Saturday, October 8, 2011

10w6d: to CVS or not to CVS?

I've made an appoint for next Friday to have the CVS test done. Mr. Jem and I are very interested in finding out 100% (okay, closer to 98-99%) if our baby is healthy and viable, not just to test for Down syndrome, but the other Trisomies, too.

We know there's some risk involved with doing CVS and amnio, for that matter. But I'm 41 and really, want to know. For our peace of mind and sanity. We have an appointment at a perinatal lab that does a lot of these procedures, and we're in the SF Bay Area, a major metro area, which makes the chance of something going terribly wrong much lower. But still. 

I'm not really asking for advice, just letting you know where our thoughts are... could evolve before Friday, but it doesn't seem likely.

Oh, and Mr. Jem and I would really like to know baby's gender!

~Jem

P.S. Went into an actual maternity/baby store yesterday, with another pregnant IF friend. It was weird and felt good at the same time. Bought new bras, as I'm literally busting out of mine.

9 comments:

Heather said...

It's a tough decision, but I totally get wanting to know if something is wrong in advance. I'm all about peace of mind too.

Best wishes. I'll be thinking of you on Friday!

Marissa said...

Fingers crossed for you guys!

Mrs. Gamgee said...

I understand wanting the certainty.

Just a mention on the update on your previous post... you can rent good quality dopplers (hospital grade) relatively inexpensively. Last time I rented a doppler and had it for the second tri. By the end of the second tri I was feeling Ginny move regularly and found that I didn't need the doppler any longer. The unit I rented acutally worked better than the one that my doc used in his office, and I was very clearly hearing Ginny's heartbeat. (I enjoyed being able to tell the doc right where he would find her) Another option to consider.

threelittlekilos said...

i have a friend who just had her baby this week at age 41 -- and she had the CVS done for the same reasons. she was able to find out immediately that everything was okay and also that she was having a girl. the procedure went smoothly and she was 100% glad she did it. :)

Anonymous said...

I'll say I do think the risk of CVS or amnio is generally way overblown. Most people seem to cite a realllly old 2-3% miscarriage rate, when in reality it is exceedingly rare when performed by an experienced perinatologist. Hope to hear good news after it!

Poppet said...

Remember before you spend a fortunate at Pea in a Pod that you want to spend on the $6 bras at Target now, and save your $$ for bras later on. Your body will change a lot and this might be the first of 2-3 trips to get new bras. Be cheap, since you'll need a return trip.

Re: testing. Make sure that you are on a similar page with Mr Jem on what you will do with CVS results. If everything is OK then the testing will give you wonderful peace of mind, so it's a no brainer. If, however, in the unlikely event that something is wrong, that's a more complicated discussion - and you should have a bit of an idea of what Mr Jem thinks and feels... as well as your own feelings on it.

I'm sure it will all be fine, but you don't want to be sitting there with "too much information and too few thoughts".

Be well!!! Hope you will share the results with our inquiring minds?

Circus Princess said...

Poppet makes a valid point, IF something should be other than the norm make sure you both have a plan. Always plan for the best but prepare for the worst. I couldn't bear the idea of anything going wrong because of the procedure and knew we'd be able to love and nurture a child with special needs so we opted to live in the unknown. But finding out that your child is healthy at this early stage will probably remove a ton of worry! Lots of love!

Bella said...

I accompanied a friend to her CVS and it was not too scary. Personally I did double amnio with my latest twins even though the odds of abnormality were very small after the Nuchal screening. We just needed to know.

Keep us posted!

linda said...

Hmm, I'm not sure. Did you do the nuchal scan already? If yes, what did that show? Otherwise...if you do the CVS test, I would suggest a round of antibiotics before/during/after. One of the larger risks I've heard of is the introduction of bacteria. I would myself do the CVS only because of my age (46) but you're a young pup compared to me!!! :-P