blood testing results back

The first trimester screening blood results are back. The likelihood of Downs Syndrome purely based on my age would be 1 in 24. The likelihood based only on the blood test are 1 in 110. While anything over 1 in 220 is a "positive" result, it is actually a good result for my age, and there are a lot of false positives for ladies over 40. The likelihood of trisomy 18 based on age alone is 1 in 87. Based on the blood test, the risk is 1 in 5400. I asked if these numbers take into account my great nuchal measurement of 1.4mm. They do not. She still does not have the doctor's report in my file about that. And then she asked me how far along I am and I'm 13w4d, so she said it's now too late for a CVS. {big eyeroll} I TOLD them if they waited until I was 12+ weeks to do the first tri screen there would not be time to do the CVS. They ASSURED me there would be time. Only nobody bothered to call me from either my OB's office or the fetal testing office regarding my bloodwork results when they came in. Not that it really matters. I'm not going to change my mind about choosing the amnio over the CVS based on these blood results. But it would have been nice to have the option.

Holding my breath

I feel that I have been patient. Waiting for the days to tick by. Waiting for the genetic testing. I'm starting to get nervous about it. DH and I went through the genetic counseling before our last amnio, and I remember flipping the pages to look at the statistics for 43-year-olds, anticipating that we would try for another child. The statistics were 5% genetic problems. That means 5% of the 43-y-o pregnancies who made it as far as 16 weeks had diagnosable genetic problems, such as trisomy 21 or 18. Now that may seem a small percentage at first glance, but when it is a matter of life or death, 5% is huge. For example, if you were to be undergoing an elective surgery and they told you there was something wrong with your heart and you had a 5% chance of not waking up from the anesthesia, would you go ahead with it? I think not. So here I sit, nervously biding my time. Hoping that the nuchal test this Wednesday comes out good, and that I can hold off for the amnio in June. If things are bad, I will rush in for an immediate CVS test. As I sit here typing, my little baby is tapping away at my insides. And my heart is heavy with worry.

Coming full circle

The hilarious part is the punchline. My new appointment is already in my cell phone calendar. It was the first appointment set up by my OB doctor. Let me explain. I called the OB a week ago saying I wanted to set up a CVS appointment and that I would be released by the RE soon. So they said that the OB usually schedules ladies for a first tri screen (nuchal u/s and blood work) before deciding on any CVS or other testing. My RE told me that he would continue to follow me for a few more weeks, and that he was referring me to another doctor, Dr. Porto at UC Irvine. So I called up and canceled the other appt. I reached Dr. Porto yesterday and he is out of my insurance network. So DH and I decided to go ahead and go with the original people and do the first tri screen and bloodwork. I called today to get an appt, and they gave me my old appt back. 9:30 on May 16th. I'll be 12 weeks, and there will be time to get a CVS test is my first tri screening results are bad. If the screening results are good, then we will feel comfortable enough holding off to do the amnio, which has a lower risk overall than the CVS, and I will be able to continue Lovenox for another month longer before having to take a couple of days off for the procedure. And another funny thing. It turns out that if I need CVS through the original doctor, they will send me to Dr. Porto anyway. Ha! Whew! My head is spinning with all this.

Another perfect ultrasound

I had the presence of mind to jot down notes during the ultrasound today, so here are the statistics. Heartbeat was "over 120" and strong, but his machine doesn't measure it like a doppler. The gestational sac was 22mm (I think it was 15 last time). The yolk sac was 4mm (good that it is small, apparently). The embryo was 11.6mm, up from 3mm last time, perfect growth! And he measured the corpus luteum as 14mm. He didn't measure the free fluid but said that it had gone down and there was much less of it. Overall another perfect ultrasound. I need to look up the exact measurements on the internet to find out the exact day of my measurements, although perhaps I should just relax and enjoy this healthy pregnancy.

EDIT: I went to a website and the 7 week measurement is 8mm for the embryo. Add 1mm for each day. If I take 11.6 to equal 12mm, then I measure 7weeks plus 4 days (the difference between 12 and 8mm. My ticker reads 7weeks and 4 days today EXACTLY!

Another thing. I asked when he would be kicking me out. He said he would follow me another few weeks until around 10 weeks. In that case, I said, what about CVS, Nuchal Translucency tests and all that. He said that for my age it was appropriate to go straight to CVS and skip the nuchal, because the NT test is more for younger women. It only screens for downs. That makes a lot of sense to me. I can't understand why my OB wants to put off the CVS testing and have me do the general screening tests first, when I am really so old and high risk. And I had 2 amnios with the other boys. So why would we do *less* testing with this baby when I am so much older now? My RE's advice sounds perfect. I will cancel the first tri screening with the other guys and go to his doctor at UC Irvine for the CVS test. That will give me a lot of peace of mind for the rest of the pregnancy. I have very little confidence now.