Wow, has it really been 2 months?? Time sure flies in our house. The average day is pretty much the same, get up, drop Ari at daycare, work, pick Ari up, eat, bed for both of us at 8pm. Doesn't leave a lot of time for recreational activities. My days off have been busy with appointments mainly.
So our 12 week scan went well, baby had grown right on target! It was also the first time we got to hear the heart beat. Always an amazing thing to hear! Up until this point they would show us the heart beating on the ultrasounds, but hearing it makes it so much better!
I also had blood work done at my 12 week scan and then again at 16 weeks for the Integrated Prenatal Screening test (IPS), which basically tells us compared to the average pregnancy for a woman my age, how this one rates statistcally for issues such as spine abifita, down syndrome, etc. Since I am considered "advanced maternal age" this is standard testing.
Not long after the second blood test at 16 weeks I received a call from my fertility office, with the secretary wanting to put me immediately through to my fertility specialist. Ok, first he NEVER calls, his time is very valuable and he has "people" to do that. So right away I knew something was up with my IPS test. His first words "don't panic", mine "too late, I know you don't make calls to patients routinely".
He went on to explain that one of the test came back with a higher chance of this baby having down syndrome than the norm. The normal for a woman my age is 1/220, our risk 1/120. Now, all this really means is that there is less than 1% chance the baby has down syndrome. But they are obligated to explain this, the impact down syndrome could have on the child and offer us an amniocentesis, basically a large needle inserted into the amniotic sac and remove fluid which they can then determine any chromosomal abnormalities. This doesn't come without risk though, although we would know 100% whether the baby has down syndrome, or any other chromosome problems, there is also a risk of 1/200 of miscarriage which is technically less than the risk of down syndrome at this point and why they have to offer it.
Long ago when we first started talking having children, we knew that being older presented a problem like this, but had decided at that time that we would not take the risk of an amnio, we would accept whatever child we are blessed with and make whatever accomodations required if there were issues. So I knew I could safely tell our dr that it was out of the question. He was ok with this, his impression is it's a false positive (very common) as the 12 week scan looked great, he was able to see the nasal bone (often not seen in a downs baby) but did recommend a trip to North York General Hospital to meet with a genetics counsellor to discuss options and gain more insight as to what tests could be done.
I suspected it would take weeks to get in, so was totally shocked to find out the appointment was 2 days later, wow they don't waste time! I guess because there are those that may choose amnio and if positive end the pregnancy, which I understand, each situation is different. My concern is that even if the baby has it, the test can't tell me how severe the impact is on the child.
So we went to see the counsellor. She was great, but I did have the sense, even though my dr assured me no one would pressure me to have the amnio, that she was trying to scare me into having it. In the end it comes to us having 3 options: 1, do nothing and wait until baby is born to see if there are any characteristics that would indicate it should be tested, 2, amnio, results 100% accurate and available with 2-3 days, or 3, a new test in Ontario (been in the US for awhile) called the harmony test which is 98% accurate but if it came back positive they would still want amnio for confirmation ... oh, and it's not covered under OHIP, so $800 to do this.
After discussing it between us and family we determined that it wouldn't impact our decision either way, and there was no reason to spend that kind of money to find out. The scan at 20 weeks will look at the heart and see if there are any heart abnormalities (common in 50% of down syndrome births) so we would at least be prepared at birth if there was a heart issue, and would give us a better idea if baby does in fact have it.
For now, we still firmly believe that this baby does not have it, really there is a 99% change we are right. If the baby does, it doesn't change anything, it's still our child, we will love it as much as we love Arabella, and raise it just the same, perhaps with a little different approach and assistance.
So where are we now ... almost 20 weeks!! Our scan is Tuesday, where we will hopefully find out the gender, if this baby co-operates. We are excited to tell Arabella whether she is going to have a little brother or little sister. She is excited and wants to know when the baby is coming ... still a ways off yet! She loved going to the doctors the other day to hear the heart beat and I think that made it a little more real for her.
So a bit of stress, nothing new for this pregnancy, but we will put this behind us and prepare for the birth of a happy, healthy baby in March!
