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skeetied
Mar 10, 2011

Aquamarie posted:

Is the risk I've heard about them really that significant, or am I worrying about nothing?

I think it's more that it doesn't tell you anything particularly useful while introducing some risks (accidental water breaking, infection, etc.).

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sheri
Dec 30, 2002

I declined them since they don't provide any useful info.

cailleask
May 6, 2007





I ended up letting my doctor do just one, at 38 weeks, because I wanted to see if my feeling of having a baby about to drop out of me matched up to the reality of what my cervix was doing.

It did. My doctor said I wouldn't last until the next week's appointment, and drat if he wasn't right.

Go with your gut! I declined at 37 weeks when he first offered.

El_Elegante
Jul 3, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Biscuit Hider

skeetied posted:

I think it's more that it doesn't tell you anything particularly useful while introducing some risks (accidental water breaking, infection, etc.).
Lot of misinformation here.

It is essentially impossible to accidentally break someone's water just by doing a cervical check. You'd have to be careless, Edward scissorhands, or both to do it.

Cervical exams only increase the risk for chorioamnionitis when they're done after your water breaks. To my knowledge there's not a single study demonstrating risk in an outpatient cervical check.

All the same, it is an invasive and uncomfortable exam and its your right as a patient to refuse it.

1up
Jan 4, 2005

5-up
I consented to the medical fingerbang from 37 weeks on. I had GD though, and the checks helped me feel comfortable with the reality of induction by keeping track of my ever increasing bishop score.

sheri
Dec 30, 2002

A friend of mine had her membranes stripped on a cervical check on purpose by the doc after she had told the doc not to do it. Doctor said "you'll thank me later"

She was pissed.

Anyway, since some people can walk around several cm dilated and not go into labor for weeks and some people who are shut tight can go into labor the next day and pretty much any situation in between I never saw the need to have someone elbow deep before I was actually having a baby. :)

notwithoutmyanus
Mar 17, 2009

sheri posted:

A friend of mine had her membranes stripped on a cervical check on purpose by the doc after she had told the doc not to do it. Doctor said "you'll thank me later"

She was pissed.

This is not uncommon, sadly. My wife's midwife kept offering (more like pushing) to have her membranes stripped - even though we delivered on the due date with no membrane stripping. If the midwife had done it without my wife's explicit consent I absolutely would have considered lawyering up and we would have found another doctor/midwife immediately.

El_Elegante is correct - it doesn't mean your water is going to break, but I don't really see a real benefit to doing if you aren't a: past your due date or b: as a result of some kind of risk.

I still see stripping membranes as being completely stupid if it doesn't fit the above scenario because having sex can tend to induce labor by itself. Why would someone move towards inducing labor/intervention if it's not needed?

skeetied
Mar 10, 2011

El_Elegante posted:

Lot of misinformation here.

It is essentially impossible to accidentally break someone's water just by doing a cervical check. You'd have to be careless, Edward scissorhands, or both to do it.

Cervical exams only increase the risk for chorioamnionitis when they're done after your water breaks. To my knowledge there's not a single study demonstrating risk in an outpatient cervical check.

All the same, it is an invasive and uncomfortable exam and its your right as a patient to refuse it.

Huh, that's what my provider told me during my first pregnancy when I asked for one at 38 weeks. I guess perhaps "it's stupid" doesn't work to talk people out of it so she had a different response prepared. There is an ancient study that associated weekly pelvic exams with increased incidence of PROM, so maybe there is a grain of truth in there somewhere.

zonohedron
Aug 14, 2006


zonohedron posted:

So after my blood pressure at my OB's office was 160/100 :gonk: I spent a day in the hospital (where it was never that high again, fortunately) and ended up getting diagnosed with pre-eclampsia; my doctor wants to deliver next week (at 37 weeks 4 days) as a result.

It turns out my blood pressure was that high again at my next appointment on Friday, and the non-stress test didn't go as well as hoped, so an induction was scheduled for that night rather than the Thursday after that (i.e. last Friday, not the day after tomorrow). I asked if pitocin could be delayed until after they'd ruptured my membranes, and even then only started if I wasn't progressing, and my doctor agreed; as it happened, I was actually progressing even before the rupture-of-membranes, and I never needed the pitocin.

Being stuck in bed attached to a blood pressure cuff and on magnesium sulfate was not a lot of fun - the contractions felt a lot worse when I was lying down than when I was standing, and I could compare because I was allowed to walk to the bathroom with help - but I texted "I am going to be stuck in this bed forever" almost exactly an hour before my son was born, so it worked out okay in the end!

kbdragon posted:

The best coaching tip I can give (beyond practice breathing and meditating or whatever method you think you will use or will work for you) is that there will be a contraction or two or several that you think "I'm done, I just can't do this." But you immediately need to think "That was just that one contraction and I'm already past that and look, still no meds let's just get through this." One contraction of thinking it's all too much does not mean you have failed in any way, it just means this stuff hurts and we're only human!

Yeah, I started feeling the urge to push two or three contractions after the contraction that made me say, "I can't do this, I can't stay in bed, I am going to die." (My husband scolded, "no, don't say you're going to die," and for me that was good at refocusing me rather than being unsupportive, because I realized: oh, right, contractions hurt a lot! And then they're over!)

Aquamarie
Jul 22, 2004

do not swim without knowing jeez
Thank you all for the advice and info! The checks aren't painful for me (peeling maternity leggings off for the exam, however...) so I'll keep on keeping on, I guess.

Sockmuppet
Aug 15, 2009

Aquamarie posted:

Thank you all for the advice and info! The checks aren't painful for me (peeling maternity leggings off for the exam, however...) so I'll keep on keeping on, I guess.

A bunch of cervical exams when there is no actual medical reason to do so sounds super weird to me. I too had an uneventful pregnancy, and the first time I had someone check my cervix during the pregnancy, was when the midwife checked how dilated I was when I arrived at the hospital in labour.

If they're not bothering you at all, then no problem, but if it feels at all weird or uncomfortable, you have every right to say "thanks, but no thanks".

Big Bug Hug
Nov 19, 2002
I'm with stupid*
Belated thanks for the induction stories guys. I'm 36 weeks today and had my (now weekly) appointment. They said they will do a sweep if I want to try that first, and if that doesnt work then it'll be into hospital for the other methods. I'm a bit disappointed anything else I have done (gel, ARM) won't be done as an outpatient so I won't get to spend early labor at home. This is thanks again to GD.

Also regarding the current conversation, they haven't done one pelvic exam on me yet. Maybe I'll get lucky next week! :v:

Sweet Gulch
May 8, 2007

That metaphor just went somewhere horrible.
I had low platelets in the last half of my pregnancy. The only reason I wasn't induced the week before my due date was because my platelets, against all odds, stayed stable for the first time rather than plunging even lower. Then they stripped my membranes and I went into early labor pretty much that evening. Completely anecdotal, but it worked for me.

Of course, little dude didn't cooperate and tried to come out face first :arghfist::(, so I ended up with a cesarean anyway.

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug

Chin Strap posted:

No go. Baby is being a butthead (get it? Because butt is where head should be?). Kept turning back immediately, never could get flipped all the way. My wife did great tolerating it all though.

Talking with our midwife tomorrow on how the rest of the schedule will go down for c-section. There is a vanishingly small hope baby still turns naturally.

So today was the day we were scheduled for c section. We went in early in the morning and the OB asked if we'd like to try ECV one last time to try and flip her. There wasn't any downside really. The worst that could happen is that they'd have to do c section which was already what was going to happen.

The do a sonogram and baby is in better position than the last ECV attempt. Then they give her an epidural and muscle relaxant to soften the uterus, and attempted to flip. This time it worked! So we waited 3 hours for the epidural to wear off completely, and are sent home with a vertex position baby.

Downside is she had to do epidural, and not having baby today has thrown our plans off. Upside is no c section and we can give birth at the midwife center we originally planned to.

So excited!

Sockmuppet
Aug 15, 2009

Chin Strap posted:

So excited!

That is fantastic, congratulations! Best wishes for a smooth ride the rest of the way :)

Big Bug Hug
Nov 19, 2002
I'm with stupid*
That's awesome!

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug
So we wound up having to go into c-section anyway. Water broke during very early labor, and water had meconium in it. Labor was not moving into active phase fast enough, so they gave pitocin to move it faster. But after 36 hours the baby's HR just wasn't tolerating it any more, and with meconium risk and long labor with water breakage meant all the risks were colluding to the point where c-section was the only real safe option left at that point. C-section went well, but baby had swallowed a lot of the meconium fluid (but did not have actual meconium aspiration syndrome). She had to go to the NICU for an hour to make sure that everything was suctioned out.

So this has been a wild rollercoaster of a birth but everyone is healthy and happy now. We are still in the hospital for another day or so, but getting into the routine.

Here is Zora, born 3/30, 7 pounds 9 ounces:

Sockmuppet
Aug 15, 2009

Chin Strap posted:

So this has been a wild rollercoaster of a birth but everyone is healthy and happy now.

Here is Zora

That's the most important thing. Congratulations, she's gorgeous! And such a cool name :)

Big Bug Hug
Nov 19, 2002
I'm with stupid*
Dude that's a super cute baby

Pendent
Nov 16, 2011

The bonds of blood transcend all others.
But no blood runs stronger than that of Sanguinius
Grimey Drawer
Does anybody have experience with having a Bicornuate Uterus during pregnancy? My wife and I found out this morning that she has one and while the doctor was fairly reassuring we are both really freaked out.

El_Elegante
Jul 3, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Biscuit Hider
It's pretty rare. Did you have trouble conceiving? How far along is your wife?

Odds are good the pregnancy has implanted normally. The biggest complications to worry about are abnormal labor and malpresentation. She's at significantly higher risk for Cesarean delivery.

What has you worried?

Pendent
Nov 16, 2011

The bonds of blood transcend all others.
But no blood runs stronger than that of Sanguinius
Grimey Drawer

El_Elegante posted:

It's pretty rare. Did you have trouble conceiving? How far along is your wife?

Odds are good the pregnancy has implanted normally. The biggest complications to worry about are abnormal labor and malpresentation. She's at significantly higher risk for Cesarean delivery.

What has you worried?

Definitely no issues conceiving. Almost the opposite, really.

Our biggest concern is that the baby won't develop normally due to a lack of space or because the placenta bound to the septum and so isn't able to get enough nutrients. We're about 12 weeks in and so far everything is going ok, thankfully. At this point to we're trying to get with a specialist for high risk pregnancies who should be able to help us make sure everything does go ok


We've had a few days to get used to the idea at this point and while it's still scary I am feeling much more positive.

Pendent fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Apr 5, 2015

Absolute Evil
Aug 25, 2008

Don't mess with Mister Creazil!
I have a bicornuate uterus and I'm almost 36 weeks in to my 3rd pregnancy. You're more likely to have a breech baby (my first was). Since she wouldn't turn, my OB wanted me to have a C-section, it was then they realized my uterus wasn't the usual shape (when they were actually holding it in their hands). I had no issues with it. My second child was in the normal head-down position, no problems throughout the pregnancy, and I chose to have a repeat section. This pregnancy, same thing...normal pregnancy, in the correct position (though he seemed to like to be transverse until about a month ago), and am having a repeat section. The first two were 7lb 4oz and 7lb 6oz, respectively. The placenta attached in a good place. This one is expected to be a bit bigger, as he's measured ahead by about 2 weeks since week 24 but they didn't see the need for changing the due date.

El_Elegante
Jul 3, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Biscuit Hider

Pendent posted:

Definitely no issues conceiving. Almost the opposite, really.

Our biggest concern is that the baby won't develop normally due to a lack of space or because the placenta bound to the septum and so isn't able to get enough nutrients. We're about 12 weeks in and so far everything is going ok, thankfully. At this point to we're trying to get with a specialist for high risk pregnancies who should be able to help us make sure everything does go ok


We've had a few days to get used to the idea at this point and while it's still scary I am feeling much more positive.

There's some pretty specific terminology for uterine anomalies. If you have a true bicornuate uterus, there's no septum, so that's not going to be an issue.

ladyboy
Feb 8, 2007
I'm interested in hearing folks' thoughts on prenatal screenings and reasons to have them done or not have them done. I'm at 10 weeks and struggling with deciding whether or not to get the first trimester screening.

Sockmuppet
Aug 15, 2009

ladyboy posted:

I'm interested in hearing folks' thoughts on prenatal screenings and reasons to have them done or not have them done. I'm at 10 weeks and struggling with deciding whether or not to get the first trimester screening.

Are you in a high risk group of any kind, or are you just normal pregnant person worried?

eselbaum
Jul 4, 2009

*boop*

ladyboy posted:

I'm interested in hearing folks' thoughts on prenatal screenings and reasons to have them done or not have them done. I'm at 10 weeks and struggling with deciding whether or not to get the first trimester screening.

Ultimately, it's totally up to you.
I work with a woman who even denied having her standard ultrasounds done with her pregnancies, just because she knew she wouldn't terminate the pregnancy no matter what. Definitely not what I would do, but everyone's different.

I have had a very low-risk pregnancy, and I still chose to have whatever screening tests done that were offered to me, just because I'm a bit of a worrier and wanted to be prepared for whatever I could be. I had the early 8-week ultrasound done. I got tested to see if I was a carrier for systic fibrosis, and I got the test to screen for T-18 and -21. I also was tested later on to see if the baby was at risk for any neural tube defects. All of these tests were just done with a blood draw, which poses no risk to the fetus. All turned up negative, thank goodness, but it definitely helped to put my mind at ease a little bit.

ladyboy
Feb 8, 2007

Sockmuppet posted:

Are you in a high risk group of any kind, or are you just normal pregnant person worried?

I'm low risk, so it's just normal worry. I certainly want to know if there are any abnormalities. There are conditions where I would choose to terminate. It's just overwhelming to think about how there is no zero-risk way of being sure.

Maybe I just need to do more research. Does the first trimester screening reveal anything that I can't find out more definitively later on?

El_Elegante
Jul 3, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Biscuit Hider
First trimester screening is just that: screening. It is used for identifying chromosomal abnormalities, some of which only cause disabilities, others which are incompatible with life. If your screening is positive then you are offered further testing, in one of two forms.

The first would be cell-free fetal DNA testing-they draw mom's blood and figure identify the baby's chromosomes from it. This is FDA approved for screening but not diagnosis, although its false positive and false negative rates are much better than any other noninvasive screen.

The second is an invasive sampling procedure: either chorionic villous sampling or amniocentesis. These methods take either tissues from the placenta or from the fluid around the baby to identify baby's chromosomes.

As mentioned above, whether to even get the tests depends entirely on what you would do with the information. If you would terminate a pregnancy based on a serious anomaly, get the test. If not, you're going to deal with a lot of anxiety and worry while continuing the pregnancy for no real benefit.

ladyboy posted:

Does the first trimester screening reveal anything that I can't find out more definitively later on?

Your second trimester anatomy ultrasound will show some markers consistent with fetal chromosomal anomalies, and at least let the newborn pediatricians know what to evaluate for. But in many states that will be too late for you to terminate the pregnancy.

El_Elegante fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Apr 8, 2015

Absolute Evil
Aug 25, 2008

Don't mess with Mister Creazil!
Our baby will be here in exactly 3 weeks....I'm so excited! Back in July, we decided to try to get pregnant. I have an 18 year old daughter and 13 year old son from previous relationships and he has a 14 year old son. I was terrified it wouldn't happen, or at least not anytime soon, due to both my age (I'm 36) and from being on birth control for so long. I'm 36w 1 d and we will be having a scheduled C-section on April 29th. I spend half the time being so anxious for his arrival and the other half wondering what the hell I was thinking, starting completely over.

zonohedron
Aug 14, 2006


El_Elegante posted:

As mentioned above, whether to even get the tests depends entirely on what you would do with the information. If you would terminate a pregnancy based on a serious anomaly, get the test. If not, you're going to deal with a lot of anxiety and worry while continuing the pregnancy for no real benefit.

I knew I would never terminate a pregnancy for any reason, but I still got the screenings that were offered to me with both my pregnancies because if there was something potentially-fixable we would want to know so we could plan for them to be fixed (like spina bifida, or the heart defects that sometimes come with Down syndrome).

pwnyXpress
Mar 28, 2007
So...uh....I checked the first couple pages, and I'm sure somebody has asked in the 200+ pages, but I didn't see anything about having sex during pregnancy. My wife just showed me the double lines, and it will be our first. I've heard that there is nothing to worry about, so maybe I'm just being paranoid, but we've been trying for quite a while now and I was planning to surprise her with an exciting erotic getaway together next weekend, but I don't want to "knock it loose" or something if it is risky early on or anything.

AAAAAaaaaaaaaa

eselbaum
Jul 4, 2009

*boop*

pwnyXpress posted:

So...uh....I checked the first couple pages, and I'm sure somebody has asked in the 200+ pages, but I didn't see anything about having sex during pregnancy. My wife just showed me the double lines, and it will be our first. I've heard that there is nothing to worry about, so maybe I'm just being paranoid, but we've been trying for quite a while now and I was planning to surprise her with an exciting erotic getaway together next weekend, but I don't want to "knock it loose" or something if it is risky early on or anything.

AAAAAaaaaaaaaa

Don't worry! Most people with normal pregnancies can have sex right up until delivery day. You won't knock anything loose, as things are very well-cushioned and protected in there.

Don't be surprised if she doesn't feel up to it, though. Between the nausea and the hormones doing their thing throughout the first trimester, having sex may be the last thing on her mind.

Have fun, and congratulations!

Big Bug Hug
Nov 19, 2002
I'm with stupid*

pwnyXpress posted:

So...uh....I checked the first couple pages, and I'm sure somebody has asked in the 200+ pages, but I didn't see anything about having sex during pregnancy. My wife just showed me the double lines, and it will be our first. I've heard that there is nothing to worry about, so maybe I'm just being paranoid, but we've been trying for quite a while now and I was planning to surprise her with an exciting erotic getaway together next weekend, but I don't want to "knock it loose" or something if it is risky early on or anything.

AAAAAaaaaaaaaa

Congratulations!

There's absolutely no reason not to have sex during early pregnancy, or indeed all of pregnancy barring a few complications. Go for it! Provided of course she's not sick as a dog. Hopefully not!

Amykinz
May 6, 2007

pwnyXpress posted:

So...uh....I checked the first couple pages, and I'm sure somebody has asked in the 200+ pages, but I didn't see anything about having sex during pregnancy. My wife just showed me the double lines, and it will be our first. I've heard that there is nothing to worry about, so maybe I'm just being paranoid, but we've been trying for quite a while now and I was planning to surprise her with an exciting erotic getaway together next weekend, but I don't want to "knock it loose" or something if it is risky early on or anything.

AAAAAaaaaaaaaa

My cervix was very very tender during the whole pregnancy, so any pressure on it at all made me want to punch someone. Also, nipples and the whole vulvar region got much more sensitive, which was AWESOME, but also required particular care at first. Basically what I'm saying is if you generally go for things quickly and with great speed, maybe take some extra time to make sure everything is warmed up and comfortable before moving onto the next level, and start off very gently with any stimulation.

skeetied
Mar 10, 2011

ladyboy posted:

I'm interested in hearing folks' thoughts on prenatal screenings and reasons to have them done or not have them done. I'm at 10 weeks and struggling with deciding whether or not to get the first trimester screening.

We chose to do the first trimester screening (the NT scan and blood work) and declined the second trimester screening (the blood work) due to age (we were both under 30) and a higher false positive rate. Frankly, a part of the reason we did the NT scan was for the extra chance to look at the baby.

Sockmuppet
Aug 15, 2009

eselbaum posted:

Don't be surprised if she doesn't feel up to it, though.

Yeah, this is what you should be worried about. A surprise erotic getaway was the last thing I wanted during the first three months, I basically felt hungover all the time during the first trimester. But the second trimester is when most women feel pretty great - between the hormonal crap of the first trimester and the aches and pains and ungainlyness of the third trimester, you get a few months where you're in good shape and feel gorgeous (if you're lucky - I did, anyway!). If you want to keep the trip a surprise, I'd postpone it a couple of months. If you want to go ahead with it now, definitely check how she's feeling first.

And like everyone else said: Unless your doctor specifically tells you otherwise because of medical issues (like an early labour scare, for instance), sex is completely safe during pregnancy :)

the good fax machine
Feb 26, 2007

by Nyc_Tattoo
Another new pregnancy checking in. We were quite happy without children, even to the point that she had an appointment to get her tubes tied, but when the day came I told her that I thought we were making a rash decision and we needed to think about it some more. In a very short amount of time we went from "no way" on to stopping birth control and on to getting ovulation kits and outright trying. Part of the reason that we were so certain that we would be happy without kids was that we didn't think we would be able to conceive in the first place. She had thyroid cancer when she was much younger, and for reasons that I'm not so good at explaining myself, the chemo that she had been on had an adverse affect on her childbearing. We had a miscarriage really early on in our relationship when we weren't being so careful, and that's when we decided that we were perfectly not having kids anyway, because she didn't want to experience that trauma again. I'm not a doctor, so I couldn't tell you why it's working all of a sudden, but it had to have been her first ovulation cycle when we were trying that we conceived. Which is a good thing, because we are older (I'm 31 and she will be 35 when she gives birth) and if we were going to do it we needed to do it as soon as we could to try to avoid complications. They did classify her as "advanced maternal age" or something in that vein, so we do understand there is a little bit of risk involved. They said she is eligible for an earlier non invasive test due to her age to check for abnormalities and such at 12 weeks, which is about another month as we are at 7-8 weeks. This is where I become a little bit concerned, and please check me if my feelings aren't appropriate. She has said that if the tests revealed anything major, that she would want to terminate. Obviously I agree with that, but she also says if it was something not so major such as Trisomy 21 that she would want to keep it. I'm having a lot of trouble conforming to that sentiment, and I haven't told her. Am I wrong for not particularly wanting to go forward with the pregnancy if the tests revealed Down's or something similar? I understand that time is a luxury that we don't really have anymore, but I feel like we could try again and if it were the same result I might be a little more willing to accept the fact. I just sort of feel like that is the whole reason they do this testing. Please don't get me wrong, if there were no testing available and the baby were born with a condition I wouldn't abandon her or tell her to choose like that Armenian woman in the news recently, but I'm just sort of struggling with the concept of knowing and being able to do something and choosing not to. Thanks for reading and sharing your opinion. :)

Ceridwen
Dec 11, 2004
Of course... If the Jell-O gets moldy, the whole thing should be set aflame.

ladyboy posted:

I'm low risk, so it's just normal worry. I certainly want to know if there are any abnormalities. There are conditions where I would choose to terminate. It's just overwhelming to think about how there is no zero-risk way of being sure.

Maybe I just need to do more research. Does the first trimester screening reveal anything that I can't find out more definitively later on?

It won't turn up anything that's likely to be missed later on but keep in mind you are screening for more than T21. A lot of people get caught up on that, and think "well I wouldn't terminate for T21, so it's not worth doing this test". But the other stuff it screens for (T13, T18, anencephaly) are much more devastating diagnoses and a huge percentage of the people who would not terminate for T21 absolutely would terminate for one of those. For me personally, it was worth having that information early because I would terminate, and the earlier you know, the easier to obtain and safer the termination procedure is.

marauderthirty posted:

This is where I become a little bit concerned, and please check me if my feelings aren't appropriate. She has said that if the tests revealed anything major, that she would want to terminate. Obviously I agree with that, but she also says if it was something not so major such as Trisomy 21 that she would want to keep it. I'm having a lot of trouble conforming to that sentiment, and I haven't told her. Am I wrong for not particularly wanting to go forward with the pregnancy if the tests revealed Down's or something similar? I understand that time is a luxury that we don't really have anymore, but I feel like we could try again and if it were the same result I might be a little more willing to accept the fact. I just sort of feel like that is the whole reason they do this testing.

You not only should but *need* to bring this up with her. But you also need to have an open mind and be willing to discuss it and compromise. If you wait and something comes back bad from the testing she's going to feel very blindsided if you haven't at least mentioned your misgivings to her beforehand. I don't think you are wrong for not wanting to continue to pregnancy if there is T21, but I do think that ultimately it's a decision the two of you will have to make together and if she absolutely isn't willing to terminate for T21 you are going to have to come to terms with that.

One thing to keep in mind with the early testing that screens the fetal DNA from her blood: it's very good compared to previous screening methods, but it's still not foolproof. You should still proceed to amniocentesis if you get a bad result from the blood based screening because false positives are absolutely possible. I think it may be helpful for you to read up a bit more on this type of test before you have a discussion with her so you understand more about how you would want to proceed.

This is a good starting place: http://www.downsyndromeprenataltesting.com/not-exactly-a-great-scientific-achievement-prenatal-testing-in-low-risk-populations/

Note: I think these tests are awesome, and even though I'm only going to be 33 when this baby is born and my insurance is unlikely to cover it, we still opted for this type of testing over the standard first trimester screen. But I'm also a scientist and spend much of my life working with statistics and it bothers me that these tests are being presented as a bit more of a sure thing than they are. They are awesome, but you still need additional followup if a possible chromosomal disorder is indicated before you start making decisions about things like termination.

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Charmmi
Dec 8, 2008

:trophystare:
Tell me about silent reflux? I'm starting to think that's the reason my six week old wakes up gasping for breath and crying and trying to go back to sleep at the same time. I know most babies have some form of reflux and her case is probably pretty minor since she is gaining weight well and has normal pee/poops. She just seems so uncomfortable and it hurts my heart. We just had the worst night since she was born. She spent maybe 2 hours total sleeping flat, the rest of the time she was being held or worn upright. I'm starting to second guess her cues, what if I feed her and it makes her feel worse? If this is something we have to grit our teeth and wait through until her body figures it out, I'd appreciate some encouragement. If there's some trick or maneuver that helped you make your babies more comfortable, I'm willing to try anything at this point.

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