Excited about new baby

[canadianbakers]

Originally Posted by Mom2Connor What I said, (and I think I've been quite clear about this) is what testing we do and WHY we don't do it. That has nothing to do with what you do with your baby and what you decide is best for your family.

that's what came across to me, from your post.

Originally Posted by mibarra Actually, just to play devil's advocate and because I apparently missed this drama til now (), knowing ahead of time CAN have other benefits. Such as arranging to have a birth at a hospital equipped to deal with the particular needs of the baby, setting up appts with specialists in advance (it can take 6 mos to a year to get in some places), arranging for surgery immediately following delivery for anything that needs to be dealt with, having special feeding systems in place, and preparing yourself emotionally and financially to raise a child with either medical or special needs. Just food for thought.

This makes sense. But if something was going to show up, it would be there on the 20wk u/s and could be dealt with at that point. The early testing, with the strange results (odds) that they give (as far as bloodwork) just seem not as useful to me.
I know that no amount of testing, nothing I can do or choose, will ultimately make any difference in whether this baby is healthy or not. It just is what it is.

[Mom2Connor]

Originally Posted by mibarra Actually, just to play devil's advocate and because I apparently missed this drama til now (), knowing ahead of time CAN have other benefits. Such as arranging to have a birth at a hospital equipped to deal with the particular needs of the baby, setting up appts with specialists in advance (it can take 6 mos to a year to get in some places), arranging for surgery immediately following delivery for anything that needs to be dealt with, having special feeding systems in place, and preparing yourself emotionally and financially to raise a child with either medical or special needs. We did decline screening, because we are very low risk for anything that would show up. However I do worry because I was born with a heart defect. It was not structural, so is undetectable by the screening. My parents didn't know anything was wrong until my mom went in to labor and my heartbeat was abnormal. She almost had to have a C-section. They whisked me away immediately to a NICU in ANOTHER CITY. She didn't even see me for the 1st 3 days because she was still in the other hospital. Now, in this case it was undetectable, but if it HAD been detectable she could have arranged to have me in a hospital with a NICU, and it would have been less stressful for her. Just food for thought.

That is worth thinking about for those who have to deliver at a facility where a transfer would to occur. As it is, in our case, we deliver where there is a top notch NICU at the hospital 5 minutes from us and top notch childrens hospital 15 minutes. We are very lucky to have such great facilities available to us! Our finances aren't going to change, and emotionally I would stress more than prepare.

[Mom2Connor]

This is the hospital where the other ones in the area transfer to, because it has the highest level NICU.

[mibarra]

We're also lucky enough to have a full NICU where we are, but I know not everyone is. Our doc did mention they can test for things like structural heart defects that wouldn't necessarily show up on the anatomy scan, but agreed with us about declining once I explained what the deal had been with mine. I'm personally a planner, it's how I deal with stress, so if there were questions I'd personally rather know ahead, but I know everyone doesn't feel that way.

I also worry because my oldest daughter has significant hearing loss (cochlear implants in both ears), but we are pretty confident it was due to being sick when she was born or one of the numerous medications they had to give to keep her alive, not genetics.