[GEwifey]

Originally Posted by chantalTTC

Ok, so, school me - the NT is the u/s and the AFP is b/w? Do I have that right? Trying to keep track...I know we're doing the NT next Wed; unsure about AFP. I'll check.

You got it right.

[GEwifey]

Kristen-Did you see my post about your u/s? If not, I'll ask again, were the gonads pointed out to you or did you see them yourself?

[chantalTTC]

Originally Posted by GEwifey

Kristen-Did you see my post about your u/s? If not, I'll ask again, were the gonads pointed out to you or did you see them yourself?

LOL...I now regret typing that word! It cracks me up every time it's repeated! My OB called them that and I could actually see two tiny little circles with a line in between. Too funny...

[GEwifey]

Originally Posted by chantalTTC

LOL...I now regret typing that word! It cracks me up every time it's repeated! My OB called them that and I could actually see two tiny little circles with a line in between. Too funny...

GONADS...GONADS...GONADS....LOL
That is sooo cute that you got to see it.
I was really, really looking this morning and I didn't see anything, maybe that means I'm having a girl, or my baby boy has teeny weeny man parts....LMAO

[chantalTTC]

LMAO, too! I'm half listening on a conf call and almost giggled out loud when I saw your post. Heehee...

[infertilitynovice]

Boy, are we easily entertained or what? LOL!!! You guys are so funny!

[GEwifey]

Now if I find out Im having a boy, Im always going to think of him having teeny weeny man parts...LOL

[dherbert]

A few of you were questioning wheather you have a choice for the NT scan and the AFP, I belive it may be determined on your Doctor. I know you def have a choice to deny having the AFP bloodwork done.

I am not having any genetic testing done. My OB said it to me like this, The tests are not 100% accurate either way. You can get a positive result on the bloodwork that says you have a high chance of downs or neural tube defect, and then you worry and stress the remainder of the pregnancy, and at birth the baby is fine. Or you can have a negative result so you think the baby is perfectly healthy only to be surprised at birth that something is wrong. I most def would not have an amnio due to the risk to the baby, so therefore why put myself through the bloodtest that may or may not be right. My OB also said if anything major is wrong they most of the time can pick it up at your 20 week u/s.

I figure I have had enough stress so far with getting pregnant and the bleeding, I just want the rest of the pregnancy to be as worry free as possible.

[dherbert]

I read up on the NT scan and found out that not all facility's offer this screening yet, you have to have special equipment and the u/s tech or OB has to have been trained in London for this. So if some of you have not been offered it through your OB, no worry's.
Most of them just offer the AFP blood test to check for abnormalities.

[eggy]

I just got off the phone with my OB's office to confirm my NT scan appointment tomorrow, and asked about the AFP test. I was told they don't run that test until 17 weeks. Hmmmm.... It sounds like others of you are doing it sooner. Does anyone have any info about this?

[Amzippity]

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry I abandoned everybody for a few weeks. My morning sickness/nausea got so bad that looking at the computer screen made me feel much sicker. I look at the screen so much during the day that I couldn't bring myself to look at the computer screen when I got home. I haven't visited any of my typical "haunts" for weeks!

Quick update on me: I had my first two OB appts. since my last post. I didn't hear the heartbeats at my first one but I did at my second. The hbs were in the 140s for one baby and the 160s for the second. We worked out our plan for my work (no change) and out of work (can't even take long walks). I'll get a cerclage in a few weeks time. My appt with the maternal fetal specialist (high-risk guy) is on the 30th and I'll find out more then.

Other than that, the morning sickness is still here but I'm on the other side of the hill. I can't wait until it's all gone! My stomach is already big and I'm wearing maternity clothes.

I'm still maintaining a state of "cautious optimism" about the pregnancy and babies. The doctor is worried about me making it and not delivering way too early. I have my fingers crossed.



I haven't been able to ready all 27 pages that went by while I was gone, so it's going to take me a while to catch up with everyone. I hope everybody is doing okay.

Infertilitynovice - I saw that you went to the OB. How did you like them? Have you seen Dr. M-A yet? I still like the people there. I guess there's a level III NICU at SNHMC too, which is really good news for me. I wasn't sure about that before.

[infertilitynovice]

Amity ~ OMG!!!! I actually made an audiable sound when I saw that you've posted again!!!! I was so worried that something was wrong. I actually thought about going back through my old PMs to see if I still had the one with your phone number...I know...completely crazy right? I was worried you'd think I was a psycho-stalker or something so I resisted the urge...Oh, I feel so relieved!! I just couldn't bear the idea that something bad had happened to the babies, so I just kept telling myself that you were just really busy. I guess I'm a "little" attached to you since you saved my pregnancy experience by recommending your OB. To answer your question, I haven't met Dr. M yet, but I will tomorrow. I actually was really worried all last week b/c my symptoms just up and disappeared. I finally called her office Friday. They let me do another BETA just to make sure that my levels were still up there. When I talked to her Friday night, she didn't once suggest that I was crazy for being worried. She was just WONDERFUL to me. She even said that though my levels appeared to be fine, I could still go in Monday for a "feel good" u/s. It was awesome!! Not only was I able to assure myself that everything was fine by seeing a healthy heartbeat, I got to HEAR it for the first time too. DH and I will met with her tomorrow to talk about the next steps and we'll be able to use the heart monitor so DH can hear the heartbeat this time.

I'm so glad to hear that you're okay and that the little bambinos are okay too. There's been a lot of talk about testing today. Are you planning to do the early screening tests? I believe I will, but I know how scary the results can be b/c they often scare moms needlessly.

[eggy]

Melissa (and others who have mentioned it), you make a good point about how some of these screening tests needlessly worry expectant parents. A coworker of my mother's received a very worrisome result on one of his wife's early scans (I think it was her NT). Although she was over 35, they opted not to do an amnio or any other pre-natal testing, due to the family's religious beliefs. They figured whatever happened was meant to be. And wouldn't you know? After months of thinking there might be something chromosomally wrong with the baby, their daughter came out ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.

[GEwifey]

Originally Posted by eggy

I just got off the phone with my OB's office to confirm my NT scan appointment tomorrow, and asked about the AFP test. I was told they don't run that test until 17 weeks. Hmmmm.... It sounds like others of you are doing it sooner. Does anyone have any info about this?

I hadn't even really thought about the AFP until the tech asked me if I wanted to do it, I said yeah. But I guess it depends on the OB when they do the test.

[infertilitynovice]

Eggy ~ My BF went through something similar to your friend. I think it was her 20 week scan when they told her that her daughter's femur looked short and that there was a whole in her heart (of course she wasn't interested in finding out the sex, so she didn't know she was having a "daughter")...oh, and she had 2 uriters on 1 kidney. The femur and heart thing were "soft signs" of Down's, so my friend spent her entire pregnancy with this nagging thought that her baby might have Downs. She was born completely healthy, fine/fat little legs, no whole in her heart, and NO 2 uriters...

So, I don't know about the tests. I just assumed I'd have them too. I'll be sure to talk to my doctor tomorrow and see what her opinion is.