I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with our first child. We've definitely had some ups and downs from finding out at my very first appointment that I started with twins but one of them had already died to having issues with my thyroid and glucose levels. Right now I feel great though!

I had my major ultrasound last week and we found out we are having a girl. Everyone is really excited as this is the first grandchild for my mom, dad, and step-mom. At the ultrasound there was a slight concern about an increased risk for Downs syndrome based on the measurement of a leg bone but it was right on the edge and my blood work came back with a fairly normal level of risk.

The doctor did recommend we go in for genetic counseling though so we have an appointment for that tomorrow. I'm sure everything is fine and that this is really a 'just in case' kind of thing but I was wondering if anyone has ever done this and what it is like? I think my risks are pretty low so I'm not worrying myself at this point but would just like some input.

I went to Genetic couseling are they doing a level 2 ultrasound? Basically what they did at my appointment was talk about myself and my family and any health risks and also about my exs family history. Then they tell you how likely it is to have a certain thing based on your and your childs dads genetics and then they did a level 2 ultrasound where they check every single thing you will get to see the babys organs and everything I am from indiana too I am sure you are going to the same place I went the doctors are REALLY NICE. Good luck and keep us posted.

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Mom of one kangaroo!

At my ultrasound last week, it seemed like they measured every little thing. I got to see her kidneys and heart, her spine, they measured different bones. I'm not sure if they actually called it a level 2 ultrasound or not.

I love my doctor and so far everyone at the women's hospital has been great when I've gone in there so I'm hoping it will be all good. From what my doctor said yesterday it doesn't sound like my risks are out of the normal ranges but it can't hurt to talk about it some more.

Hubby and I had genetic testing when we were going through infertility treatments. They didn't find anything. It was a simple blood test.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Well, we had our appointment today. My chart is so messed up that it was useless though!

When I went in for my very first appointment at 10 weeks, we discovered I was carrying twins but one didn't have a heartbeat. So they put it down as vanishing twin syndrome. Apparently when whoever wrote up the order for the blood work wrote it they still put on there that I was having twins even though that was about 5 weeks after knowing that one didn't make it. I'm sure the person also wrote down that one fetus was deceased but the lab tech didn't pay any attention to that and ran the test as if I were having twins which may have screwed up the results. Somehow that paperwork also had a totally wrong due date on it (about a week after my actual due date) and that could have messed up the results too.

So we went into the appointment today and the counselor mentioned twins and my husband and I were like 'no, we started with twins but one of them died before we even knew about it' and she was all confused and flustered because the blood test had been run for twins. It doesn't sound like they need more blood from me though which is really good. I think they can just recalculate the results with the correct information and see if it comes out differently. I'm thinking if these results come back within the normal ranges or close to them then we won't bother going in for another appointment.

I'm not quite sure how she thought we were still having twins though when all of the other paperwork in my file should just be on the one baby. I mean, they only measured one at my ultrasound last week and the doctor at that point said he was going to have the paperwork all reflect that there is only one baby to avoid exactly this confusion!!

So we should find out tomorrow if my risks for genetic stuff are any higher or if they are still within a pretty normal range with the new numbers.

We had all kinds of genetic counseling/tests done. In truth, if I were to get pregnant again, even now at my older age, I wouldn't do it. To me, the ultrasound was better. I think you need to be prepared to deal with a child w/special needs, but the ultrasound usually covers that. And we had already made up our minds that we wouldn't do anything unless there was conclusive evidence that living would make our baby suffer. The tests were all based on probabilities, and just were useless and expensive, IMO.

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