Husband has his birthday over the weekend (Happy Birthday!!). He is now officially in his 30s. Gah! I’ll join him in September but we need not discuss that until then.
When I was pregnant with The Boy, I was 28. And terrified. Now that I’m pregnant with New Baby, I’m 30. And terrified. I have reoccurring nightmares about things going wrong, how I’ll handle them, if I’m up for a challenge should God see fit to give me one…kinda like when Cliff Huxtable on the Cosby Show dreamed he was giving birth to a Hoagie…remember that? Funniest episode ever. I digress.
When you are pregnant, there are a myriad of tests to wade through. Some seem more mandatory and not too awful (cue the yummy orange pop I drank last week to check for potential gestational diabetes) while others are much more optional and much scarier to me. As a result, I decided to say no to three specific optional tests:
1) Nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound – a scan that predicts potential for Down’s Syndrome
2) Amniocentesis– a procedure that checks for genetic/chromosomal abnormalities (including spina bifida)
3) Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)– a more accurate procedure that checks for genetic/chromosomal abnormalities earlier then Amniocentesis.
All tests check for the potential of birth defects and/or abnormalities. It was a bit of a struggle to make my decision- although I am younger then 35 years old (the age that they strongly suggest that women receive both tests, as the risk is higher), I went back and forth over the question: would want to know if there was the risk for birth defect, abnormality, or anything else?
I decided no.
There were a few factors that went into my decision to not do prenatal testing/screening. Firstly, I wouldn’t abort the baby, no matter what the test results/ultrasounds showed me. Secondly, because the testing cannot definitively tell you whether your child will be born with any differences, the stress and anxiety it would cause me, over the POTENTIAL, is not worth it to me. Thirdly, as I am not a high-risk candidate (under 35, no genetic abnormalities in my family history) I couldn’t justify the small but real risk of miscarrying my baby due to the procedure. I’m sure my decision isn’t for everyone but these are the reasons I chose to say no.
In the end, these prenatal tests just weren’t for me. I’m happy to do all the blood tests they need to (thanks to my O negative blood type it seems there are way more for me!) and pee in a cup whenever asked, but the idea of knowing before my baby is born that there is potential for something to happen just is too much for me to handle.
How do you feel about certain Prenatal tests? Are there any you chose not to do or do you believe that the more you know, the better off you are? Would you go back and change your decision if you could?
I said no to all tests in probing too. But I did get the regular routine blood tests to monitor my health (sugar tests etc..) and ultrasounds. It’s only smart to do the more extreme testing if you’re high risk IMO.
Good for you.
I love hearing why women chose to have the testing because it’s for such different reasons. That is the beauty of choice, isn’t it?
I took all the tests and I thought it was the right thing to do- still do to this day. The possible problems if you don’t are endless. Though, I admire the choice, I believe every woman should have a choice, no matter what.
Bonnie Smith
COO/Director FXP
http://www.forexpulse.com
i didn’t take the tests as i was afraid of what they might come up with and my choices i might make thereafter…if there was something “wrong” what would i do seriously? i just figured, i’m low risk, here are my cards and i shall go with the flow. the thought of a “potential” problem and not a definitive one didn’t help either. if i didn’t have a test, there would be no problem, right? 😉
even with kids that have no health issues it’s still a challenge so, i figure, a test is a test is a test and all kids have their quirks and it’s best to deal with it.
For me, the NT scan was a must, and whether to take one of the other two was a decision that I would have made if my NT test showed possible reasons for concern.
In my case, it’s just a need to know, first. I may have considered terminating – it’s impossible to be sure what you’d do until you are there, I think, but it’s not something I would rule out completely. But even if I decided I wouldn’t, I would at least be granted time to prepare myself as much as I could – again, you will never really know what it is until you’re in it, but still, having time to find out what resources there are and adjust plans and expectations is helpful to a planner like me.
Sarah – I did none of the prenatal testing. For the same reasons.
Two out of my 3 children have medical/special needs – one has a neuro disorder and one has a significant vascular anomaly.
Neither of these would have been detected through any type of prenatal testing.
Had I done the testing that was offered, everything would have come back “normal” and yet our life is anything but.
I knew going into parenthood that I wasn’t guaranteed “perfection”. We wouldn’t terminate a pregnancy – I just wanted to enjoy every single day I had a life growing inside me.
I said no as well, firstly my Dr just handed me paperwork without really explaining what any of it meant. I’m a researcher I looked into it and my views were similar to yours, also I have a good friend who had false positives with 2 of her 3 children which resulted in quite a lot of unnecessary stress, so I chose not to do the testing either.
Good for you for bringing this up and being honest about your feelings Sarah. I did all the tests….all of them. But I was in a very different place. I was older and single. If somethign happens to me, my sister will look after my child. She has a child with special needs and I felt I needed to know if I was facing that and then make a decision that I could live with. I wasn’t saying that I would for sure terminate but if I was facing that, in my mind I wanted to prepare mentally for it. I had a false positive on the NT test – thankfully I was aware that there were many false positives but it wasn’t an experience I’d like to relive. If I ever got pregnant again – I wouldn’t have it.
The amnio was an interesting one – Will wouldn’t stop moving so it took a long time and I started to panic….but in the end all was fine AND they confirmed he was a boy – woohoo.