Testing Scare!

My doc said she would call last week if lab results were abnormal and she never called so I thought we were in the clear. She waited until Saturday morning to leave me a voicemail saying she needs to discuss my lab results, it's not urgent, but I need to call her Monday. She asked when my ultrasound is scheduled.... Ultrasound is used to confirm birth defects so that doesn't make me feel good :-/ I'm super annoyed about that- isn't it like doc 101 not to torture ur patient all weekend with suspense?!

Abnormal results indicate the possibility (but not existence) of Down syndrome or a neural tube defect such as spina bifida, which can then be confirmed by ultrasound or amniocentesis.

The test picks up about 75% of neural tube defects and 75%-90% of Down syndrome cases (depending on the mother's age), but many women will have a false-positive screening. About 3% to 5% of women who have the screening test will have an abnormal reading, but only a small percentage of those women will actually have a child with a genetic problem.

After a night of anguish and discussion with Hubbs (yes researching all of the worst-case scenarios) I decided to try to get in touch with my doc on Sunday. I was able to get in touch with her and she clarified. She was wishy-washy at first "baby is low risk for down-syndrome... And he isn't super high risk, but he's not low risk for...(SPIT IT OUT LADY!)... a neural tube defect. There's a 1/240 chance of a neural tube defect. They will look extra close at the spine in the ultrasound anatomy scan, but there's still a chance there's something minor that they won't be able to see. Or it could be nothing at all. I'm going to see if I can move up my anatomy scan n do it Monday or Tuesday instead of Friday!

UPDATE:

We were able to move our anatomy scan to Monday afternoon! Baby looks perfectly healthy and is actually 5 days ahead of schedule so his age could have accounted for the higher amount of proteins! Doc says I can fly to Anchorage to see an expert and get a second opinion, but I declined because I'm DONE with this stressful probability game. I know baby is just fine.

*WHEW*!!!! I regret having done the testing! It was stressful for no reason. It doesn't rule anything out or guarantee anything.... Just gives odds which are practically useless. Your baby can be low risk for Down syndrome and then actually have it or be rated as high risk and may not have it at all. Originally I thought the testing would provide some comfort in either knowing everything was okay, or having a heads up to plan if there was a unique challenge we would need to be prepared for. Since it's only probability, no comfort was provided, only stress.  Someone could probably run the odds on if I'll die today, but I don't care to know about it!!! Amniocentesis can be done to confirm results, but there's a risk of miscarriage! No thanks, I'll take my chances. Sometimes I wonder if all this technology is such a good thing, maybe just learning about baby when he arrives is a good idea- just like they used to do! I didn't expect to develop such a strong opinion on the subject, but this screening business certainly isn't for me!

FOLLOW-UP UPDATE:

OH yeah, and I got the bill for the lab work- it cost me $1,100 that was completely unexpected! Salt in the wound- as if I didn't already regret doing the testing enough :-/