The Good News and The Bad News

enterdanger

So I had my intake appointment today, finally. Ultrasound is next week. Because I'm "advanced maternal age" I also get some extra blood work at 10 weeks....and THEY ARE GOING TO TELL ME THE SEX OF THE BABY FROM THE BLOODWORK! They will also tell me if stuff isn't right...but the odds are so low....

sorry, I'm really excited because that is less than 3 weeks from now! I'm used to waiting until the week 20 ultrasound.

The bad news is, that I have to have early diabetes testing since my last baby was a 10lber. I tested negative, but they want me to have the hour diabetes test at 12-14 weeks and then the long *kitten* one at 24 weeks. I've never had a high glucose reading pregnant or otherwise. Whatever it takes to make sure baby is healthy...

I'm still kinda betting next week that we see more than 1 sea monkey in there...

randomtai

I had that test too... called the Harmony test. That's how I found out I am having a girl

enterdanger

Yeah, they didn't have that with my last one. Apparently it's a cell free DNA test. I played doctor on the internet yesterday and there are 4 companies that do it (Harmony is one). By 9 weeks they can filter baby's DNA out of mom's blood and test for all the trisomy mutations that are bad and the sex. It's supposed to be 99% effective. It actually eased my mind quite a bit. Since I'll be 38 when this one comes I was worried they'd want me to do CVS or amnio.

randomtai

Yes, I understand I was worried but so glad they had this test. I'll be 37 when my LO is born.

aSearch4Me

I had this test done at 10-weeks as well (I'm 33, which is technically under the
"AMA" threshold, but have family history of some genetic issues). My doctor's office goes through Sequenom (sp?). This is how I also found out I was having a girl, but we were more relieved for the no common trisomies or sex-linked genetic disorders.

enterdanger

It is much more reassuring than waiting for the nuchal fold ultrasound at 14 weeks. I need to know now if something is wrong. Maternity care sure has come a long way in the the 6 years since my first baby.

LisaTcan

They offered me this test even though I am only 29, I declined as it was very expensive and I am low risk anyway.

Lourdesong

I got the Panorama screen test. I turned it down initially because I didn't know if my insurance would cover it.
OB later recommended I do it since I had missed the window for the NF screen (due to an insurance snag) and because I'll be 37 when I deliver.

I'm so glad I got it done whether insurance pays or not (they will though). My a priori risk ratios were far scarier numbers before the test than after it. For example one risk ratio went from 1:180 before the test to <1:10,000 after. All the risk ratios after the test were at least <1:10,000. The test results were such a relief. I know it's just a screen and not a guarantee but it really did lift a good deal of weight of worry.

And of course feeling confident about the sex of our baby (a girl!) also took a load off, so shopping is a lot less stressful too.

enterdanger

If you are over 35 it's automatically covered by insurance is what I was told. I'm happy everything turned out well for you @lourdesong. And congrats on a girl. I have 2 boys already and every one keeps asking if I want a girl. I'm OK either way. Just want a healthy baby.