Congratulations, you're pregnant. Now here's 3,000 brochures about all of the different diseases/abnormalities/issues that can come up with your tiny helpless fetus. You must now decide what you want to be tested for. Ready...go!
Ok, so it doesn't happen that fast, but it's definitely overwhelming. There are so many different blood tests, ultrasounds, and exams that you have to make a decision on in your first 10-20 weeks of being pregnant. At our first appointment after confirming that there is only one (1, single, uno) baby in there, our doctor gave us three brochures. Did we want to test for chromosomal abnormalities? If you do want to test, at what level do you want to test? There's a Nuchal Test, which is essentially an ultrasound. There's Non-invasive Prenatal Testing, which is blood work. Then there's CVS and Amniocentesis, which are invasive tests usually reserved for expecting mothers over 35 or when there's cause for concern. Or you can forego all testing. I also had to get regular blood work done on myself and he ordered a one-hour glucose test because I'm an ancient age of 31. So you leave a doctor's appointment on a high, thinking, alright! There's a (one, just one) baby in there, we heard a heartbeat, we're good! To spending the car ride home wondering how much you want to know, which ultimately leads to the dreaded what-if's. What if we do the testing and something is wrong? What would we do? What if it's minor? What if it's major? The high doesn't last long when you're knocked up.
We weren't telling people about the pregnancy yet because we wanted to make sure everything was a-ok. However, we also wanted to get input from our friends who have had kids recently...what tests did they do? Do they wish they did more? Less? This combined with my thorough internet research skills led us to our decision: We wanted to know as much as possible.
I'm a numbers girl. I like data. It puts me to ease because data is real. The Nuchal Test, while nice and easy, had a certain level of false-positive results that I was really just not comfortable with. It would be great if we did the NT and everything looked great...but what if something was off? What if we got a false positive and spent a ton of unnecessary time worrying? I know that there are follow up tests that you can take if something doesn't look right from the NT test, but isn't it easier to have more definitive results right from the start? The amnio and CVS both carry some risk of miscarriage, though they're the most accurate tests available because they sample directly from the placenta. I didn't want to take any risks that I didn't have to...and I'm also terrified of very large needles. So this led us to our ultimate decision to go ahead with the NIPT (Non-invasive prenatal testing).
NIPT is often not covered by health insurance if you're under 35 and considered low-risk. My doctor only uses Sequenom, which provides the Maternit21 test, so I did some more research on cost. We estimated that this would be around $500 out of pocket, which was worth it for us to have some peace of mind. NIPT is typically done at around 12 weeks. The test works by taking a couple samples of the mother's blood and then they analyze the fetal data that's present in the bloodstream. Prior to 12 weeks, there may not be enough fetal data present in the mother's blood, so that's why they recommend you wait. We had our test at 12 weeks exactly. We're prompt.
They ended up doing a NT test as part of the NIPT, which gave me some additional assurance and also gave us more pictures to show off when we were ready. (It also gave us another hospital bill....yayyyy....) Then they took a couple vials of blood and told me that we'd hear back in about 10-14 business days. Next I got to walk down the hall and have even more blood drawn, so it was a fun day for me.
Our results ended up taking exactly one week and all markers were negative for chromosomal abnormalities. Cue release of breath.
So you get this big test done and you think, ok we're good...things are good...and then you go back to the doctor.
Do you know what happens next? He gives you more brochures. Now you have to decide if you want to test for spinal bifida, cystic fibrosis, and another round of blood work called a quad screen. I'm no expert, but I don't think the quad screen involves an appearance by the Quad City DJs. I'm starting to dread going into the doctor each month because I have no idea what brochure I'm going to go home with next. "Would you like to test for the black plague? How about a test to see whether your child is an alien?"
To sum it all up, being pregnant is 9 months of constantly being worried. As soon as you think you can stop being worried, your doctor reminds you that there's something else to worry about. I think that the light at the end of the tunnel is supposed to be this baby who gives you a whole new set of things to be worried about. I'm starting to worry that I'll never not be worried about something again...
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