My NT scan is on Sept 4th but I'm thinking about skipping it this time. With N the results came back abnormal and they scared the shit out of me for a .005% increase in his chance of having Down syndrome. Mathematically the percentage stayed the same! They sent me to a genetic specialist and we had extra scans all for, really, no reason except to bill my insurance some more. Since termination would never be an option, I see no point in doing in except to see my little bean again. Anyone else ever skip the NT scan?
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We skipped it with my first because we wouldn't terminate and didn't want to be scared.
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I skipped it with DD. My doc suggested we figure out whether we would terminate the pregnancy depending on the results. We said we would not so she recommended skipping it.
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My neighbor skipped it with all three of hers. My other friend skipped it too.
I'm not just because there is no way I can wait until 20 weeks for an ultrasound..
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@MamaChin: Ask about the T21 test. It's a new diagnostic blood test that is much more accurate than the NT scan screening. They can analyze the baby's DNA from the maternal blood and detect the three trisomies as well as gender. You can take it as early as 10 weeks and it takes two weeks to get results.
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@elbiekay: thank you so much! I'll definitely ask about that!
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My midwives made it really clear that it was optional and completely up to us whether we wanted to do it. We did, but they didn't try to sway us either way.
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@MamaChin: Sure. Make sure that you also ask about cost. It may or may not be covered by your insurance, etc. It's offered by three different labs: Sequenom (MaterniT21 test), Harmony, and something that starts with a V that I can't remember.
I just got my results back today. I can't believe I know the gender at 12w2d. Crazy!
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I'm skipping all of these types of tests unless the Dr. Finds something abnormal during the U/S. It wouldn't change our minds if we had "abnormal" results. The unknown & what ifs would just freak us out more than anything. No need to go looking for something when the majority of the time the results are wrong anyways.
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We skipped it both times. I felt like if there was nothing I could/would do to fix or treat whatever the potential problem was, I'd rather just not know.
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I wouldn't skip it. I'd want to be prepared for special needs.
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We skipped it the first time, but are doing it this time around. Now that I know what a normal baby needs, I would definitely want to be prepared for any special needs. If there was something seriously wrong, I'd rather know sooner than later. I'll be honest- I'm super excited to see the baby again!
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I would have skipped it, because I would not have terminated, but I just wanted another scan.
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We wouldn't have terminated, but our plan was to do it just so we could be prepared for special needs. In reality, I had crazy anxiety and I needed to see baby again for my peace of mind.
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We skipped it. I didn't have any risk factors, and I wouldn't have terminated. I work in special education/behaviorism, so I felt relatively prepared and informed. Our insurance wasn't even going to cover it, in the first place, so it was an expense and potential worry we couldn't justify.
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Even though we wouldn't have terminated regardless of the results, I would've wanted to know in order to be prepared for a special needs child.
I also found out the sex at our NT scan at 12 weeks! It was pretty awesome finding out that early. I could never be team green, I'm way too curious.
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We've skipped it with both. We wouldn't have terminated, and the 20 week scan is still plenty of advance timing to prepare for special needs in my opinion.
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We didn't do any unnecessary testing for just the reason you mentioned. We wouldn't have terminated no matter what and there is no reason to spend the entire pregnancy stressing over results that are unreliable at best. We still did a scan at 12 weeks to monitor her growth. TBH, the only reason we even did that one was because the tech was needing somebody to practice on for an upcoming test and they did it for free. Uhm, I am totally cool seeing my baby again! Esp for free! (My ins doesn't cover sono's for some reason.)
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I skipped it with A and will probably skip it this time too.
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@Mrs. High Heels: wow that is early to find out! How confident were they?
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I would totally skip it if I were you. It's not worth the extra stress and hassle. Maybe you can just schedule an ultrasound at one of those private places with a big screen ? Their introductory packages can be quite affordable.
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I did the MT21 test at 10 weeks, and the NT scan at 12 weeks. I did a lot of soul searching about whether I'd want to terminate if there were problems. Ultimately I felt like in the situation of something like Down's, I would not want to but I'd need to be prepared. I thought it would be more devastating to go through an entire pregnancy expecting a healthy baby and be presented with one with special needs.
However, I am EXTREMELY glad I insisted they let me take the MT21 test at 10 weeks, since my hospital normally does it at 12 weeks when you do the NT scan. They gave me a hard time but I'm kinda stubborn. We got the results back in just over a week and going into the scan we knew we had only a 1:40,000 chance of Down's. During the scan the MFM doctor told me that it was good that we'd already gotten those results because the back of the neck measurement was borderline (I think he was moving around too much to get a good measurement). If we hadn't already done the blood test, I would've been freaking out.
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With my first, we did the NT scan (ultrasound and blood test) and also found out the sex (via blood test) like @Mrs. High Heels:
This time around, my doctor is having me do the fetal DNA blood test and NT ultrasound (not blood test). My understanding is the fetal DNA blood test is more accurate than the NT blood test, and will eventually become the new standard in first trimester care.
I would not skip a non invasive screening test. I would want to be 100% prepared if we had a special needs child. Also, I want to be happy and excited when I give birth. I think that finding out your child has special needs in the delivery room would be shocking and overwhelming.
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We skipped it.
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I personally would not skip it because I would want to be prepared if I was going to have a special needs child. My NT scan came back with a slightly elevated chance of downs. We elected to have CVS. The CVS was not bad atall (I did not look a the needle, it scared the crap out of DH though), waiting for the results was the roughest but I'm glad I had the test done. It turns out that everything was fine. It was much easier going through my pregnancy knowing that everything was fine with my LO.
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We didn't skip it, because like @Mrs. Jacks, we wanted to be prepared if there was a special need.
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@Mrs. High Heels: We're the same way - and we found out gender at 13 weeks!
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We haven't had one for either of our LO. The percentages just make me anxious and I'm not sure at what point I'd have an amnio since there are risks to that. With this pregnancy they found a soft marker but even with that they recommended not getting an amnio.
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Even though we had a super stressful NT scan and poor odds with E that made us get a CVS, we won't be skipping it for #2. It's just a scan, but I have to know if something is wrong.
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@ElbieKay: We had this and I was so glad we did! We did have the NT scan and all was normal. It was actually the anatomy scan that detected possible abnormalities for us and scared the heck out of me. We had the T21 test and it was negative but I'm not sure what I will do the next time around. It seems like so much extra stress if you aren't planning on terminating anyway, as we weren't.
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@Orvis18: Do you mind sharing what sort of issues were detected during the anatomy scan?
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We skipped it, although not so sure we will next time. I will be honest when I say that I don't know that we would continue a pregnancy with a special needs child (dependent on whats wrong).
Please, no flaming me for that statement. It's just how I feel.
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@ElbieKay: Sure. LO had three soft markers for down syndrome. He had short long bones (femur/humerus) and Echogenic intraventricular focus (bright spot on the heart which could be from calcium deposits). The three markers chnaged our odds from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 1,000 so we opted to have the T21 test. We knew we weren't going to terminate no matter what, but it was nice to be able to have the option to do a non invasive test.
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@zippylef: my sister chose to terminate after finding out her unexpected pregnancy (she was a sophomore in college) had trisomy 13, and it looked like a cleft pallet and heart defect. I don't think I could carry a baby to term after multiple doctors told me my child would likely die within days of being born. (Those are common problems with trisomy 13)
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@Navy_Mommy: I would feel the same way, that's why we did the NT scan and bloodwork. I'm still not 100% sure where the dividing line would be, but I could not and would not continue a pregnancy where the only prognosis for the baby is a short life of constant pain. And I would much rather make that decision at 12-16 weeks than 20 weeks+. I know others feel differently, though, it's a hugely personal choice.
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@Orvis18: Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't sure if you were referring to the same conditions that are screened for by the NT scan, or if it was something different.
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@zippylef: @PurplePeony: I feel the same way but don't usually discuss it because I know it's a controversial decision and it would be heart wrenching.
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We will skip the scan next time, but we'll likely still do an ultrasound around that time ... An ultrasound (without the blood work that goes along with the 1st trimester screening) is about 1/2 as much, and really, we just wanted to see the baby.
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I didn't and won't skip it because I like to see the peanut! But I'm also young and pretty low risk as long as I wait a bit longer to get pregnant again (which I have no problem with!)
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