Anyone had Amniocentesis?

[BuffnBun]

I'm pregnant with DC2 and it looks like an amnio could be on the cards for us. I'm still waiting for 14 week bloods but my initial results (nuchal scan and papA) put me in increased risk group and have been told that the reults are more likely to get worse after next blood test. So best to do my research now- and I couldn't sleep last night.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's been through an amnio test- is it painful/ do you have to rest after etc...

Thanks!

I've had 2. It's done under guided ultrasound. The needle is so fine you won't need any anaesthetic.

The foetus is fully checked over first.

You are swabbed on the belly, they push the needle in through the abdominal muscles and check the foetus is still out of the way. Final push through the uterus which feels like a bit of a sore dull ache. They then suck off about 20ml of fluid and withdraw the needle. Check foetal heartbeat and off you go. Do rest for about 12 hours, as you will feel a bit sore. The 'hole' in the uterus seals pretty much straightaway.

You sghould get sex and Trisomy 13 results within 48 hours as they use a fluorescent marker for that. The full chromosome anaylysis then takes approx 2 weeks to come back.

If you do a search you can find a few threads talking about Amnio and CVS. IMO this is not actually a v MN friendly topic. The main question being if there was an issue would you terminate and if you wouldn't why have the test etc etc and if your NTS odds of DS come back as 1:50 than you have a 98% chance of the baby not being Downs - which sounds far more positive.

Pain is the least of your worries - you can have a local, but lots of women go without - 1 needle or 2? You have to rest for 48 hours afterwards, but can miscarry up to 3 weeks after.

I have been debating with myself about having Amnio. The general guidance being that if text book odds of risk of miscarriage following Amnio are 1:300 and your NTS odds come back higher than that then you shouldn't risk miscarrying a healthy baby. (Mine are 1:1897 but I will be 39 and this is DC3 for me) The odds of complications following Amnio in reality vary from practitioner to practitioner so you should be looking for someone who does it very frequently and has a really good record. The other thing that has put me off is I can't have my Amnio until 16+5 and full results take 3 weeks to come back - although you can get a subset of results back quicker than that. Either way if I were considering terminating then I would have to be induced and go through labour and deliver the baby which I can't imagine doing myself. I still haven't entirely committed to not having it, but I am getting closer I think. I felt my baby move for the first time this week.

HTH but in reality only you can make this decision. My DH is supporting me to do whatever I want, his main concern is that he not be blamed if I miscarried.

Thanks Highlander, it helps to know what happens from someone who's been through it.

And AussieSim, I do appreciate it's a really difficult subject and as you said only the person going through it can make that decission.

I've had 2 amnios as well. it's uncomfortable rather than painful, but you do worry about the risk of m/c. I spose it all depends on what you would do with a result which told you your baby had a trisomy eg Downs/Edwards/Patau syndrome.

I have had an amnio and a CVS. Neither hurt particularly, uncomfortable yes. IMO the biggest challenge is to relax and stay relaxed throughout.

Afterwards you can feel bruised and of course quite anxious as there is a MC risk. You should take it easy for about a week, ie no heavy lifting etc. The antenatal screening counselors are usually very good and very helpful so talk to them.

Hi AussieSim

I am fairly new here and don't understand what you mean by this being not a "v MN friendly topic"

I had an amnio at the Chelsea and Westminster. Uncomfortable, but not painful. We were looking for a very specific and fairly rare genetic disorder. I would have terminated if we'd found it.

I had an amnio 3 weeks ago after being told I had a 1:192 of Downs (after the usual blood tests and because of my age). Midwife explained risk of miscarriage but I had to go ahead with the amnio to find out one way or another as I know I wouldn't have been able to cope not knowing for months until the birth when I could have been prepared. The amnio was uncomfortable though not painful and your baby is monitored through the scan to see where it is so there's no harm done. I just had to rest for the remainder of the day. Slight achy feeling like period pain for a bit but that was it. Got the results the day after (which was mega quick for NHS) to say no Downs or Edwards Syndrome present and two weeks after that I got the all clear from the rest of the chromosone testing. I feel relieved now and would do it again if I had to. It's your choice and how you feel but

Many thanks Bundle, Mummmyrex, Jan and Kaks for posting, it has offered me a lot of reassurance and made it easier to imagine the process. I think that I'm happy to go ahead and I'm comfortable with the responsibility of making difficult decisions that may come with a bad outcome. Thanks for being honest about a tough subject.
BnB X

AussieSim - thanks for your post. You just confirmed to me everything that I had thought of but seeing it in words has just confirmed what will be will be for our babe - without an amnio, NCT scan and bloods.

Thanks

I had an amnio 3 weeks ago, following a 1:199 risk for Downs after a nuchal fold/bloods at 13 weeks.

It took us a while to decide to have it - and it was made worse by the fact the first time I went to the hospital, they couldn't do it as I have an anterior placenta and there was no space to get around it.

When I finally got it done a week later (17 wks), I was very nervous. But the procedure was absolutely fine - no worse than taking blood. I had the amnio at a large hospital, the consultant was very experienced and very reassuring, and the whole thing was over with in minutes. I was achy around the middle for a few hours afterwards, but nothing serious. I rested up for 24+ hours.

We got the all clear for Downs, Pataus and Edwards a few days later and now have all the results back and everything fine.

If something had been amiss, I'm not sure whether I could have had a termination, but I just felt that if there was a problem, I needed to know what we were dealing with.

However, now I know all is well (genetically, at least) I feel very relaxed and am looking forward to meeting DD2 !

Mummyrex - I am a MN lover, don't get me wrong. But it is safe to say that that it is a very baby empathetic site and termination for whatever reason is naturally a very controversial topic.

i had an amnio with dd after testing high rick for downs on the blood tests. i chose to have it done as, at the time, i felt i may terminate if the results were really bad. but, the scan before had was about 10 minutes long, everyone in the room was talking around me and i was just staring at the screen, watching this little baby swirling around inside me. all of a sudden, i knew i'd made a bad decision, didn't care anymore if there were any abnormalities, i wanted her as she was, in that 10 minutes, i'd bonded with her. but by this point it was too late, the needle was going in, i was mortified . everything was ok, results fine but i spent the next 2 weeks afterwards feeling so down and angry with myself that i had put her at risk. i wouldn't do it again, with ds, i didn't even have the blood tests as it just didn't matter.

you must make your own decision though, i know i sound very anti amnio, but hopefully, it will help for you to hear all different points of view.