 13 weeks which I am very confused about because this is impossible...I know my dates are accurate - I even had a dating scan at 6 weeks which confirmed it. But this means I can't have a CVS, I have to have an amnio, which I know is lower risk, but it means I have to wait another couple of weeks.
My amnio is being performed at between 14 and 16 weeks which was earlier than I expected...when the OB told me all I could think of was that I was going to have to wait another 6 to 8 weeks.
The doctor performing the procedure has sent me some literature stating that in actual fact their miscarriage rate is far lower than the 1 in 200 (or 1 in 100 for CVS) and it also includes miscarriages that would have happened anyway. This gives me some reassurance but I am very scared that I will miscarry a perfectly healthy baby.
However, a chromosomal disorder is a dealbreaker for both DH and I for various thoroughly considered reasons, not least because I have first hand knowledge of what it is to care for a special needs person, so there was no question that we would go ahead with the test. I will be putting myself on bedrest for the next couple of days following the procedure, even though that isn't really necessary. And I am just trying to think positive in the meantime...after all, there is a far higher chance that this is a false alarm.
But I'd be lying if I said I had slept well since the scan, and I think I have had a permanent headache since then too. Trying very hard to be matter of fact but the tears come when I least expect it.
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