I am probably the worst person to answer this because I am so laid back about the whole deal. I hate the several dozen appointments, the tests, the poking, the prodding, the "we just wanna check this". Drives me COMPLETELY insane. In turn, I drive them completely insane by the majority of the time, opting for the least invasive option every time. They wanted to do weekly BT for my anti-e, but I didn't see the point because the titer had been the same for 3 months. Was happy to agree with weekly US's to check the blood flow though. Cripes, Who wouldnt be?? You don't often get the option of seeing your bub every week for 12 weeks before he is born!
I'd be of the same opinion for this variance. They can screen with US and if it had anything to worry about, then I would considder the blood test. But if it won't change your mind at all, then its not something worth stressing yourself about during the pregnancy. Conversely, if you are now going to stress over it, agree to the US screen to set your mind at ease. Whatever will cause you the least worry in the long run is the barometer I use.
I was told that if I was not prepared to do the further test if a hisk risk result came back then there was no point.
Then we are also of the mind set that IF there were abnormalities we would in fact terminate the pregnancy as our situation we just could not look after a child with special needs.
Its a very personal thing I think its great to get a look at bub and it is reassuring when the test comes back that all is good.
If your not concerned from a peace of mind perspective then don't other with it.
I had it done at 13 weeks but never got the results. The hospital that I was going to had a policy that they do an NT scan at 13 weeks and then the morpholgy scan at 19 weeks, but no other scans are done unless you paid for them yourself with no medicare rebate. I had it done purely for the fact that I was desperate to see my bub on the screen and make sure it had a healthy heartbeat. I didn't want to wait until 19 weeks to see my new bub
I would argue there is a point even if you wouldn't terminate, my situation was that the scan said we had a health baby but when combined with the blood test results our risk was increased. While the scan and blood test is primarily checking for markers for downs syndrome the results can also show other things. In my case it showed there was low protein a in the placenta.
Protein-a is a growth hormone and when the placenta is low it means the baby won't get as much growth hormone as usual ie resulting in a small baby. While only that is not an issue, what it also means is the placenta can stop functioning properly and the baby stops getting everthing it needs. In years gone by prior to the NT screening mothers still could get this problem but it was never detected and the result was still born babies. Thankfully due to us having the NT scan and blood test our OB knows of this issue and can closely monitor the babies growth so a decision can be made when the baby is better out than in. He has said he is hoping to get me to 34weeks.
So moral of the story is there are other benefits to these tests. While having low protein a is not common it is not uncommon my OB is currently treating 2 others with the same issue.
We had an NT scan and the blood test as well. I chose to do it because I wanted to be reassured basically! I had had an awful pregnancy up to that point (i was so sick, and soooo paranoid that there was something wrong with my baby!) However, my thinking was that if the testing came back with a high risk for Downs syndrome or the other trisomy's that it tests for, then I would like to collect as much information as possible, perhaps join a support group or something so I could speak to people that have had the same experiences. We would not have terminated my pregnancy at all.
We didn't get it done with either of our boys. We did have a dating scan at the time we would have had the NT scan so we still got to see our bubba and check things were coming along nicely.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
All the best with the rest of your pregnancy too.
I had it done with DS1 & DS2 and will with D?3 when they come along too. I am a real planner and although I would not terminate for Downs, I would like to be prepared so I could educate myself and my family as much as possible if my baby was to have such a disability.
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