Have any of the women here ever had amniocentesis?

[belladonna]

I'm supposed to have it on April 11, what with the being over 35 and higher risk of genetic problems going on, and I'm a teensy bit nervous about it. Kind of excited too, since I'll know with certainty whether I have a boy or girl baking in there and can plan accordingly, but I'm a little freaked about the risks associated and what it'll feel like, having a needle inserted in my uterus :scared:

Share with me, girls..... tell me it ain't so bad, mmmkay?

[reyd reid reed]

1. It's not so bad.

I had one with my youngest and the worst part of the whole thing was having to stay off my feet for the rest of the day.

Drove me batty. I *hate* people telling me I can't do something.

Oh...and when they filled out the paperwork for the test, under 'reason for testing' they wrote, "Advanced maternal age."

I wasn't too crazy about that, either. Hell, I was only 35. 'Advanced', my ass.

:eyes:

Truly, it isn't so bad. A little pressure, but not painful. They use a topical anesthetic, so the discomfort is minimal -- I don't remember any at all. Try not to look at the needle, though. Shouldn't be too hard not to because they'll have the ultrasound machine thingie in there and you'll be busy looking at that.

Good luck!!!

[belladonna]

3. Heh, I just turned 40 on Sunday

But dammit, I don't FEEL old... they really need to stop telling me that or I'm gonna get a complex :cry:

Thanks for replying. It's good to hear from someone who's been there and done that. :hi:

[rbnyc]

4. Mine said Geriatric Pregnancy!

LOL

[wildhorses]

8. ---

:spray::rofl:



just HOW old WERE you??


gawd that is hilarious:P

[rbnyc]

17. 36!

LOL

[belladonna]

19. Jeebus, I wonder what they'd classify me as!!

Deathbed pregnancy???

[murielm99]

18. I had one done with my third and last pregnancy.

I was the advanced age of 35.

It was not painful. There is little reason to worry.

[Left Is Write]

28. I had one advanced maternal age pregnancy also.

I was 35 when the youngest LIW child was born.

[rbnyc]

2. Well, It WAS freaky.

My advice: don't look.

Honestly, it feels a bit like a bee sting. It's not painless, but it's not that big of a deal. However, the needle is intimidating. Don't look at it.

It doesn't take long. It's totally doable, but I can't sugar-coat it, 'cause it just ain't so.

You do get to have a glass of wine after. And you aren't allowed to do any housework for 24 hours. Go home, camp out on the couch, be served. And in a couple days you'll get an actual piture of your little one's chromosomes. It's very cool, and a great relief as long as everything's ok of course. (Which it usually is.)

But seriously, do not let anyone show you the needle. You just don't need to know.

[belladonna]

5. I never look at needles

I can handle blood being drawn, all that good stuff, but I just cannot look at any needle that's going to be stuck into me. I can also deal quite well with pain, but I kind of freak about a needle getting that close to my baby :scared:

Thanks for the response. It makes me feel a little better knowing what to expect :hi:

[rbnyc]

6. Good.

I'll tell you another thing. I was way more nervous than I needed to be. I was VERY scared going in, and it was no where close to being as bad as I thought it would be.

It is scary to think of the needle being so close to your baby, but they're watching out. I was scared during my C-section too that my baby might get cut, especially because he was so huge!

[belladonna]

7. I'm thinking this babys going to be a huge kid too

I'm gaining weight soooo fast, and it's ALL in my stomach.

[JackBeck]

21. Gaining all that stomach weight.

My sister's #1 complaint, especially toward the end.

We can be online workout partners after the birth if you want.

[belladonna]

29. Sounds good to me!

I know damn well I'll be hitting the gym HARD after I pop :D

[Scarlett17]

34. How huge? n/t

[rbnyc]

36. Well, he was only 8 pounds 6 ounces, but...

...he was almost 2 feet long! You can see in the picture how long his legs are. He's about 6 inches taller than most 2-year-olds now.

[MissMillie]

9. it really isn't bad at all

though if I were to go through it again I would not watch the screen.

[Bunny]

10. I had CVS done, with a needle through the abdomen. It wasn't

painful or anything, but don't look if you don't like needles. It was weird watching the ultrasound show the needle going through my abdomen and into the uterus!

[kath]

16. CVS is done with a small plastic catheter through the cervix, therefore

minimal if any pain - unless they've changed things drastically since I had mine 15 years ago.

[Bunny]

25. Nope - they had to go through my abdomen with a needle.

Placenta was too low to go through the cervix.

[kath]

26. ooh, that's too bad.

It was so nice and easy with the little plastic tube...

[guitar man]

11. my wife had it done

38 y.o. and first child, she thought it would be prudent. She said it wasn't so bad.

[LaraMN]

12. I had a freak experience that was a bit unpleasant, but still not awful.

Overall, I've heard most women have a pretty easy time of it. The needle-going-in part was initially a piece of cake. I had problems because I had bad contractions during the amnio; I don't think that's the case for most women. It wasn't really that bad, and I bet yours will be quick and easy. No worries!

[JackBeck]

13. My sister had one and it was fine.

She was very excited afterward when she got the results.

You'll be fine, bella.



:hi:

[belladonna]

20. I know (rationally anyway) that it'll be fine

And I AM excited to find out whether it's a boy or girl for sure. Hell, I got rid of baby stuff a loooooonnnnng time ago, so it'll be nice to go out and buy what I need without the guesswork.

[Midlodemocrat]

14. It was a big nothing, darling.

You'll be fine. :hug:

[belladonna]

22. I knew I could count on you to make me feel better

I think I shouldn't research stuff so much.... that's where you hear the really scary stuff :scared:

[Connonym]

31. Occupational hazard Bella

We know just enough to get ourselves worried. Well, at least me, because I've been certain I've had about 100 different diseases heh.

I hope it goes easy peasy for you. Are you going to tell us the gender? I'm totally nosy!

[KitchenWitch]

15. I had one for my last pregnancy

It was not bad at all.

I did have a little bit of cramping afterwards for a few hours, but it was no worse than minor menstrual cramps.

[China_cat]

23. The anticipation is worse than the test.

Although getting a look at that needle can freak you out. They'll do a sonogram first to locate the baby and the placenta.

Don't be surprised if they put your hands in restraints or ask you to lay on them. Once they get you scrubbed for the procedure, they don't want the field contaminated. First they'll do a small injection to numb the area. That'll sting for a little bit but it'll go away soon. You'll feel some pressure from the needle going in and you might hear a small 'pop' as it enters the skin. These are normal and do not mean anything is wrong.

You'll do fine.

[borlis]

24. I had one at 35. My third and last pregnancy.

I was also a victim of "advanced maternal age." It really was no big deal. I had it at 16 weeks and the nurse who was doing the ultrasound could actually see that I was having a boy from the ultrasound. They made me look at the screen so I could make sure that where they inserted the needle was nowhere near the baby. Then afterward, they again showed me that the baby's heart was still beating. Then I got to be a couch potato for the rest of the day! :evilgrin: Good luck to you! :hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

27. My mom had one for me, I think. She was 36 when I was born.

Not to be negative, but they thought I had Down.

BUT....They were wrong.

:shrug:

[SKKY]

30. My wife and I thought about it...

...our first son was born with Down Syndrome, so naturally we were a bit "nervous" this time around. What it came down to was one simple question. What difference would the result make? The answer was none. We'll play whatever hand we're dealt.

[Digit]

32. Yes, 21 years ago

I had carried a child which had died inside of me at 5 months and wanted to make sure it would not be repeated (and that I was carrying a healthy child).
The amnio did not hurt and done with a needle into the belly (or whatever).
I delivered a healthy daughter, just like they said.

[MissB]

33. I had lots of them with my second pregnancy

Every two to three weeks. I got over my fear of them pretty quick. I just never looked at the needle and kept my eye on the monitor instead.

[Scarlett17]

35. It's not that bad, but like everyone says, don't look at the needle.

I had one with my second baby because of an abnormal result on an AFP test. They thought he might have Down's. Thankfully he was fine, but I at the time I was more stressed about the possible Down's than having the amnio. Try not to worry about it--it's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it really is not that bad. But, really, don't look at the needle.

:pals: