Saturday, July 25, 2009
Increased Risk
An OB almost gave me a heart attack yesterday. I've never met her and didn't recognize the name so I didn't know it was an OB who had left a message for me to call back regarding my first trimester screening. With Nadia I wasn't offered the nuchal u/s, and I turned down the blood test. I wasn't planning on doing the blood test this time (just the u/s), but after the u/s the nurse said she needed to prick my finger so I thought oh well I guess I'll go ahead and do the blood test also. I've had friends who have gotten false positives and then went on to have the amnio test only to find out everything was fine but were rather upset for a few weeks in between. I called back and was eventually transferred back to the OB. She had a very somber tone of voice which already got my heart to start racing and then she said my results were that I have an increased risk of the baby having Down's syndrome. I said I didn't understand because the sonographer said the u/s results were good. Eventually by the end of the conversation I learned that my results WERE good from the test (blood and u/s). The increased risk was 100% a result of my age and not a result of the test. At the end she told me that with the test results my odds were 1:265 (or something like that...I didn't write down what she said and am bad at remembering numbers), and before the test (just bc of my age) my "odds" were 1:150. So actually the test results lowered the risk. That's how she should have started the conversation in my opinion! She totally had my heart beating out of my chest with the way she worded it and the serious tone of voice she used. I told her I definitely didn't want to do any diagnostic tests (all involve at least a small risk of miscarriage). I looked online later and 1:250 is the cut off used be geneticists to define high vs. low risk. By that info I am considered low risk since I'm above 250. The doctor kept emphasizing that I am 37 (like I don't know my age?). I wanted to say well at 36 I gave birth to a very healthy little girl. I realize there is no guarantee baby #2 will be as healthy as Nadia, but no matter what we will love this next child just as much as we love Nadia.
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4 comments:
I can't believe the Drs office scared you like that. I opted not to do the blood test b/c of all the false positives. Have you thought about looking on craigslist for a crib? Do you have a local magazine that has a listing for baby items? We have a magazine called The Bulletin Board.
Hi Ruth, sorry about the scare... my sister went through something very similar a few months ago. First the nuchal translucency gave her about the same chances related to her age, then she decided to have the amnio and they told her "your protein level is too high and the baby might have spina bifida". This was the lab who ran the test. It was the worst day of her life. She then called her obgyn who was on vacation and he reassured her that that particular test was not very reliable and that in any case her levels were not "that" high. She pretty much agonized until the level 2 u/s but the latest results gave her the "all clear". This is her first child (she just turned 35) so it was really stressful for her...
Argh. Silly OB. What was she thinking? The most important things you can do for your baby is to stay healthy and not get stressed out, but these guys seem to have a hard time not helping a person get all riled up.
Sounds like you got some good finds this morning. I should start going to yard sales.
By the way, those little yogurt balls have been a constant presence in our cupboard since we were at your house. Henry loves them.
That is horrible about the OB scaring you...I would have freaked out :(
Our toddler bed was purchased at K-Mart on sale for $40. It's white wood, and has held up very well. Both girls have used it and it looks brand new. And it's low to the ground and has rails on the side so I don't have to worry about them falling out.
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