harrowing amnio experience yesterday

Argh. So, my OB for my twins is the same who delivered my daughter. When I was pg with DD, I had an amnio because I'm a "need to know" kind of person, and I was over 35 then (now I'm on the cusp of 40). The feedback was very reassuring and allowed me to finally become excited rather than fearful about the pregnancy.

I told my OB I wanted an amnio again this time, given that my risks of birth defects and genetic abnormalities are much higher (I'm older, I did IVF with ICSI, the embryo quality was poor, etc.), and she said okay.

When I went in yesterday, she came in and said, "Now, WHY again did you say you needed to do this?" It completely undermined my confidence. I stammered that DH and I just need to know all we can. She gently reminded me that selective reduction of one twin past 16 weeks is too risky for the remaining twin, and I told her that DH and I knew that and weren't planning it; we just feel that if there IS an abnormality, we want to deal with our emotional responses and line up specialists and treatment plans now, rather than frantically trying to do all that immediate after the birth while trying to bond with our twins. She seemed okay with that, but the discussion, even though it was sincere and friendly, left a certain tension in the room.

THEN--my OB's plan was to do one poke through both sacs, withdraw fluid from sac B, pull the needle back into sac A, and withdraw fluid from that sac before pulling out completely. Well, it didn't work. The tip of the needle wouldn't poke through sac B. She tried again and again, making multiple holes through sac A, but sac B just kept "tenting" (you can picture it). So she finally gave up and withdrew the needle, and inserted another one through a different location to reach sac B. I could see the needle tip as a bright white dot on the screen, and it was CLOSE to both babies' faces. Their FACES! I don't think it touched them b/c the needle never moved and neither of the babies flinched. Still, it was terrifying, to say the least. I left there knowing there were 4 holes in sac A and one in sac B.

It's been 24 hours and I haven't had any fluid leakage or spotting, but my OB reminded me that the greatest risk is during the first 3-4 days after, so I'm walking around on eggshells. Also, I called the OB's office and asked if it was possible to "miscarry" one twin without symptoms, and they said yes. So I scheduled an ultrasound for a week from tomorrow to confirm that they're still moving.

I never would have done this if I didn't know for sure that I'd be a neurotic wreck through the rest of my pregnancy without the results of a genetic analysis (we had a nuchal translucency scan but my results, while "normal," were not THAT reassuring), BUT I'm honestly feeling some post-traumatic stress symptoms here. *serenity now serenity now serenity now*

I'm reminding myself that my chances of NOT miscarrying are over 99%, but it doesn't seem to help. I guess I'll only feel better with time.

Thanks for reading. Has anyone else had a scary amnio experience? Did everything turn out okay? TIA! K

 

I'm so sorry! That sounds so stressful. Her questioning sounds so unreasonable, but your response makes sense. Take it easy, and like you said, it is very unlikely anything bad is going to happen.

Hang in there,
Stacy

 

My amnio was not pleasant either - they never discussed anything but 2 punctures so I was prepared for that though at least. Mine was painful and I was crampy for days...

I got my FISH results within 2 days though so that made it a little better...

Hang in there - you did the right thing for you....

 

im sorry your doctor didnt understand, but im sure you did the right thing. Hang in there both babies should be fine!!

 

ovatar - I am so sorry that you need to go through this.
and I hope everything woudl be alright with babies. please drink a lot lf protein drinks now and water. and rest rest rest.
first question what I have after reading your story how many amnios she did before? it doesn't sound very professional. At least I would be already screaming at her for doing that.
do you have home dopler? rent one and it will give you more reasurance of your babies heartbitting.

 

I can't imagine how stressful that must have been! But hang in there! I wish the next week or so goes very quickly for you so that you can see your two little bubs floating around on the screen, you get your results, and you can kick back and relax and enjoy this pregnancy!

 

]I am so sorry what a horrible experiance. I will pray for your little ones but it sounds like you and they are going to be good. Keep resting and drinking lots of fluids. Please keep us posted on how things go. Best wishes and lots of ((hugs)).