Well in the midst of all our friends delivering/on the verge of delivering (Di!) it appears that Rockstar has been getting jealous of all the "displaced" attention.
About a month ago I had a "quad screen" (routine blood test which tests for chromosome-based diseases in your baby). Well, the results came back and they were not good. Rob and I were horrified to find that Rockstar tested High-Risk for Down's Syndrome. According to the test, there was a 1 in 22 chance that she had Downs. Not knowing what to do next, we followed the hospital's advice and met with a genetics counselor (big, freaking waste of time by the way) who did nothing more than try to convince me that Rockstar was the ONE in 22 and we'd be bringing home a Down's baby. Oh, and she must have mentioned at least three times that we can choose to "end the pregnancy" if we'd like. (That would be a resounding HELL NO).
After discussing all options, we decided to have a sonogram done where they would measure everything about Rockstar and determine from that if her risk was greater or less based on the results. Everything looked great (praise the Lord) and that's the day we found out we were having a girl (also happy news!). But the hospital, ever the "Bad News Bears" told us that just because she looked healthy, didn't mean she was. And Down's babys pass the "sonogram" test all the time. (So why did we bother?) At this point, the stress was too much. Does she have it? Doesn't she have it? We just needed to know. So we had the amnio test done. (Big, scary needle in the belly). haha, I say "We" but they definitely didn't stick Rob. Although he sat with me and held my hand and tried to say usefull things like "It's only like 5 inches long, you broke your nose and handled it- you can do this". (I told him to skip that 'helpful' phrase when we're in delivery).
Anyway, the amnio test can take up to 14 days for results- which of course it did. But we just got them back and found out that not only is ROCKSTAR HEALTHY, she was never at risk for Downs. Apparently the quad screen has a very high false positive rate (ladies remember that when you get pregnant. It's a stupid test- and it's OPTIONAL.) Aside from being pissed that the hospital scared us so badly, we're increadibly thankful that God's protecting our little girl! - And maybe a little smarter that hospitals are ultimitaley there to make money off of our insurance.
Quad Screen - $120
Genetics Counselor - $380 (for ONE hour)
Amnio - $800
Finding out your baby girl is healthy - PRICELESS
christmas time
13 years ago
9 comments:
Wow! What an ordeal! This is why I took such a long birthing class. The hospital is only in it for the money...and they make A LOT of money when they scare us! The classes have really helped me with OB visits, too. (Did I tell you about almost passing out driving home from one of my doctor's visits because even though the doctor said I had nothing to worry about, the stupid nurse made me think that I was going to have pre-eclampsia?)
Anyway, I am so happy to hear that your little one is healthy. I hope that you are now able to relax a little more and know that He is in control (and it doesn't always matter what the "experts" say!)
I'm so happy to hear that your little one is ok! God really is in control...the problem is that the doctors think they're the ones driving the bus. Praise God that everybody's healthy though!! :)
I am so happy to hear she will be ok. I have heard that those tests most of the time are false positives that is why Chris and I opted not to even find out.
Congrats on the healthy to-be-born. As to the hospital, I agree that they are there to make money, but I will say this, I'd rather have a pessimist who makes me wonder about a bunch of stuff that isn't there, than to have an optimist overlook stuff that could have been prevented.
So happy to hear that your little one is healthy! What a scare!
We decided ahead of time not to have any tests done on our baby...but that decision was more than confirmed when the doctor told us there was a 25% chance of a false positive on the blood test. A 25% chance that I might spend the next 5 months freaking out? No, thank you!
Anyway, glad things turned out well! God is good :-) If yours comes late and ours comes early, maybe we'll see each other in the hospital. Not sure if you heard, but we're having a boy :-)
That's good news!!!! I'm so sorry you got put through tat.
Danielle,
Mel and I are so happy that you guys are doing well. We have been praying for you! I made a present for little rockstar, so email me your address so i can get it in the mail. tell rob hey.
annawillett at cox dot net
Scary story indeed! Looks like that onesie was pretty appropriate after all... even though I didn't intend it that way ;~) I can't wait for Anna's arrival!
I'm sorry that you had to go through that! My husband and I decided to skip the whole thing, we figured if God wanted us to have a Downs baby there was nothing we could change about it anyway. I was happy with that choice...And our son was born healthy, we would have loved him just as much either way! Praise the Lord that your little one is healthy! But praise the Lord even more that you value life so highly and would have given her a good home anyway!!!!!
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