Testing Genetics

When we met with the genetics counselor almost two weeks ago, my husband and I decided to have as much genetic testing as could be done through my blood work.

All of the testing was done through PerkinElmer Labs. This is the same company that completed all of Jackson's testing.

Our insurance covered some of the testing, but not all of it. Our out-of-pocket cost was $125, which was really low considering how much testing was being done.

The results for all the testing are in.

The first test I got the results for was the PreeclampsiaScreen. Most women who have been pregnant are aware that preeclampsia is a dangerous condition. It's symptoms include high blood pressure (greater than 139/89mmHg), swelling in the face, hands, and feet (although foot swelling by itself is fairly common without preeclampsia), and a few other things such as blurred vision, weight gain of more than 5 pounds a week, etc.

More notable women who have developed preeclampsia include Michelle Duggar, who had to deliver her daughter, Josie, at 26 weeks when she developed preeclampsia and Kim Kardashian, who had labor induced at 35 weeks.

Although I would need to rewatch the show, I believe the character, Cybil, from Downton Abby died of eclampsia, the terrible (and deadly) illness that follows from preeclampsia.  When a woman develops preeclampsia, the only cure is to deliver the baby.

In the screen the lab does, three genetic markers are checked for and a mean arterial pressure is calculated.

Based on my results, my risk of developing preeclampsia is 1 in 10,000. Very Very low. I had low blood pressure throughout my other pregnancies, so this was not much of a surprise. But still, it gives my doctors some reassurance as well.

The next set of testing was the Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing with Panorama. This test checks for the risk of Down Syndrome as well as Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13, and monosomy X. It is done through a combination of blood work and ultrasound, as I mentioned in my post when my last ultrasound was done.

Again, my risk came back at 1 in 10,000.

All of this testing was done through testing MY blood.  Isn't that just amazing?  The genetics of my baby, all of my babies, actually, reside in my blood and will be there for the rest of my life. My children will always be a part of me in a very literal sense!

Pretty amazing, isn't it?

And somewhere in all that testing they tested to see if Dash is carrying two X chromosomes or an X and a Y.

We now have those results, but want to share them with our daughters before making it public, so bear with us for just a little longer.

Now that I know whether Dash is a girl or a boy, all of my fears of losing this baby have come back in full swing.  I spent a full 10 minutes after the call just crying in bed, afraid.  My shots still aren't bruising and although Dash had a party in my tummy all afternoon yesterday, I am still afraid.

Results from this morning's Anti-Xa testing should be in Thursday and my next ultrasound will be the following Wednesday, which still seems like such a long ways away.

I'm 14 weeks tomorrow and just hoping and praying that my clotting levels are at least better than they were a week and a half ago and that Dash is still getting all the nutrients needed for proper growth.