My RE wants me to set one up for 2 weeks from now. My first Beta was 3.98, a negative, basically, but we hung in there and heard a heartbeat yesterday. We obviously still have concerns and I'm worried about this test.

Is there anyone who has had this and can give me some advice or positive thoughts?

Thanks,

Lisa

Lisa~

Like was mentioned before, the CVS test can cause some abnormalities when it is done too early (club hand, club foot being the 2 most common) and when it is done too soon, it can also create a false positive for trisomy moasacisms. (normal chromosomes are in pairs. Trisomy is when a chromosome pair has an extra chromosome attached. Mosaisisms are when some of the pairs have an extra attached but not all of them do. When the test is done too early, the chromosomes are still duplicating themselves and the test comes back looking like a mosaisims, but in reality the pair hasn't completely finished duplicating itself. This is a very, very crude explination of a very complicated problem. The gist is, most people think a CVS test is completely accurate, but that is not always the case.

There are also risks involved with a CVS test, since you are puncturing through the amniotic sac. There is the chance for a m/c on a perfectly healthy fetus.

All that being said, the above issues happen very rarely, especially when the pg is a singleton and the doctor is skilled in CVS testing. CVS tests can and do pick up chromosomal abnormalities much earlier than amnio does, so if you would consider terminating the pg, a CVS test gives you results at 13-15 weeks instead of 18-20, making the termination much easier emotionally and physically (not implying that a termination is EVER easy...)

My best advice to you is to ask your RE why s/he wants to do the CVS test and then ask yourslef what you would do with the information when you had it. If you know there is no way you would terminate, then why do the test? If you think you would terminate, then perhaps the test is a good option for you. If you simply feel you need to know, then learn as much about the procedure, it's risks and benefits and then make your decision from there. There is no right or wrong answer, only what is right for you and your family.

Also, if you feel you wouldn't terminate but you would like to know, you can ask about the first trimester scan and bloodwork. It is a non-invasive screening (meaning it is not 100% accurate) done via in depth u/s that looks for soft markers on the baby that indicate a problem. This test is often coupled with bloodwork from the mom, which will give you a comparision to other women whose b/w results are the same as yours~for example, if it comes back 1 to 8000 that means that one woman in 8000 whose blood sample tested the same as yours had a baby with a problems. What that means is that 7999 women with blood samples the same as yours had no problems.

I hope this information helps. FWIW, I know several women who had low betas, went on to see a h/b and then went on to carry a very healthy pg to term.

Wishing you the best~

Thank you both so much for taking the time and giving me so much information. After everything I've been through with this one cycle, I can't believe it could get more stressful and challenging.

My team of so called professional Doctors range from cavalier, to robotic, to acting like this is some fun science experiment. I had a great perinatal Dr. in the city and put a call into her for her advice, but I don't know if she will call me back.

In any event, thank you both again. My husband's instincts were right. My doctor wants us to do it as soon as possible and my DH wants to do it but wait till the latest possible for just the reasons you mentioned.

I will keep you posted.

Lisa