First Trimester Sequential Screening

At the end of this first ultrasound visit, they set you up for your next ultrasound / blood test, which is a screening for possible issues. They do this in the first trimester, around 13 weeks I think.

1. Sequential Screening is a way to estimate the chance that a baby will be born with Down syndrome, trisomy 18, or an open neural tube defect such as spina bifida. It combines measurements from two blood tests and a first trimester ultrasound, along with other details about you, to give you a more specific risk.

First off, I want everyone to know that this test is optional. I didn't know this, I thought it was all just part of the pregnancy monitoring. My thoughts on this screening test varied drastically throughout the course of the pregnancy, and you'll see why later. 

I went to this ultrasound by myself on May 2nd, since Matt was at the previous ultrasound, and I didn't expect anything crazy to come out of it. They did realize that my first estimated due date was off by a bit, which I already knew based on my crazy 45 day cycle. So my due date went from October 30th to November 13th. 

Everything else was pretty uneventful, although the tech did mention something about the baby's size, and some number and how it was close to being in the normal range. So I didn't think twice about it. 

This will always be my favorite picture of her, she looks like she's playing guitar <3

About 2 days later, I got a call from the testing center at Riddle Perinatal. They left me a voicemail telling me they wanted to discuss results of a test I had gotten a few days ago. My heart dropped. I remember this day so well because I called that number back so many times, and kept getting their voicemail. I was texting Matt like an insane person. He almost walked to the center downtown to demand that someone call me back.

That was a long 2 hours. Finally, someone did call me back. They told me these words exactly – that I tested positive for Down Syndrome.

I want to go back and emphasize that is test is a SCREENING. It’s not a diagnostic test, and it’s not definite. It’s about 85% effective, and can be altered by many factors. For instance, it can be skewed by having the wrong due date (which they originally did). 

I really wish that woman would have worded this differently, knowing what I know now. I asked her for specifics, and she told me that for a woman of my age, the odds of having a baby with Down Syndrome are about 1/300. Due to different factors, like the ultrasound nuchal translucency that they measure, and my HGC level being very high, that raises my risk to being 1/12. So that's a bit scary. They scheduled me to speak with a genetic counselor two days later, who could give me more information and options.