AFP Triple Marker Stress

[Elilly]

I don't even know why I agree to have this test done. It's not like I would change my mind on whether or not to continue with this pregnancy or not. But, I had my blood drawn on Friday and was up all night worrying about if our #2 (EDD 9/17/04) has Down's or Spina bifida. DD is completely fine. Why am I such a worry wort? I am literally making myself sick! I even called the lab and asked them what kind of turn around time that they have with these tests. DH thinks that I am absolutely insane. I worry b/c I had a couple of diet cokes and was on the atkins diet for 3 days when I found out I was pg (I found out before I even missed my period). Does anyone else let these things stress them out like me?

[Torey]

I think those tests are designed to cause unnecessary worry. I didn't have any tests done (except for Ultrasounds and glucose) b/c I don't even trust the results. I knew a woman who had the AFP test done and it came back saying her DS had Spina bifida. So for the next few days this woman was absolutely sick with worry. Then they did an ultrasound and it turned out that he didn't have spina bifida. And sure enough when he was born he was a perfectly healthy little boy. So I think the tests are a complete waste of energy IMHO. They can determine if your baby has Downs or SB through an ultrasound anyway, so what is the point of the other tests? Course I'm very pro-life so regardless of the results of any tests I would keep my child. :)

[amp]

Precisely why we chose not to have any of these tests done. I am too much of a worry wort and those tests have a way of coming up as false positives. So we skipped it and will skip it with the next one too. Hope it all turns out fine and you can breath a sigh of relief soon!

[JenCA]

We chose to have the AFP, and I'm glad we did. My OB told me NOT to worry unless I got a phone call after having the test done--and that a phone call would come within days of having my blood drawn if something was wrong. I was still worried, and it took four weeks for me to get my results because the results were sent to the wrong clinic (!), but my results came back fine. It gave me piece of mind for the remainder of my pregnancy. I'd also like to say that our intent was NEVER to abort the pregnancy if the testing (and further ultrasounds/amnio) showed there was something wrong with our daughter. We just wanted to be able to educate and prepare ourselves for having a special needs child, if that's what we were going to have. Anyway...try not to worry too much (I know, easier said than done!). I'm sure everything's going to be fine. :)

[MinnieMouse]

The Triple Screen (AFP is only one of the three) has a FALSE POSITIVE rate of like 90+%. In other words over 90% of the moms that are told there is something wrong w/ their babies....are being worried needlessly. I'm sorry ...with a false positive rate of those proportions...I don't even know how this became a routine test.

This test depends on so many different factors to be accurate. Your age and weight....as well as a VERY small window of time during your pregnancy... so if your EDD is off...even by a little bit...all the test results are screwy.

All these moms that get false positives then undergo further testing u/s, amnios etc as well as enormous amounts of stress. It's just not worth it IMHO.

I know this is easy for me to say...but I would just forget that you even TOOK the test because the results are generally just that wrong.

HTH
Christine

[papal]

I think everyone worries about the result of this test. That is one of the downsides of this test according to my OB. The 2-3 day wait is excruciating for a hormonal pregnant woman. It was a tough decision for us to even take the test because we wanted to keep the baby no matter what. Lots of tears just to decide to take the test. And when we did, lots of tears waiting for the result.
But if i had to do it over, I would definitely take the test again. If it were to come out positive, we would have a chance to prepare and perhaps line up specialists to take care of the baby once it was born.
Just take a deep breath and try and worry less... what you are feeling is completely normal. And I am sure the Coke and Atkins does not affect your pregnancy in any way! So don't stress about that!!!!

[Torey]

Well, from what my OB told me, you can usually tell if a baby has SB or Down's just from an ultrasound. So I think the parents would have time to prepare based on that test rendering all others unnecessary. Just my 2 cents.

[papal]

The Level II ultrasound that I got (and the only one that i got) was at 20 weeks whereas the AFP was around 13-14 weeks... so the AFP came before. I guess if you get an US earlier than maybe it can be detected earlier.. i am not sure.

[Torey]

I had my US at 20 weeks as well. Since there is nothing they can do in utero for Down's or SB, I really do think IMHO the primary purpose of the AFP is to encourage people to abort their imperfect babies. Since the Down's or SB can be detected by the 20 week ultrasound, they can prepare for delivery (usually both conditions require a c-section) and surgery (for spina bifida).

[MinnieMouse]

We had a u/s done at 9wks to help establish EDD (I had irregular AF beforehand) and no other tests done other than glucose and iron for the remainder of our pregnancy. No AFP, no u/s at 20wks and no Group B strep. The AFP was offered, but we refused and the birth center's policies stated no u/s unless medically necessary...and they didn't do Group B strep test in accordance with the "risk based" protocol from the ACOG.

To be honest I was perfectly fine with this. I didn't want unecessary testing. Some tests, while giving some info...were too risky (such as an amnio...which since I am now over 35yo I will refuse with our second child), and others while low risk either had very horrible reliability (AFP and Group B Strep) or weren't medically indicated (u/s).

I believe there is a time and place for medical intervention...but in a healthy pregnancy...most interventions or "preventative tests" aren't necessary IMHO. There was no way my dh or I were going to terminate a pregnancy and there is very little anyone can do while a chid is in utero...so unless I am having indications that the baby isn't healthy....I'll pass on the testing.

JMHO

Christine

[JenCA]

You're not giving those of us who chose to have the test done much credit. I am honestly not trying to be confrontational--you're allowed to feel however you like--but I am a bit stunned by your comment.

[papal]

>>I really do think IMHO the primary purpose of the AFP is to >>encourage people to abort their imperfect babies.

Wow. I guess different people feel differently about this issue. And i don't want to open a can of worms on the abortion issue but i honestly do not think the primary purpose of this test is to 'encourage people to abort their imperfect babies ' as you say. For some people like me, information is power. I would rather be well informed as early as possible about a potential problem and have the right to make whatever choice I want.
I did not want to bring this up because it is in regard to my best friend, but i feel compelled to share.
My best friend (i have known her for the past 16 years) got pregnant a month after I did. It was truly one of the happiest moments of our lives, to know that we would be going through our pregnancies together, and watch our kids grow up together. She took the AFP test, like many of us do. It came back positive and I told her not to worry as this is an imperfect test with many false positives. She had to get an amniocentisis done as a follow up test. That showed that her baby had a chromosomal abnormality. Without going into details about it, I can just say that this was a very unique case and the doctors had not seen anything like it. At best the baby would be born with no motor skills and would not be able to function at all. This was the doctors opinion. There was a slim chance the baby would be normal. There was a great chance it would not survive outside the womb.
I hope I NEVER have to be in my friend's shoes. Can you imagine how difficult the decision was for her to not carry the pregnancy to term? They had wanted this baby so much. We had wanted this baby so much. This baby was loved by so many many people. She did what she thought was best for the baby and her. I would never judge her decision. It was not a callous one. It just hurts me to hear people say stuff like that. Our friendship has not recovered. It is too hard for her to hear about Leela. And my life is Leela now. I am kind of rambling.. but i just had to get that off my chest. The AFP test was a turning point in my best friend's life. I just feel off-hand remarks like that would hurt someone like her so much...a hundred times more than they hurt me.

[JenCA]

Rashmi, I am so very sorry for your friend's loss. That's absolutely heartbreaking. :(

[Torey]

I wasn't intending to be confrontational. I know a woman who discovered her baby had no kidneys (from an ultrasound). Due to her religious beliefs she choose to carry her baby to term. I would imagine that her belief was that if God chose to heal her baby He would (but that it was not her duty to take the child's life even though it would (and did) die shortly after birth). It was a tremendously sad situation, but some people believe (including me) that every life is precious and that miracles do happen every day and until a child is born you never really know if it is perfectly healthy or not. Believe it or not, some people do abort their babies for small birth defects and some people even allow their already born babies (who have previously undetected Down's syndrome) to die after they are born. You may not think this is true, but their are nurses out there who will tell you it happens (this is so reminiscent of the Romans leaving unwanted babies in the woods to die).

[aliceinwonderland]

Rashmi, so sorry for your friend's loss, and your loss of your friendship. I totally agree, these decisions are excruciating and DEEPLY personal.

I choose to have the test done, KNOWING full well the stats. That helped me not to worry a little, but not much. I think I'm reconciled to the fact that worry is par for the course in pregnancy and motherhood...I worry about a million things. SIDS is my present source of craziness...

eri and the bean, due April 19th :)

[Elilly]

Wow. I did not realize this subject would be such a confrontational one -sorry! As I said in the orig. post, my taking the test has no bearing on my decision to continue with the pregnancy. The only reason I have it done is b/c they can do in-utero surgery for some types of spina bifida to correct the problem before birth. Also, a c-section is prefered if there is SB.
DH kept me very busy working in the yard yesterday and has decided that we need to run a ton of errands today so I haven't been thinking about it much. We should know something by Tuesday so hopefully I'll be sleeping again soon!

[vikivoly]

Erica,
Don't worry. :) Easy to say I know! I chose to have the test done with DD#1 for the same reasons as you. I went into it thinking I know I'm going to have a positive result, but if it comes back normal - won't that be reassuring. I read that the incidence for false-positives increased with age, weight and women with glucose problems - all of which describe me! It turned out that my test came back normal and it was such a relief - because I was so sure it would be positive.

I'm now expecting #2 and plan to take it again. If you don't mind, please let us know when you get your results.