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Quad Screen--thoughts?
(Sorry I would post this on the Bump, but its been pretty dead over there!) 
Ok, ladies...here is my predicament. This is my first pregnancy. I will be 16 weeks tomorrow.
I chose not to do the 1st trimester NT screening for possible abnormalities, and now am having a VERY hard time trying to decide whether or not to do the Quad Screen at 16 weeks. Here are my thoughts:
*I am a L&D nurse. I know too much to start out with. I will worry if I get a false positive, but I will also worry if I don't do the test.
*My sister and best friend both got false positives. I KNOW there is a high chance of them. If I get one...even knowing this....I'm afraid I'll freak.
*The result will NOT change my plan. I will not do an amnio, or abort for any reason. BUT, I feel like I would want to know. My biggest anxiety is going into the hospital thinking I am having a healthy baby, and have a baby born with an abnormality. I feel like I can handle it if I know, but that would not be an easy surprise to deal with.
*BUT...should I just have faith that everything is good? Should I just trust that I am 29, am healthy, and have no family members with a Trisomy (except a very, very distant cousin), and have been taking PNV's since a month before I got pg. and that everything will be fine??
Can you see why I keep going back and forth?? No, The Nest will not make this decision for me...I just need other rationale girls (moms) to think through this with me.
Thanks.
Re: Quad Screen--thoughts?
I did the 1st trimester screening in my first pregnancy. It really wasn't given to me as an option, it was just kind of like "you have this done at 13 weeks, here's the number to schedule". It was given to me as an option for pg #2 (different doctor, still in Houston) and I chose not to do it. With this pg, it was an enormous clusterfvck and I missed the window to do it. Apparently it's called something different here and my doctors office is staffed with morons.
That being said, if I have another baby, I wouldn't have any of the screening done. We don't have any family history and the result wouldn't change our desire for the pregnancy. We would continue on with the pregnancy regardless of the result, and I wouldn't have an amnio done, so I would rather go through my pregnancy in blissful ignorance over worrying myself sick over what could possibly be a false positive. I'm sure if something were wrong that we discovered at delivery it would be an enormous shock and would be difficult to grasp, but I would prefer to deal with it as it comes. I'm a paranoid freak (ask KJR or TXHarmony) and can make a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to being pregnant, I certainly don't need the added stress of what if's. I can make them up on my own.
That's just my opinion, and what I would do facing those circumstances. I certainly wouldn't judge anyone for making different choices, it's a difficult decision.
I opted for none of those tests. I was a paranoid freak with my pregnancy as well, I guess that is what comes with being a NICU RN. My rationale for not doing the test was much the same, if I got the false positive I would be stressed the whole time with the what ifs.
I sent you a PM as well.
You have to weigh your anxieties. If your biggest anxiety truly is thinking you are having a healthy baby that is then born with an abnormality, I would get the test done because odds are, you will get a good result that will put you mostly at ease. If the worst scenario for you would be a positive, whether false or otherwise, I would not get the test done.
I did the NT scan with both. The first time, I got an elevated risk based on the ultrasound alone. The week-long wait for the bloodwork portion was agonizing. In the end, my risk was low, but I do understand not even wanting to put yourself through that stress. Go with your gut on this decision.
We didn't do any testing with either other than the standard u/s stuff. I didn't want to deal with the stress and it wouldn't change our feelings. However, my doctor let me know that many problems can be detected via u/s so it's not know all or know nothing. Just my 2 cents.
ditto
Ditto. I did the testing both times because I wanted to have as much information as possible. We were very fortunate to have healthy babies but if there had been an issue I wanted to be prepared. I didn't want a surprise in the delivery room. I wanted time to do some research.
This was our thought, too.
Dx: PCOS and short luteal phase
18 cycles (3 with our RE) - Metformin + Clomid + HCG booster did the trick!
BFP #1 6/22/09 EDD: 3/2/10 DS born: 3/8/10
TTC #2 since Dec 2011
BFP #2 7/8/12 EDD: 3/18/12 M/C @ 9w1d: 8/16/12
We had all the testing done. Granted, I was 36 and we did IVF to get pregnant. But I am paranoid and a planner, and I really wanted to know if there was anything we needed to plan for. We would have terminated had there been a serious, incompatible with life abnormality. I would have done an amnio to confirm anything really serious, too.
We did, however, skip getting some other genetic testing done after talking with a geneticist -- I carry a rare form of MD, and we decided that the chances of DH carrying it were low enough we didn't want to bother.
All our tests came back very good, even from the first u/s.
IMO if you wouldn't do anything and the planning isn't as big a deal to you, skip it.