Hi there,
i am seriously thinking of having an amnio (38.5 years old) but I am also scared.....
In my last pregnancy it is going to be OK and youngie ( what has happened to her?) helped me a lot with all my fears and stresses!
Could I please hear from people who had it here or anywhere but preferably here some reassuring stories??
The risk from the combination test is low ( according t the Dutch doctors) but for me, i would not like to take this risk especially not when I already have one healthy child
Thanks for any response

I didnt get the amnio test, I had the 'vlokkentest' which is done at 11 weeks, but its similar, they put a long needle through your stomach into the womb and take a sample of the placenta. They do this while using an ultrasound scan to monitor progress and placement of the placenta and baby. the results are as reliable as the later done amnio (at 20 weeks) and the advantage is you find out earlier if there are any chromosonal abnormalities.

I have to say I was pretty freaked out about it beforehand, they dont use any anesthetic and the whole idea of that needle is horrid. However! It was actually nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated The whole thing was very quick, once the needle was in (no worse than a blood test prick) there was no pain until they got to the placenta, the taking of the sample was uncomfortable but quick and all in all afterwards I was surprised that it really was nowhere near as bad as I expected. They were also able to ; access the placenta easily (it can be more difficult if its in an awkward position to reach`) and to get a good enough sized sample the do the test - if they dont then they have to do it again.

I think the whole thing was totally worth it for peace of mind. We also had plenty of ultra sounds to monitor growth and development, so the combination was enough to be really confident of a healthy baby.

Good luck and post again if you have any other questions!

Thanks clickit,
I am not worried so much about the test itself; after being through a hellish birth, anything else is peanuts. I am worried about miscarrying or knock ten thousands wood sticks finding something wrong with the baby. Previously, i allowed myself to think of "it" like a baby after he was born, but things are a bit different now....
But thanks a lot clickit for taking the time to share your experience. have you delivered yet?

yes , a few months ago already! As far as all the statistics go on miscarriage, there is only a very small chance of it, and of course that information is complicated by the difficulty in separating the miscarriage as a result of the test and the miscarriage that would have happened even without the test....

I think you have to weigh it all up for yourself, what motivated me was that I already have one child, who I didnt want to make responsible for a sibling with chromosone problems in the event of anything happening to us... I didnt think about what I would do IF anything was wrong though, I felt good, the pregnancy was going well, I assumed everything was fine and decided I would continue to assume that unless I was told otherwise - at which point I would THEN worry about what decision to make.... In the end we had a good result and I spent the rest of the pregnancy not even thinking about it

Congratulations for your second child ( even if late by some months :-)). I am also thinking primarily of my first child. In fact I know a couple that they have one healthy child and one with Down's syndrome and the life of the healthy child is hell. They are constantly in and out of hospitals because the DS child has severe heart problems and the healthy one has already survivor's guilt and all sorts of other psychological problems.

I think this is a very good attitude to have ( assume everything is good) and I ll try to adopt it! After all i have no indications to the contrary, as you, I feel well, things are going well and the doctors think I am low risk.
Thanks again for your support!

I had amnio for my first child (very stressful waiting for results) and CVS for my second. CVS is much better in my opinion......it can also be done with minimal discomfort and extremely low miscarriage risk if you go to the guy who pioneered the original procedure in London: Kypros Nikolaides - this is his website: http://www.fetalmedicine.com/fmc/f-fmc.htm
His clinic trains doctors in the procedure from allover the world and patients travel to his clinic from all over the world. The fees are fairly low and the profit is ploughed back into Fetal Medicine Research. He also works in the UK NHS. He personally did my CVS procedure and I cannot recommed him highly enough...it is a procedure which is very skill dependent.

Hi, thanks for the replies. Just to report that I had the amnio last week and now 4 days later baby is still there and everything went well. As clickit it was nowhere near as bad as i had anticipated. In fact I was surprised at how "easy' it was. i felt nothing during the procedure and luckily i had no pains, crumps or anything afterwards. Once4 again the fear of something is much worse that the something itself
Now a bit stressful waiting for the results but i will try to keep [positive, besides the risk was low......
Thanks planetearth but it was already late for a CVS, logistically it is not easy to get to London to do it etc etc but i have heard of him and the center before and is indeed one of the world's best. Since though it is so skill-dependent and because of the timing I decided to go for the amnio and so far went well. Cheers and i ll keep you posted!

great to hear it went well and thanks for the update, send us another one when you get the results - and dont worry! Youre both doing well by the sounds of it

FYI the CVS test/vlokkentest is different from an amnio diagnostic testing wise and is associated with higher risks..
Unlike amniocentesis, CVS cannot detect neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.
There is a 1 percent chance of getting a result called a mosaicism, in which some of the cell lines cultured from the placenta contain abnormal chromosomes and some are normal. If your CVS detects a mosaicism, you will have to have amniocentesis and possibly other testing to determine whether your baby is affected.
There are other risks etc with CVS and Amnio, I suggest anyone considering these procedures read up well on them.
I just wanted to clarify that the CVS test did not detect neural tube defects and the amnio does for anyone who is doing research on the subject and stumbles onto this post.
I myself opted for an amnio, it was worth the wait for me (16 weeks) over not being sure of neural tube defects with a CVS test. In addition reducing the possibility of a higher miscarriage rate, limb defects that are associated with CVS by using the amnio test.

Hi, Just to report that I got the results back and everything is fine! I am really really pleased. It was low risk and everything but until you really know that everything is fine, I was worried. So now, I can allow myself to finally admit that I am pregnant and start enjoying it! I was a bit in denial until now just in case of a bad result....I am still going to have the anomaly/structural scan and be slightly worried but it is a huge relief to know that the chromosomes are OK

Thanks to all of you for your advice and support.

After the experience I think I highly reccommend it. It was really nowhere near as scary as I was led to believe ( huge needle etc) and it is really worth it for the peace of mind. Just a small correction to voodoo doll. Everything you say about the CVS is true except that the limb abnormalities were only detected when you do the test at 10 weeks or so. Apparently if you do it after 12 weeks it is safe. Also, I may be wrong but you could do a blood test for the a-fetoprotein to see for neural tube defects... ( maybe I am wrong on that and you really need amniotic fluid to check the levels of a-fetoprotein). In any case, I am a happy bunny :-)

That's great to hear. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!