High Risk OB Question

I have been scheduled for my first high risk appointment on Tuesday. I will be seeing one of Maternal/Fetal Medicine doctors and seeing a genetics counselor. They will be doing the NT scan and blood work also. They said to expect 2 1/2 hours for the appointment. My questions is, what type of information do you need when meeting with the genetics counselor? I am guessing I should bring my hubby as they might ask things he might know. I know pretty much both of our family histories but I guess it would make me feel better if he was there so I don't forget something.

Thanks for any info.

Traci

 

Hi there,

I have been labeled high risk due to a rare skin condition/ birthmark I have. Anywhoo. I have met with Genetics Counsler and have been to several various specialists to try to diagnose my condition and to rule out any possible GOLTZ syndrome.

My advice to you is to create a family tree that stems from you to your brothers and sisters their kids  your parents grandparents aunts and uncles. Write down each person and label if they have medical condition meaning Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease, Mental Retardation, any developmental delays and have this available for your meeting with the genetics counselor. This is what I had to do at my first appoinment to try to rule out or pinpoint any specifics.

Also be positive because genetics is not an exact science and these doctors can make you an emotional wreck as they test for this and that and then you have to wait forever for results that tell absolutely nothing in a absolute manner.

I went to genetics to get a refferal for a CVS to for sure check on Mental Retardation and came out in tears when the genetics doctor told me "Well you don't have to worry about mental retardation however if you have GOLTZ syndrome which I think you do. If  your baby is a boy it won't make it and if it is a girl it might be missing a leg or an arm" I was mortified and just complete emotional wreck. (LONG STORY SHORTEN FOR YOUR SAKE)

Good Luck and if you need to talk PM me


Broom

Hi there. I declined genetic testing because to me it wouldn't matter if something was wrong. But, I wanted to tell you that the nt scan is pretty cool...it will give you a good look at baby. I say bring hubby just to share that extra peek. Good luck.

I guess my OB makes everyone over 35 do the NT scan and blood work at the high risk OB. They send you for a consult so then the high risk OB decides if they want to see you past 16 weeks. My RE and OB both recommend the NT scan at 12 weeks and they repeat at 16 just to see everything really good. So, I look at it that way is that I get REALLY good look at my baby and all the parts!!!

Traci

I was 35 so they wanted me to do the same... I brought Scott as it was the first time we would see the squirt together and that was important to me and was amazing to watch Scott react to seeing his baby in there doing her thing. 

Genitic counsoling wise... it was amazing how much they can tell about things now with a few simple tests but those tests scared me more then  the risks if being 35... so what I did was scheduled the CVS Test for the following week, so incase the NT came out bad I would have confirmation on what we were dealing with one way or another quickly... Not that I would have aborted the baby but I figured the stress of waiting was overall worse on me and the squirt then just knowing what the game would look like. 

Fortunately the NT came back with a 1 in 10000 chance on Downs and the Trisomys... I figured those odds are far less risk then the 1 in 350 chance of miscarrying from the CVS that this particular doc had... so I canceled the CVS. 

It was a hard decesion to make cause by the time I got the results from the NT I had convinced my self that I would at least know if the baby was a boy or girl... if I had the CVS... and I had to wait 6 weeks to find out... but over all I am glad I made the decesion I did... cause all indications at this point... suggest the baby is healthy and all is well....

Its a very personal decession... one that you and your husband should make together... they often push harder at advanced ages... and harder yet if there are issues in your family historys that they can detect... BUT... Ultimately its up to you...

Good Luck!