Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Posted by FelAndJon

First off, Happy Birthday!!
Secondly, even though I was going to be 35 when the baby was born, I declined the amnio. In my mind, I was not going to terminate the pregnancy regardless of the results so I did not want to put myself or the baby at risk. I had a lot of complications with my pregnancy early on so DH and I made this decision for US. I am in no way saying this is the right decision for anyone else or trying to sway you either way
Because I was over 35, my chance of having a child with Down Syndrome or a number of other things was elevated but nothing would prevent us from loving and caring for our baby

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I had #2 at 34.5 and #3 at 36.5. I did not get an anmio with either. Dr. discussed options but never pushed Amnio. I would not allow age to be the only factor in your decision. If my early screenings suggested that there may be an issue, then and only then would I consider it. But not based on my age alone.

Happy Birthday!

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

i just wanted to say happy bday!

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I was urged to get an amnio for a few reasons, according to my doc:
-age (35)
-IVF
-twins

I declined after the non-invasive tests came back negative. Had they come back positive then I might have considered it.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I got pregnant when I was 36 and my dr & I discussed the amnio and my dr said it was not necessary.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Yes they recommended it and yes I did one.

Dh and I were 46/37 at the time and with age increases chance of down's, so we just wanted to be prepared and educated if we wound up having a tests that showed a physical/mental issue with our child.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Both DH & I were over 40 when DD was conceived, so we had different considerations surrounding an amnio. One reason we opted to go for it was to know if DC had an issue that would need to be addressed immediately at birth so a specialist could be available at the time of delivery to handle it. One thing I discovered in my research before opting for the amnio was that a baby with neural tube defects like spina bifida should NOT be delivered vaginally b/c it can cause further damage, and should only be delivered via c-section.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

It was just discussed...but I declined to do it...I wanted to do it..my husband didn't...because we couldn't decide...we just didn't do it...

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I didn't chose one of your options because there wasn't one for "NO, doctor didn't think it was necessary."

My OB feels that its not necessary just because you are 35+. She felt if all the preliminary tests came back in normal ranges there was no need for it, but I could have it if I wanted it.

I was 34 with DS and 35 with DD and all my other test results for good (I forget what they were called but there were 2 - one was an AFP and I forget the name of the first one), so I decided to go with my OB's advice and just skip it because there is a risk (even though its small) to miscarry.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I had my DD when I was 38 and my DS when I was 39. I had an amnio with each pregnancy.

There are a lot of tests that can be taken prior to an amnio, that will rule out of a lot of things.

I'm happy to say, I had two very easy pregnancies and two healthy babies

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I was 39 when I got pregnant with DS, 40 when he was born. It took us a very long time to conceive, and two people near and dear to me in my family have had a number of miscarriages. So the idea of a pregnancy ending was just too real for me.

DH and I discussed the amnio--my doctor really pushed it due to my age. My early screening tests were fine. But I declined--we felt eventhough the risk of harm to the fetus is slight, it was still too big of a risk to take. We decided to do the anatomy scans and aFP tests, and if those looked odd, we might have had an amnio right then. But they were fine. We also felt we wanted to have the baby anyway unless there was a very severe birth defect.

We also were referred to a genetic counselor early on--have you seen one? They can help determine if you have a family history that might predispose your baby to certain disorders or defects. It's guesswork, but it might help with your decision. I also spoke to her and did some research on my own on the effectiveness of the amnio and the anatomy scan. The amnio is better at spoting Downs and various other disorders, but the one thing the anatomy scan is actually more accurate at spotting are neural tube defects. Which is important, because as another poster noted, delivering vaginally isn't a good idea if this is the case.

It's a very personal decision, but I wouldn't necessarily think you have to have one just because you are over 35.

Message edited 8/7/2009 9:00:20 PM.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I'm 32 now and will probably be about 35 when we have our 2nd. I'm going to opt not to have it. As long as the #'s are good and everything else is good then I won't do it. My sister was 38 when she had her DD and her #'s were close. She didn't want to get it done so they did a 3d sono and did some more tests. Baby was perfect and she happens to be very smart

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I am 36, all of my tests came back prefect so my dr said I did not have to do the amino if I didn't want to.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

I had my first at 2 days past my 37th bday & it was brought up, but I had told her I'd see how my ultrascreen results were...well they came back w/ flying colors & I decided NOT to have the amnio.

I got pregnant w/ DS at 38 & it was not even brought up, although I may have if my numbers weren't so good on the ultrascreen.

Re: If you were 35 did you have an amnio ONLY because of your age?

Thanks for sharing all of your stories. If it wasn't brought up I would never have asked for one so i'm leaning towards not getting it. I'm like 90% sure I won't be.