Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Thank you everyone. I am SO relieved because I honestly felt like I was not sure I could care for a special needs child but was unsure if I would be able to terminate it & not be haunted the rest of my life.

Tofulish I do feel like I was unnecessarily given the scare of my life. I understand their desire to err on the side of caution but now I wonder if doing the early screening is worth the horrifying stress I just went through.

My MIL was looking online last night after we told her the initial issue & she said she came across an article that said vegs & vegans have a higher false positive rate for these tests. U fortunately she said there was no back up for it just a blurb but I thought it was still kind of interesting.

I came here just to check on you, LisaPunk. So happy your results came back and you can enjoy the holiday! Hope you eat an extra large slice of pie to celebrate your healthy fetus!

(Now I'm interested in finding more research behind that theory, as it seems like a few of us have had smiliar-ish experiences.)

:-)

Fantastic to hear you got some good news, LisaPunk, that must be such a relief!

Yay for good amnio results!

Awesome for good test results!!! I have known so many people with false positives that had to go through the worry and stress that when I was pregnant we declined the testing. I am so glad you get to enjoy your holiday and have one more thing to be thankful for!

Yay LisaPunk, I'm so happy and relieved for you!

That's wonderful news LisaPunk!

Yay! Great news!

I would be interested in the info re veg*ns having higher rates of false positives. Basically 1/3 of that test's formula is your age, so if you're older, you automatically get assigned a high risk number, and that would be fine with me if my midwife had just said "Hey we're doing this test and it is intended to catch a high number of cases with chromosomal abnormalities, so there is some possibility of a false positive." But no one prepared me for that, and I went in alone for a routine screening and ended up being told to go get the screening asap and then everything became an emergency and had to be done right that minute, so it was oh so freaky and upsetting. It sucks when your only source for balanced, calm information is the PPK, rather than your medical professional. I told her that too, but she didn't really take it on.

Anyway, so sorry you had a rough few days, but yay for testing and a healthy baby!

Tofulish - my midwife was the same way about screenings. I found it particular egregious when they did the first trimester HIV test without telling me. How would you tell someone they had HIV if they didn't even know they were being tested? I just find that crazy.

My nuchal translucency test showed I had the risk of an 18 year old for chromosomal abnormalities (I am over 30). I'd be interested in that veg*n connection for false positives. Now that I've been through testing once (even though it ended well), I'd prefer not to do it again because of the anxiety around it. That doesn't jive so well with the fact that I would terminate a pregnancy with chromosomal abnormalities - how would you know if you don't test? Haven't figured that one out yet!

Hah, samesies. I would almost just rather go and get another CVS than go through the testing, because at this point, I'm pretty much certain it'll come back high risk.

So glad you got good news, LP!

Ariann, I am totally with you. I skipped the screening tests because of all the anxiety I've seen people go through, but at the same time, I'm not at all opposed to terminating. I have not figured that out, either. I wasn't really concerned when I was pregnant with Scarlett because I was 28, but we're not planning on having a second kid for 4 or 5 years, so I don't know what I'll want to do then.

Also, that's horrible that your midwives didn't tell you exactly what they were testing you for or go into detail about the genetic screening! I do have to say that it's so rare to have anyone decline that it starts to feel like a bit of a waste of precious appointment time to go into too much detail about the screening tests and what you can expect to do with your results.

I declined all the genetic stuff after the nuchal translucency (AFP? something else? don't remember). Did an anatomy scan and that's it.

We declined the AFP as well, but that was in part because we'd had a freaking CVS already. I asked my midwife about what it would tell and turned out any positives would need to be confirmed by the anatomy ultrasound which we were having anyway, so there was no real point to getting it. Oy, so much agita.

And I had regular u/s throughout the last tri (our Bradley instructor was horrified by this!) because of my asthma meds. But it was very nice seeing her in there all cozy.

Good to hear that LisaPunk!

I was told at my last appointment that because of my high risk AFP test (the u/s confirmed no neural tube defects or other problems) that I would be doing weekly non stress tests and growth tests after 32 or 34 weeks to check for any placental problems. I was also told that they do not want me going past my due date even if tests show normal growth. I was hoping not to have to be induced but I'm not going to worry about that right now.

Did you ask what the risk is of going past your due date? If ultrasounds and non-stress tests show no issues, why would the high risk AFP test be any issue at all? Are they just a practice that induces on due dates (in which case, run)? This seems like a good thing to clarify now so you don't wind up stressed out about it around your due date.

I did ask if I would still need to be induced even if growth tests are normal and the doctor said yes because placental problems are increase after 40 weeks and they didn't want the extra risk given my high AFP test. My due date is pretty spot on because I was tracking my period and ovulation. I figured that if all the tests are normal that I would talk with the high risk doctor about not inducing me. On the other hand, if they are doing it because of a risk factor and not just because it's my due date, I don't want to put me and the baby at possible risk.

What risks are associated with the elevated AFP, out of curiosity?

Our Bradley instructor said something that I thought was interesting (I have no idea if it is true and would welcome people's thoughts on it). She said she was generally skeptical of inducing for the health of the baby. In her view, generally (subject to all the usual caveats), if the baby is in any real danger they would be pushing for a c-section, and if they are pushing induction it is because s/he is fine with a very slightly elevated risk, and if that is the case, she's rather have them monitor the baby and see if she could go into labor naturally before there is any danger to the baby and go to a planned c-section if there is a real danger.

http://www.parkhurstexchange.com/obstet ... 2009-12-12

Here's a pretty good site since I can't explain it very well. Right now I have a "high AFP for unexplained reasons" meaning they couldn't find any developmental problems with the baby so they are going with the risk that later in my pregnancy there may be fetal growth problems or placental problems. This combined with the risk that a placenta may become less effective at delivering oxygen or nutrients after 40+ weeks means that they don't want me going much past my due date. I asked the doctor if this meant induction or a planned c-section and she said induction. My doctor got this plan from the high risk doctor I saw for my 20 week ultrasound, so I can always make an appointment with him for more explanation.

Are there kind babies yet?

Week 5 and here's the nausea. We flew to California yesterday to visit my in-laws, and we don't want to tell them I'm pregnant because it's so early, but I had to come lay down in my husband's grandmother's guest room because I am barfy and exhausted. Good to know the hormones are doing their thing and I'm still pregnant, but I really don't want to be sick on vacation and especially not on an airplane.

I dont think I've said it yet, but I'm SO thrilled to see you back in this thread, mitten! So happy for you guys!!

Biodancer, from your link it doesn't seem like the normal recommendation is for induction at 40 weeks. Nothing magical happens at 40 weeks on the dot that would make it safe to be pregnant at 39w6d and dangerous to be pregnant at 40w1d. Everybody's placenta might eventually degrade, but again, nothing magical happens at 40 weeks - some start petering out earlier than that and most would last much longer - this is something that is easily monitored over time and isn't a sudden emergency. If you have increased risk, that doesn't mean there's anything actually wrong or anything that's going to be wrong - it makes sense to do plenty of extra monitoring to make sure you know if risk becomes reality, but I would ask more questions about why there would be any need for inducing. There may be a very good reason, but in the vast majority of cases it's best to let your body and baby decide when it's time for birth, so it's worth making sure you have a real medical reason for inducing if you're going to do it. Inductions are supposed to happen when the risk of staying pregnant outweighs the risks of induction and possibly early birth. (And I disagree with Tofulish's Bradley instructor, who was also my Bradley instructor - there are lots of times when there is a clear problem coming and it's worth inducing, but may not be emergent enough to lead to a planned C-section, like pre-eclampsia or very low amniotic fluid - if inducing works, it clearly has fewer risks than C-section and babies are better off being born vaginally for the most part).

Apologies for the unsolicited advice, but induction can be really bad news when it's not warranted, and it's better to make decisions from a place of total information! Inductions significantly increase your risk for C-section (studies have shown between a double and triple risk for first time mothers) and are associated with a host of potential problems for babies. They're also just not good medicine the way they are used in current obstetrics (way too many medically unwarranted inductions and too often too early in pregnancy).