Forum - Conception > 13 weeks - Congratulations you are expecting. Come in, put your feet up and start sharing your wonderful journey with others who are expecting. This thread is called '
I have no experience but I was under the impression that amnio is less invasive for the baby - I will be watching this thread too as I am 36 and may face the same procedure
I decided to have CVS because of my age (36). Has anyone had this procedure done and how was it? What should I expect?
Hi Spritey,
Sorry, have no experience of a CVS cos it is my first baby and I haven't been for a scan yet. You might get more replies in 2nd tri because a lot of women may have gone through one.
I'm 36 as well, but I decided I don't want to do the CVS or amnio - too invasive for my taste. I am doing the blood screening and NT scan and hope the numbers turn out well. I'm not too worried as my sister was my age and had no problems and my mom was 39 with my brother and also no problems.
Thanks for the replies. I just want to be sure that there won't be chromosomal issues and the only way to find out with certainty is CVS. The first trimester screen-nuchal scan is very good but still only 85% accurate and I don't want to be faced with having a bad result, doing an amnio later and then having to terminate in mid-second trimester, it would be devastating emotionally and harder physically. My perinatologist (and he's a top specialist) said that he does not think there's any difference as to invasiveness between CVS and amnio. The only reason to get amnio would be because it used to have a slightly smaller risk of miscarriage. But recent studies apparently show that the there is no statistically significant difference re: miscarriage for the two procedures. For me, it really matters that CVS is between 11-13 weeks but I'd have to wait for amnio.
Me, me, me!! I had a cvs at 13 weeks. It was just like a pap, but it was a little worse. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it was a little painful. There will be an ultrasound technician, a doctor and a nurse (for me there was a second doctor because she was available, more the better I guess) They insert a speculum and then spray some iodine cleaner on your cervix. The tech will have the scanner on your belly watching baby, the doctor will be inbetween your legs and the nurse will be watching over it all. They may need to have you move your legs, your butt or your hips to get the right angle, that's what the nurse is there for, to help you move if needed. The painful part is the speculum, they need to put it in so when they put in the needle it will go directly in at the right angle to the placenta, so they wiggle it around a bit and it's just uncomfortable, not too bad, but not fun! That's the worst. Then they put the needle in and you won't feel a thing. The doctor and the technician will talk a lot to each other, they told me this a head of time to not freak me out. They just need to know where the needle is and where the baby is. With me they had to press on my belly when they took the placenta piece, which was just odd, but not painful at all. Then, boom, it was over. The strangest thing they do, and I've heard they do this everywhere is they will quickly look at what was taken to make sure it was a good sample, and then put it in a big plastic test tube and show it to you. It was three inches from my face, they said, "see that there? that's your placenta". "Uh, ok, weird, thanks" I was thinking. And then they said, "see this, your name on this sticker? it's going on your tube with your placenta". It was to verify that it was mine and had my name on it, so there would be no mix up in the results. After I got it, I appreciated it.
The best thing I can say is to just relax and breathe. If you don't mind paps, then don't worry about this, it's not much more than that, I swear. The first FSH results come in 2 - 3 days, full results in 3 weeks. You will find out the sex with the FSH results, and they check for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 and 18. The 3 week tests go through the rest of the chromosomes, but basically just confirm the FSH results which are 99% accurate anyways.
Hopefully I've babbled on enough, my best to you. I think it's a great thing to do, the risks are very low and was told exactly the same as you for the actual risk numbers. All my best you. Let me know if you want or need anymore information from me!
Me too! I hav a cvs at 13 weeks too, my baby had server downs
I found it more uncomftable then painful, they just cleaned an area on my tummy, stuck in a massieve long needle, got the bits out, showed me in the glass, and I had to stay still for about 10 mins, then I left, went out to lunch and got my results about 2 weeks later.
xxxx
Thanks, AlwaysPraying and Nervouspains! This helps. It is always so good to hear other women's experiences so that I can be ready. Looks like one of you had the transvaginal and the other the trans-belly (whatever it's called scientifically ) procedure, so that's nice to hear about as well.
Just wanted to give an update on my CVS. Had it last thursday. It did not hurt but was uncomfortable, kind of like a pap smear but it took much longer. I think the worst was that I had to keep my bladder full to bursting. Plus, it's scary to see the needle close to the baby... Then I had bleeding for three days, but the doctor said that this was normal. It has now stopped but I was really scared. I don't know if I'd do it again but if I have another child I'll be even older, so who knows. I'll find out the sex and preliminary results tomorrow.
) procedure, so that's nice to hear about as well.
