Crying and Laughing...

Tuesday I went in for the second blood draw for the integrated screening. Basically this combines the results of a first trimester blood draw, the NT scan, and another blood draw in the second trimester to provide the risks of several genetic defects. It's a screening, not a diagnostic test. It has a much lower false positive rate than just the blood draws separately. I felt this was a good initial step for us to take because at my "advanced maternal age" many go straight for the amnio. The amnio carries a risk of miscarriage (perhaps 1 in 200) which was something I would rather avoid after having lost two babies due to miscarriage.

After the blood draw, the nurse said she would be calling me with the results in 3-5 days. That made me nervous and excited all at once. Originally I was led to believe that I wouldn't get the final results until my big ultrasound and genetic counseling on 5/28. I worried that if I got the results early and they were bad, I would have to another 12 days of torture for my actual appointment and ultrasound. On the other hand, if the results were good I would have a little more peace of mind the next two weeks.

This morning was the third day after the blood draw. I was downstairs listening to the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.

I thought I heard my phone ringing upstairs over the whooshing of the baby's heartbeat. I RAN upstairs. I missed the call but it was just from my dermatologist. As I was listening to the voicemail, the phone rang again. This time it was from the perinatal center. Thank God I got the first call so the phone was in my hot little hands already. That was one phone call I wanted to take live and in person.


I'm crying and laughing and thanking God all at the same time!

The perinatal center had the integrated screening results. The baby is screening negative!



The risk for down's syndrome is 1 in 890.
For my age (37) the standard risk is 1 in 140 so we beat those odds!

For trisomy 18, the risk is 1 in 10,000.

For neural tube defect, the risk is 1 in 3,000.

I know it's not a guarantee but those are all good numbers for my age!!
They consider 1 in 300 a "positive" screen.

Woohoo! Thank God.

Now we'll see how the baby looks at the big anatomy scan on 5/28. I'm praying that there are no soft markers or other problems and we can be reassured that the baby is healthy.