High Risk

Those two words aren't ones that anyone would want to see/hear at their Nuchal Translucency screening, but there you have it. We're at a high risk for abnormalities.

Let me backtrack a little bit.

Jase couldn't come with me for the scan today, as he's beginning a two-week conference, so I asked the next best thing to come with me; mum! :) She was really happy to come along, and I was relieved to have someone drive me there, since I was a nervous wreck. I felt physically sick again as we were on our way there. I wonder if there'll ever be a time when going to see baby on the screen will be filled with pure joy vs. absolute terror?

Our sonographer was wonderful - she was so gentle with me, she explained everything as she went, telling me how great the baby was doing. Baby Jag was fast asleep, lying on it's back, with it's heart pumping away. Knowing how paranoid I was, she measured him for me, and bam! Back on track. 12 weeks exactly. Go baby!

The sonographer spent a good amount of time checking out the little one's organs, lengths, placenta and measurements. He's 5.6cm long and has all arms and legs, which flailed about all over the place later on in the scan. The nuchal fold measurement was normal, at 1.4mm thickness, and there was a nasal bone present. The heart was beating away at a healthy 164bpm, and my mum & I both cried like girls when we got to hear it for the first time.

We even got to see a 4D ultrasound - incredible. The detail is amazing! Baby decided to wake up then, and was doing crazy slides and kicks and headstands, which was hilarious. We left the ultrasound feeling relieved, and giddy with happiness. We have a BABY! Doing well! Happy as a clam. I couldn't wait to tell Jase.

Unfortunately, that's where things went downhill.

The blood results also need to be integrated into the risk factors, and as soon as our sonographer passed the scans/test papers over to the doctor in charge, I felt like I'd been kicked in the tummy. That's when I got nervous.

They explained that based on age alone, my risk for chromosomal abnormalities was 1:773. My ultrasound and age combined was 1:3865. But due to discrepancies in my blood-work  a very very low PAPP-A reading of .18 (when it should be 1.0) my pregnancy is considered high risk, at 1:169. The clinic considers anything higher than 1:300 as high risk, so I'm well in that category. I think I was in shock at this point; we'd just had such an incredible scan, how could this be happening?

She went on to tell me that it's not a guarantee, just a risk assessment - that was a 1% chance of something being wrong, but also a 99% chance of everything being fine. She did mention that babies with low PAPP-A need to be monitored for intra-uterine growth problems, but that doesn't usually happen until the third trimester. After explaining our further screening options, we left the clinic. My poor mum, having to witness me losing the plot.

At the end of the day, we won't be doing any further screening. I'm not risking the chances of miscarriage from CVS/Amnio screening, and let's face it - even if they DID flag up concerns, I would never terminate this pregnancy. This is our miracle baby and this was meant to be - so if we're greeted with a special needs child at birth, we'll be in shock, we'll deal with it, and we'll be the best parents we can be and love the crap out of this baby.

Besides... who couldn't love such an irresistible alien face? :)