Advice on Amnio's

I never had one myself, but my mother did. When she was 42 she got pregnant with my little brother. The doctor wanted it done so she did it. The amnio went fine, but she found out that he had down syndrome, spinabifida, and trisomy 13. She was glad that she had it done. She was able to prepare for the worse...and the worse did happen. She said she would do it all over if she had the choice.

I had my 3rd child @ 35 the other 2 at 19 and 21 respectively. I was also told to get an amnio becuz I was the dreaded 35. I refused to get it done, I was terrified of losing my baby. there are less invasive tests for life threatening complications. Unless you are planning on aborting this baby if there is something wrong with it, I dont suggest getting the amnio.

I understand what you are going through. I was 37 when I got pregnant with our daughter. Having an amino was something I knew I wanted to do. Fortunately, I have not known anyone to loose a baby because of an amino. It's such a relief knowing your baby is healthy. The way things are today, women are getting pregnant later in life and if there's a test to detect some of these genetic defects I'm all for it.

The amnio itself was not that painful. It felt like menstrual cramps. I don't think you are being a wuss. I will not lie to you the needle was quite large, but it didn't hurt as much as you may think.

I'm turning 40 this year, and we're thinking of having another baby and there is no doubt in my mind that I would not get another amnio.

Best of luck to you. You'll know what is right for you.

Dear C.
i to would thing real heard befor having one done even with ultrasound guiding.i had one done with my second daughter back in 94 and ended up going in to labor 9 week to soon.she was fine alittle small but lived not to mention i hate needles to and that one hurt like a son of a b dose your doctor office have the 3 d ultra sound if so that can tell lyou alot more well good luck hope i helped

C.,

I would decide what you're really afraid of and go with your heart.

If the needle is what is frightening you and otherwise you would not have reservations abouth having the amnio then go for it.

I had amnio when 4 months pregnant with my daughter. Original testing came back with some scary possibilities and my dr recommended the amnio. I don't agree with the posters that limit the reasons for having/not having the amnio. Many are saying that if you have no intention of terminating depending on the results then "don't have it".

I didn't have it to determine whether I would terminate. I had it to prepare myself and the doctors for possible needs upon her birth.

The amnio did indicate some problems and knowing about them helped my dr care for her and myself. Knowing her situation my dr could warn me about symptoms that most women would think were normal but that I had to be very concerned about and get treatment when they occurred. I was able to take more precautions during my pregnancy that I believe saved my daughter's life.

The slight discomfort (some cramping)of the procedure was hugely outweighted by the comfort of knowing I was doing everything I could to produce the best possible outcome for my child.

I have never regretted the decision. I believe that there are no wrong decisions as long as you have all the info and follow your heart.

By the way, no early labor here. She came weeks late and finally had to be taken cesarean...a healthy 8 pounder.

Best of luck and take (of both of you)

I had a amnio when I was 7 months along with my last child. It didn't hurt at all. I was scared though but not so much of the needle. The results was the frighten part of it for me. But in the end she was perfect and they were just taking extra measures to make sure she was okay. I did find out that I had ovarian cysts from my amnio. And I did not go into labor early at all! In fact over a week from my due dates! So I guess what I am saying is you have been through worse than this. lol...like labor or healing after labor from your first child or even when he fell the first time! Just take a deep breathe and let your doc do what he does best! Good luck and remember to breathe....

With my first child, who is now 5, I had to get 3 of them done. I was only 19 when I got pregnant with him and at 32 weeks along the doctors believed my body quit feeding him. They wanted to deliver him early so every week on monday they gave me an amnio to see if his lungs were developed. The idea of this was nerve recking cause I too heard the horror stories but I figured, whatever is best for my baby. The sensation wasn't as painful as I had built it up to be. I got to watch the ultrasound screen the whole time and just kept my eyes on my beautiful baby. I believe that it probably more painful at 32 weeks because of the hardness of the stomach at that time but I could be wrong. All I can say is that if you trust your doctor he wouldn't put you in harm. Good Luck with your decision.

Hi!
(Please keep in mind that I was in labor with my 2nd child from 12 weeks until 33 1/2 wks when I had her)

I had an amnio done 5 days before my 2nd child was born because of being labor and the drugs they were giving me were not working and they wanted to see if her lungs were developed enough--they weren't. I was taking those drugs every hour on the hour.

When they inserted the needle, it hurt because I tensed up. They had to take the needle out before drawing any fluid because Stefani decided to shove her little behind up against the needle. So, they reinserted it on the opposite side. The second time did not hurt that much because I knew what was going to happen and I forced myself to relax.

I did go into labor 5 days later, but they don't think it was because of the amnio. I was dialated to 4 for over 3 months.

I don't regret getting it done. At least me and the drs. were prepared when she did come. Helped in getting her the urgent care she needed right away instead of waiting and trying to find out what was wrong.

I guess my questions to you are will the out come of the amnio change your decision about the baby? Will you want to terminate if there were a problem? If you say no to both then why have the test? You can just play the hand God deals you when the baby is here. Have you had an ultrasound yet? If so, was every thing normal? I had an amnio with my now 3 year old son. The reason was because there was a heart malformation at my 20 week ultrasound. I feel now that it was not necessary because I was having the baby regardless. Heart problems can be corrected these days. He's totally fine now and didn't need any surgery.
If you decide to have the test, it really isn't that bad. I had so many people tell me how horriable they were before hand and that just wasn't the case at all. I had myself so worked up over nothing. You do feel the prick but once it's in you really feel nothing but the ultrasound thing on your tummy. I will tell you that when it goes through the womb it is sort of a wierd feeling, almost lke a pop. But really it isn't bad at all. Just hold still and relax. Take someone with you to talk to while the doctor does the test. I hope this helps you ...take care and good luck. Congrats on the baby!

I had an amnio with my daughter and I'm glad I did. It was such a relief to know that she was healthy (I'm only 22, but some test results came back funky).
I'm not a fan of needles so I just watched the ultrasound screen the whole time, never saw the needle once. Watching my little girl made it a lot less scary, and it really didn't hurt much. All of my tattoo's (and piercings when I used to have those) hurt a lot worse than the amnio did.
Even if you're keeping the baby no matter what, knowing whats wrong with her/him ahead of time could be quite helpful. It would give you time to research and prepare yourself.

Good luck.

Hi C., I'm 30 and have an almost 3 year old and expecting our 2nd in May. My Dr. recommended I get an amnio due to some test results that concerned her. I was concerned about doing the test for many reasons also. When I was discussing it with my Dr. she had told me she herself had it done with her last two babies, it made me feel a little better - but she also said to do what makes me feel comfortable. People have different ways of dealing with things and I could say from my point of view, it helped me deal with the situation better once we got the results. It's a scary feeling knowing something could happen to the baby, but I felt if I was constantly stressing and worrying if something was wrong with the baby that couldn't be good for me or the baby either. I can't tell you whether to go ahead with it or not, but I can say it made me feel better knowing instead of not knowing what the problem was. Good luck with making your decision and whatever your decision is, know it came from your heart and it was the right one for you.

Hi C.,

I have never had an amnio before, but will probably when we are ready for our second since I am already 36. However, I just read last night (how timely!) that the chance of a miscarriage due to an amnio is now somewhere around less than .1%. That's a tenth of a percent. I'm pretty sure I read it on MSN.com, if you want to search for the article. Those seem like pretty good odds, so I think I'll feel more comfortable when I have to have it done. The upside is that an amnio will also give you the gender of the baby,if you'd like to find out. Congratulations, and good luck!!
T.

I had a friend that had it done and the test came back that her daughter had down syndrome so they prepared themselves and come to find out the test was a wrong. If there is anyway your doc can use just ultrasound to see if there might be any complications for you (because they can tell a lot from just ultrasounds) I would use amnio as a last resort and only if it's necessary. It is like my husband said to me when the question was asked do we want amnio, he said "What difference is it going to make it is still going to be our baby." Good luck to you.

I had an Amnio less then a year ago~ I was having twins and they wanted to make sure that Baby A was still doing okay. It hurts really bad, but it was well worth it. I knew that I was okay to keep carring them and not have to deliever ealier then they wanted to come. I had my done around 34 weeks, we did it at the hospital and they do it with an ultrasound to make sure they know where the needle is at all times. Baby B seemed to like it because she kept kicking at it and it did poke her in the foot a few times, but she would just move. I delivered about 3 weeks later and they were both healthy with no problems. If anything it will give you pease of mind, and as you know that is worth a lot. If you trust your doctor I wouldn't see why not. I do recomend that you don't watch them doing it or the ultrasound. It does hurt a lot, like one big contration or cramp, but it's over pretty fast. After they were done I was hooked up for a stress test to watch the babies for about an hour. Once they knew that both babies were fine, they sent us home and I didn't have any other problems. I would do it again if I had too. Good Luck!!

Hi C.,

I totally understand how u feel. My husband's sister was born without an arm on one side and they never knew what went wrong with his Mother's pregnancy. So, when it was time for us to have a baby his Mom wanted me to get any tests there were available to make sure the baby was healthy. I told my concerns to my Doctor and he still didn't think I needed to get an amnio. I was just 25 then though. I had two more children after my first and I was not asked to have an amnio, but I guess it was because I was under 35 and my first was healthy. Anyways, if your not completely comfortable having that done I wouldn't. I am not sure if your religious, but I've always found great comfort in prayer. Follow your heart and your gut feeling. I am sure the baby will be fine without having amnio if you decide not to get it done. I have many cousins that were told to get amnio because of their age and because of miscarriage in the past and they didn't have it done because of the risks and all of their babies turned out healthy and happy. I wish you the best of luck with your decision.

C. ~

I went back and forth with my first child (now 2 1/2) on this issue also. What it came down to for me (and my husband) was realizing that no matter what the amnio results showed, we were not going to terminate the pregnancy. We decided to deal with whatever God handed us. Therefore we did not need the amnio. We also did not opt for the CF screening or any of the other optional tests available. We made the same decision with our second (due in April). It is a very difficult decision to make, but ask yourself first if you plan to terminate the pregnancy based on the results of the amnio. If not, then don't take the chance. If so, then it is probably best to have it done so you don't regret not doing it should there be any complications. This is a very personal and difficult decision. Best of luck to you with your decision.

I have never had amnio's but was high risk during my pregnancies due to my first child being stillborn at 32 weeks and having 2 misscarriages between my 2 children I have now. You say the reason is due to you are 36, is there other reasons? I know if it was me I would have never took the chance and had it. I would have not risked losing another child. But that is me, my philosophy is if there was something wrong with the baby I would have had it anyways. Both my boys have special needs I would not have changed a thing had I known ahead of time. I am with the other ones, I left it in God's hands.

I guess you need to follow your gut and if you deem it necessary then do it. If not you might just want to skip the test.

Hi C.-

When I was pg at 30, my triple test came back very high for both spina bifida and downs. We were sent to a genetic counselor and a maternal fetal medicine specialist for a 3-D ultrasound. It was all very very frightening. Based on the results of the US, it was left up to me to have an amnio, but the dr. did sort of recommend not to do it, and I decided not too. I guess the first question you need to ask is A) what specifically are they/you looking for. If it is something major such as SB or Downs, most cases can be ruled in our out with 3D US. SB is 100% diagnosable with the 3D US and Downs has 12 what they call "soft markers" that can be seen on US - if none are present it is not likely at all to be downs.

Then you need to ask yourself B) What you would do with the results. If there is no way that you would term a pg based on the results, then this begs the question "why do it?". I knew that there was no way that I would not carry the pg to term , so any further results from an amnio would have not changed anything for me. On the other hand, if there is an issue of some "defect" that can only be determined with an amnio, knowing about it prior to the birth might help you plan for the baby's arrival better, if you were to need special care help or so on. I would think about it and weigh the pros and cons.

Either way, since an amnio can lead to a mis-carriage, I would ask your dr. exactly why it is that he wants you to have one. If it is strictly age dependant, I would question that. I would also ask to see a genetic counselor first. If you have no family history of genetic disorders it may not be warranted. Really, you want to be sure he is wanting you to have one for a very good reason. And if the results will not significantly change your plans, I would personally not do it. I did not for this reason as well.

Sorry that was so long! Good luck to you - I know it's not easy.

C.

I am 41 and 22 weeks pregnant with my second child. My daughter is 14 months. I had an amnio with both pregnancies. The test is painful but very quick. The needle is long but it is all over in less than a minute... I was not sore after the amnio in my first pregnancy. My uterus was sore for the following day after the amnio in my second pregnancy. I would not be afraid of the amnio. It is not that bad of a test. I would rather have another amnio than the horrible glucose tolerance test.

Actually the worst part of the amnio is the two week wait for the test results to come back - that is the time that you are very anxious.

But the real question is WHY? what would you do if you got bad results from the amnio. If you and your husband would not terminate the pregnancy no matter what the amnio found. Then do not have the test. If you feel that you would terminate a pregnancy with known problems than it makes sense to have th amnio.

You didnt say how many weeks pregnant you are... but the new nuchal translucency test is very good at picking up problems. Between 11 and 14 weeks they meausure the back of the baby's neck on ultrasound-if the meausurement is within normal limits there is a very good chance that everything is ok... if the neck measurement is too large. That increases the chanced that there is a problem. They also draw some of moms blood at the same time to test for 2 different markers. If the blood work and the neck measurement are OK... that might be enough information for you.

i had the neck measurement and the blood work. 1 of the blood tests were abnormally hight - so I went ahead with the amnio.

Do what is right for you and your family. I do like the fact that I know the amnio results - that my son has 23 pairs of chromosomes.. none were missing and there wer no extras.

It is a bit of reassurance that everything is going to be ok to have the amnio results.

It is the only test that is almost 100% accurate.. But remember no matter what age you are when you have a baby.. 95% of babies are born fine with no birth defects. So the odds are always in your favor that your child will be perfectly normal.

If your uneasy with the procedure don't do it. I have had 2 babies after age 35. My last baby I was 38. My Dr never suggested one. I also have had 2 miscarriages. Go with your gut feeling. Your health and well being is most important.

C.,

Did you doctor say why he wants you to have the amnio? If he needs to have it for some important information can it wait tell later in your pregnacy so that the risk of having a miscarriage is less? I was 38 with my first child and 41 when I had my second child. I chose to NOT have amnio for the same reasons you have. My doctor was able to tell through ultrisounds things she needed to know. I would have kept my child even if things were not perfect so I sided on the safe side. NOW on the flip side, I have know people who have had them and said it wasn't as bad as they thought.

Good luck
R.

36 is BARELY on the radar for abnormalities. You don't see a real jump in the stats until the Momma is closer to 40 (really OVER 40 in most studies) It's a precautionary measure because you're "so old and decrepit" LOL Personally I wouldn't worry about doing it, you are not far enough into risky territory.

If you are that worried about the procedure weigh the pros and cons. What will you gain by doing the amnio? Will you terminate or just prepare for complications? My friend got pregnant at 36 after having her tubes tied. The doctors did a ton of tests to find out she was not sick, just pregnant. Anyway, the doctors advised her to abort because they were sure the baby was affected by the tests they had done and would not survive. Katie now 13 is the sweetest, kindest kid I have ever known, she is a bit slow, but she attends regular school and when I met her I just thought she was quiet and shy. They can run every test known to man and still not garentee a thing. Heck, they can't even get the sex of some babies right until they are born. If you are planning on loving your baby no matter what I say skip the test and pray for the best. Hope that helps. Good Luck and whatever your decision it is the right one for you and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!
M.

Hi C.. I also had some infertility issues, but finally got pregnant with my daughter (Camryn DOB 10-20-2006) after a couple rounds of Clomid. I had the quad tests and maternal serum done early on, but did not want to jepordize my baby's life for the amniocentesis suggested by my OB. What helped me decide at that point was the fact that even if there was a 'problem' I would not terminate my baby's life, so I thought why risk it. Then, I went into preterm labor at 22 weeks and was on bedrest, terbutaline and procardia. I ended up in OB Special Care 3 times, had two surgeries due to kidney problems and high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia). At 35 weeks they said she was getting kicked out and wanted to see what 'condition' she was in to prepare for delivery via amniocentesis. Dr used the ultrasound and poked me in the belly with the biggest needle I have ever seen (one shallow and one deeper to numb and then the really deep poke for the fluid). My husband held my hand...It was worse for him than me. He squeezed my hand. I barely felt it...Really! An IV placement hurts worse. Dr. took the sample to the lab and put a rush on it. About a hour or so later the results came in and she was doing well. Thank God because my water broke a few minutes after the results were in around 8 pm and she was born at 6:52 am. She was 5 pounds 11 1/2 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. She did pretty well considering she was 5 weeks early. She is such a blessing and we have had 'issues' with her health, but I can't imagine life without her. I wouldn't risk your child's life for 'no reason' and at this point (low-risk pregancy) you do make the final decision. GOOD LUCK to you and your family. Take care. A..