AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

Well, I had my appointment this morning with the genetic counselor and she
went over the results of my AFP screening test with me. The numbers showed
that according to the levels in my blood, I have double the chance of
someone my age (39) having a Down's syndrome child.
At this point I can't get all that worried about the whole thing. I've
learned so much from similar threads in this group that I feel good about my
decision to decline the amniocentesis. Even if my child were to have issues
of this type, I don't care to know until he or she is born. I suppose I
would want to know if there was a chance that the baby would have a physical
ailment that would cause constant suffering, but I don't see any options for
that either. I am at 21 1/2 weeks, I can't fathom a termination at this
point.
The level 2 ultrasound looked very good according to the Dr. today, and I
feel good about this whole thing.
This is largely due to reading about these issues with the real people who
talk about them in this group, and I am so grateful for all of you who share
in here!
Here's hoping for the best! Thanks for reading,
Alexis
EDD 4/21/04 Beanie #1

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

:: Well, I had my appointment this morning with the genetic counselor and
she
:: went over the results of my AFP screening test with me. The numbers
showed
:: that according to the levels in my blood, I have double the chance of
:: someone my age (39) having a Down's syndrome child.
:: At this point I can't get all that worried about the whole thing. I've
:: learned so much from similar threads in this group that I feel good about
my
:: decision to decline the amniocentesis. Even if my child were to have
issues
:: of this type, I don't care to know until he or she is born. I suppose I
:: would want to know if there was a chance that the baby would have a
physical
:: ailment that would cause constant suffering, but I don't see any options
for
:: that either. I am at 21 1/2 weeks, I can't fathom a termination at this
:: point.
:: The level 2 ultrasound looked very good according to the Dr. today, and
I
:: feel good about this whole thing.
:: This is largely due to reading about these issues with the real people
who
:: talk about them in this group, and I am so grateful for all of you who
share
:: in here!
:: Here's hoping for the best! Thanks for reading,
:: Alexis
:: EDD 4/21/04 Beanie #1

Hi, Alexis!

I was one of the women who had a positive result on the Tri Screen Test. I
did go on to take the amnio which caused me the worst 2 weeks of the
pregnancy to date.

I applaud your decision and wish for you a wonderful pregnancy!

~Carol Ann

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

I had an 18 week appointment yesterday and declined taking the AFP test.
The test isn't very accurate anyway and my husband and I didn't want
to worry about something that might not be a problem anyway.


:: Well, I had my appointment this morning with the genetic counselor and
she
:: went over the results of my AFP screening test with me. The numbers
showed
:: that according to the levels in my blood, I have double the chance of
:: someone my age (39) having a Down's syndrome child.
:: At this point I can't get all that worried about the whole thing. I've
:: learned so much from similar threads in this group that I feel good about
my
:: decision to decline the amniocentesis. Even if my child were to have
issues
:: of this type, I don't care to know until he or she is born. I suppose I
:: would want to know if there was a chance that the baby would have a
physical
:: ailment that would cause constant suffering, but I don't see any options
for
:: that either. I am at 21 1/2 weeks, I can't fathom a termination at this
:: point.
:: The level 2 ultrasound looked very good according to the Dr. today, and
I
:: feel good about this whole thing.
:: This is largely due to reading about these issues with the real people
who
:: talk about them in this group, and I am so grateful for all of you who
share
:: in here!
:: Here's hoping for the best! Thanks for reading,
:: Alexis
:: EDD 4/21/04 Beanie #1

Hi, Alexis!

I was one of the women who had a positive result on the Tri Screen Test. I
did go on to take the amnio which caused me the worst 2 weeks of the
pregnancy to date.

I applaud your decision and wish for you a wonderful pregnancy!

~Carol Ann

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

Angela Schepers wrote:

I had an 18 week appointment yesterday and declined taking the AFP test.
The test isn't very accurate anyway and my husband and I didn't want to
worry about something that might not be a problem anyway.


Not to be too pedantic, and not to contest your
decision (I didn't have the AFP test in any of my three
pregnancies), but the problem is not that the test is
inaccurate. It measures the level of AFP in the mother's
blood with quite reasonable accuracy. It's just that
the maternal serum AFP level isn't a perfect predictor
of Downs Syndrome or neural tube defects. The test is
only designed as a *screening* test. That means it's
reasonably good at identifying a pool of people who are
at higher risk of having a problem so that they can
undergo more definitive (and more expensive or invasive)
procedures to see if there is really a problem. The
cost of having this cheap, non-invasive test is that
while it will show "positive" for most cases where there
are problems, it will also show "positive" for many
cases where there are no problems. This is pretty much
true of all screening tests. It's why we *have*
screening tests. One just has to realize that while
a *negative* on a screening test means something,
a *positive* means very little except that you have
to get more information to know anything.

Best wishes,
Ericka

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 03:12:40 GMT, "Auntie Bubbles"
wrote:

The level 2 ultrasound looked very good according to the Dr. today, and I
feel good about this whole thing.

I am glad that your level 2 was good.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
"Boy" EDD 11 Jan 2004
See Jayan: http://jayan.topcities.com/

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

"Carol Ann" wrote in message
news:5ZSBb.304968$Dw6.1033932@attbi_s02...
Hi, Alexis!

I was one of the women who had a positive result on the Tri Screen Test.
I
did go on to take the amnio which caused me the worst 2 weeks of the
pregnancy to date.

I applaud your decision and wish for you a wonderful pregnancy!

~Carol Ann

Thanks, Carol Ann. My mom is questioning it a little today, basically
saying that we might want to know in advance if we're going to have a down's
syndrome child so we can prepare for it. I steered here away from that line
of thinking, and she's on board with me in this decision.
Alexis

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

The numbers showed
that according to the levels in my blood, I have double the chance of
someone my age (39) having a Down's syndrome child.


I'm glad you didn't get all worried. I am 39 too, and I don't think I am going
to have the AFP, since I think I would feel as you did. On the other hand, I'm
thinking about the amnio.
Honey

AFP and Genetic Counseling
 

:: The numbers showed
:: that according to the levels in my blood, I have double the chance of
:: someone my age (39) having a Down's syndrome child.
::
::
:: I'm glad you didn't get all worried. I am 39 too, and I don't think I am
going
:: to have the AFP, since I think I would feel as you did. On the other
hand, I'm
:: thinking about the amnio.
:: Honey

Honey,

The amnio was not as bad as I had imagined. It was not "painful" and
honestly, it IS nice to know one way or the other how the baby is AND which
sex I'm having. The only problem was the 2 week wait AFTER the test but
ONLY because I was given a positive result on my Tri Screen.

Good luck in your decision.

~Carol Ann