So I went to the perinatal doc again today - to be honest with you, I have no idea why we're even seeing this doc. Our regular doc asked if we wanted a more thorough downs screening, and Chris wanted that, so we went ahead with the perinatal doc. So we go in for that and everything comes back normal – it’s got like a 90% accuracy rate or something. Shortly after that visit they call me and leave a message about something serious I need to call back right away. It scared the crap out of me – turned out it was an arrhythmia that apparently usually goes away in like 95% of all babies. Our issue is long gone now. So the next visit they again scare us because they found a downs “marker” – a light color in a heart chamber. It’s no issue but sometimes can indicate downs, so they said come back again. So we did that today. First, they’re no longer worried about the issue with her heart. Instead, they presented us with all new terrible news. Now apparently her brain is measuring slightly large. Chris read up on the internet and it is usually caused by fluid and can often be nothing, but sometimes it’s a downs marker. The irritating thing is our tests came back negative (both of them – the reg doc did a blood test as well). And she has no other markers…enlarged neck or facial disfigurements, etc. I am tired of being scared out of my mind and to be honest I’m sick of going back to this doctor. Most women don’t even have this many ultrasounds and get scared out of their minds every single month, so why am I going through all of this? Now we have to go back for “continued monitoring” and I have to have 3 blood tests done between now and then. I just want all of this to be over. I have a strong feeling that my baby is healthy and I’m going through this misery for no reason.
They shouldn’t be allowed to do this to women who’ve already suffered through miscarriage. It’s just cruel. He even recommended an amnio so we can be 100% sure about the downs and I flat out refuse. 1% risk of miscarriage is too high for me and I don’t like the idea of them sticking a needle in my baby. The thought of hurting the baby is just too much for me. And honestly, there’s zero chance that I’d terminate the pregnancy anyway, so what is the point of putting her and me through that? The only positive thing in all of this is something my husband read online that said if there is fluid in her brain and the neonatal specialists are brought in early, they can operate right away when she’s born and she’ll have a good chance of being just fine. Whereas if we just stick our heads in the sand and the docs don’t get involved, we could lose her. That’s about the only thing that makes sense to me with regards to spending the next three months terrified and miserable. I guess it’s too much to ask to have a nice, normal pregnancy, huh? What do you guys think? Have you ever heard of this? Do you think doctors sometimes go over the top?