16 Week Appointment Update

Lovethesun08

So I had my 16 week appointment today. All in all the visit was quick and they just did blood work and listened to the heartbeat.

They did the second blood draw for my sequential screen (downs syndrome). The doctor went over the results so far from the first blood draw and said they were a little elevated but nothing i should be concerned about. How can you not be concerned about this when they will you that?!?!? Of course she said once the results come back from the second part of the test she will call me. I almost wish she would never have talked to me about the results until the second part of the test came back and then we could go from there .

Did anyone else have this same issue and everything came back fine??

kelcat

The way my dr explained my results to me is that normally for someone my age they would expect to see a 1 in 250 chance, at the very least.  Mine came back at 1 in 125, but all of my other tests were normal.  I do have a family history of downs.  I wouldn't worry about it until there is something to worry about.  I know that is hard to do.  I'm sure there isn't anything to worry about.  You will have a perfect little baby no matter what.

nicoleg1982

If you are fairly young, I wouldn't worry about it.  I didn't even do the testing for it. 

 

"Also note that the way the tests are set up, the serum quadruple screen test has a 5 to 8% false-positive rate (see above for the discussion of what this means) and also has a false-negative rate of 35 to 40%, and so will only detect about 80% of all fetuses with Down syndrome."

 

http://www.ds-health.com/prenatal.htm

 

 

tashaandsage

This time, the results from my Quad Screen came back as "questionable." which meant the levels were not matching up, and there was possibilites of a birth defect. After a slight freak out at first, I decided not to worry about it until I had a reason to. Too many people I know or know of had an initial test come back with results that got them all freaked out, just to find out everything was fine. Due to scheduling, I had to wait a month for my detailed ultrasound (which was the hard part, waiting that long, not knowing) but in the end, everything looked great, no signs at all of a birth defect and it was my EDD that was off. I wouldn't worry too much right now. That's hard, but it's not worth the stress for a slight possibility.

Lovethesun08

Thanks ladies for the reassurance. Its just hard when they tell you about it and then say dont worry about it. Most normal people would. I will try not to think about until I speak to them. I am sure everything will be fine but you never know.

amellis2

Baby A has an echogenic intracardic focus according to me Peri.  He said it is a marker for DS, but that I still had less than 1% chance of having a baby with DS.  It is hard not to worry, but I am trying my best.  I think that sometimes test results depend on the people doing them.  My NT scan came back fine, though.

I don't think she should have mentioned anything until the total results came back, though.

mrs.jenRN

I hate that test! There are so many variables that determine your results (the week of gestation it is drawn on, your age, weight), etc. I read about so many cases online where their risk was even 1:50 and they had a normal, healthy baby. You could have a 1:1000 chance and still have a baby with DS. I really don't get the point of this test and I know a lot of ladies on the bump have refused it anyway.

jbd1020

We are currently waiting out 1:59 odds (from NT scan that I actually had refused, but that's a whole different story). They've not found any markers during the handful of ultrasounds I've had (which I think changes our risk a little bit, to maybe 1:100 or so) but we still won't know until she is born. The worrying/wondering sucks. But even half the people that get 1:2 odds will have healthy babies, and some people that  get 1:5000 odds end up being the "1". That's the problem with screening tests - they don't diagnose. I hope everything turns out ok for you!!

jennifer80808

This is the exact reason I declined the test all together.  It really doesn't give any concrete information, and I was told by my midwife that the results can be VERY flawed.  I knew that I would probably spend the remainder of my pregnancy worrying over something that was most likely irrelevant if it came back with anything questionable.  I knew that I wouldn't have an amnio or CVS if there was any question, nor would it change the outcome of the pregnancy for us, so we declined.

I would try not to worry about it, although I knew it's hard.  

Lovethesun08

Looking back at it, I kind of wish I had not done this test.

Although when I talked to my sister about it they said her doctor told her that they treat your pregnancy different if they know. So I went ahead and had the test done.

Why cant it be a positive or a negative like the cystic fibrosis test I had done. That came back negative and now I dont have to worry about that.

I have a call into the doctor for her to explain these numbers she went over with me this morning as it was a complete blur when she started talking about it. Maybe that will help me to feel better even if the numbers are a little elevated.