Q & A

I created this page for anyone who might have a question for me. If you do, you can comment on any one of my posts and I will try my best to answer it for you here. This way, you can check here first to see if your specific question has already been answered :).

1. "You couldn't afford first trimester screening because it wasn't covered by insurance, but you choose to have an elective 3D ultrasond? I'm assuming this wasn't performed by trained medical professionals or they would have seen the numerous markers for Down's Syndrome." 
  My insurance company did not cover the screening test to check for DS. Without insurance, the test would have cost us around $1,000 (this is what we were told). My husband bought me a 3D ultrasound for a mother's day present so I could see my son for the first time. This only cost around $100. Big difference :). We did not choose to do the 3D ultrasound in place of the screening test, it was just something sentimental my husband wanted to do for me. She was a trained professional, however, she had told us in the beginning that she was not going to look for health concerns. She was just there to take pictures for us. 
(A little side rant...)Looking back, I am still unsure about the screening test. At the time, I did not research it much and did not know all of the risks involved. It also has a pretty high percentage of not being fully accurate. With that being said, I don't think I would have gone through with it anyway. It wouldn't have made a difference, we would have still continued with the pregnancy regardless. I think the only positive that would have come with having the test done would have been that I could have prepared myself.  I wish more than anything that I could rewind and relive my son's birth. I wish I wasn't presented with the diagnosis in the way that I was. The doctors and nurses should have let us have the time to enjoy our son. Instead, before I even got to hold Anthony, I was told he had DS and informational packets were jammed down my throat. I understand having to tell parents information right away if something is medically wrong and action needs to be taken. For any nurses or doctors out there... if you suspect your patient's child has DS, just wait. It's not a life or death diagnosis, its an extra chromosome for crying out loud.  Let them shower their new baby with love and kisses without inspecting them for DS markers that you say are present. Let the extended family have the opportunity to enter into a positive environment, not a sad one. I want Anthony's birthday back, because I feel guilty that I didn't love on him and enjoy him as I do now. 

1 comment:

  1. I couldn't agree more. The moment we were given the diagnosis will rank amongst the hardest moments in my life...and it didn't have to be.

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