Who has had a CVS?

[Hobbermittens]

I wanted to get a CVS because I am 39, but there is nowhere in my state that does it except someone 7 hours away!! I will be getting a 12 week scan, but I think I would like to have something more concrete saying if there is anything wrong with the baby.

How many of you have had this procedure? I am still a little nervous about the risks of m/c.

[HopeandDreamG]

Hobber- I did. But I'm in ny. It was done bc my 12 week scan results were not good. Baby's neck measurement was fine but my chance of downs was 1 in 9 by the blood test. Had the cvs- doc inserted a needle right into my abdomen while guided by ultrasound. She actually had to insert twice bc she wasn't at a good spot. Thats the only time it hurt. I was told chance of miscarriage was super slim. I was devastated to learn though that the baby did have down syndrome. I decided not to continue with the pregnancy. This was Devastating. I never admitted this even here bc of fear of judgement. I have no regrets but continued heartache. Let me know any questions you have.

[Kitten]

I have also had a CVS but I am in Canada. It was done as a result of my 12 week NT measurement which was quite high. We were given 50/50 odds of our baby having a chromosomal issue and they thought T21 (downs). In my experience, the CVS test itself was like a pap. They inserted the catheter vaginally, guided by u/s . through my cervix in order to get the sample from the placenta. I spotted brown the next day, but I had been spotting off and on through out that pg so I'm not sure if it was due to the CVS or not. The chance of miscarriage I was quoted was 1% but if you have an experienced doctor doing the procedure the rate goes down even more.

Unfortunately our baby had T18 which is incompatible with life and we chose to interrupt the pg. Like HopeandDreamG, I have no regrets, but heartache.

[tinksmagic]

Hobber- I did. But I'm in ny. It was done bc my 12 week scan results were not good. Baby's neck measurement was fine but my chance of downs was 1 in 9 by the blood test. Had the cvs- doc inserted a needle right into my abdomen while guided by ultrasound. She actually had to insert twice bc she wasn't at a good spot. Thats the only time it hurt. I was told chance of miscarriage was super slim. I was devastated to learn though that the baby did have down syndrome. I decided not to continue with the pregnancy. This was Devastating. I never admitted this even here bc of fear of judgement. I have no regrets but continued heartache. Let me know any questions you have.

I've never had to have one of these done; instead we took our chances with a 5 panel probe. Either way it's been the hardest thing to accept when it comes to taking chances. My last pregnancy termed at 9 weeks and I m/c at 12. I'll never know why the baby died as we could only rule out 3 possible defects. Clearly there was something that wasn't tested. We're in the middle of that again. I only did a 5 panel probe again and of course we took the 2 that came back normal (based on only checking 3 chromosomes). Now it appears neither sac is developing into a baby and that was the risk I had to take. I have to fully accept the fact that there may be a chromosome abnormality with both. I don't like it, but I can fully understand your decision. I'm tired of people telling me that the doctors were wrong for other women who went on to have healthy babies... I want MY babies to be healthy!!!!

I wish you the best in your attempt :) I'm also sick of hearing "well, you ARE 40" plenty of women have healthy babies at 40!!!

Hobbermittens, good luck, I hope everything goes well for you :)

[Princess of Pink]

I will be having one when I get pregnant!

[atomic sagebrush]

I didn't (would have had to drive to Seattle and stayed overnight) but my doctor is pretty down on them. He says you can see virtually everything that CVS and aminio via ultrasound and that all severe defects are pretty evident even as early as 12 weeks - you can see brain, heart, kidneys, stomach, and that DS is often obvious even at 12 weeks by shape and size of bones. He said that his big fear is people losing a perfectly healthy baby and that it does happen (esp. with CVS) He thinks CVS is better for people who have known devatstating genetic factors like TaySachs and Cystic Fibrosis that will not be obvious via ultrasound.

But just to let you know I would personally choose keep a DS baby anyway (no judgement implied at all, it's just what I would do) so it is more irrelevant to me than it would be for other people in the same boat.

(((hugs H and D, kitten, and tink))))

[Flava]

I did not have a cvs but i had a amnio test with DD3.
(I thought they do the cvs test through the cervix and the amnio through the tummy?)
Anyway you can choose to have the amnio at 12 weeks and they do that most everywhere.

Hope and Kitten -big hugs to you I would do the same thing.

[Foxy]

My last CVS was done by Dr Darryl Maxwell in London. He told me that these days a transabdominal CVS is as safe as an amniocentesis. The mc rate is about 0.5 -1% depending on how much experience the doctor has. The NT test didn't catch our daughters trisomy and that is why we chose to do a cvs with our subsequent pregnancies.

Hope and Kitten - Big hugs. I've been there myself.

[Kitten]

Thanks for the hugs.

tinks - lots of :hug2: I'm so sorry - sometimes people just don't know what to say, rather than just listen and a simple hug or an I'm sorry, they open their mouth to offer what they feel is helpful, but the wrong thing comes out. I'm tired of hearing "Everything happens for a reason." so I can completely understand.

Flava - depending on where the placenta is located determines whether they go vaginally through the cervix or through the abdomen.

HopesandDreamG - since they originally thought Downs (T21) we were working on that during our discussions that night. We had decided to do the same thing as you. There are just so many other medical issues that go along with Downs. It's not the high functioning people with Downs which is only 1% but the opposite end of the spectrum. The T18 diagnosis came as a surprise to us.

Foxy - I'm so sorry that you had a missed diagnosis. That must have been horrible.

[Hobbermittens]

Thanks for sharing you stories, everyone. I am so sorry H&D, Kitten, Tinks and Foxy--that sounds devastating. Because of my age, I worry about my baby's health. :( I still haven't decided if I will drive 7 hrs for the CVS. I need to decide soon.

[Kitten]

Hobber - can you make your decision after your 12 week NT scan/blood work?

[Hobbermittens]

Hobber - can you make your decision after your 12 week NT scan/blood work?

I am not sure? I think the CVS has to be done between 9-12 weeks, so it might be too late then? :( I could get an amnio, but that is so late in pregnancy.

[Kitten]

In Canada they do them between 11-13.5 weeks and in some parts of the US as well. What a lot of other women I "know" have done is scheduled their CVS for 12.5 weeks and then had their NT scan at 12 weeks. Then if everything screens ok, then they cancel their CVS appt. Have you spoken to your health care provider (Ob/Midwife) about it?

I understand what you mean about the amino...

[atomic sagebrush]

CVS can be done as late as 12 weeks so you do have some leeway to do an ultrasound first to see if anything is glaringly wrong.

[Foxy]

I would do the NT and see how things go. You can usually do them up to 14 weeks. I was 12.5 when I had my last one done.

[Hobbermittens]

Thanks Foxy, Atomic and Kitten...I will call the Dr. who does them. He is out of the office until Monday. I would prefer to go that route, and see if the scan shows anything abnormal. They do blood work then, too, but that triple screen will undoubtedly come back "positive" due to y age--it has been positive for my last two pregnancies, and both kids are fine.

Foxy, WHat was the test that didn't pick up your baby's trisomy?

[atomic sagebrush]

My doctor told me at one point that if you're in your late 30's you will ALWAYS get a positive test result because the maternal age is the biggest factor they take into consideration. It has more weight than the blood tests so you can have normal blood tests, normal measurments, and test positive anyway.

[Kitten]

Hobber - just wondering what your OB said.

[Hobbermittens]

Hi Kitten-- I made an appt for the CVS, and if my 12 wk scan shows any abnormalities, then I will get the CVS done. If everything is fine, I won't. I am pretty nervous about the whole thing, and the only Dr. who does the CVS is 7 hrs away, so if we have to go there, it is going to be a huge pain! I am also scheduled to work that evening, and I haven't told my boss I am pg yet, and I don't want to tell him until I know everything is okay. SO I have to find a way to get out of work without telling him why. :sigh:

[Kitten]

Are you able to book the day off as a vacation day? Or can you switch your days up now just in case?

[Hobbermittens]

Not really. I work only 2 or 3 hours a night, a couple days a week, at a movie theater. I work with mainly high school kids, and none of them are very interested in taking on an extra shift. I could try to switch, but then if no one will, I am stuck telling my boss. Ugh. Hopefully it will all work out.

[Kitten]

Hoping it will all work out and you won't even have to tell you boss as you won't need the CVS!

[Hobbermittens]

I got someone to cover my shift that day, so I won't have to worry about telling my boss anything if I do go for the test. That's a weight off my shoulders!

[Kitten]

That's awesome Hobber!