AFP was high, Blinky in trouble?

[JenneinCA]

I got the results of the AFP test back today. They are high. My doctor wants to redo them. So I am going back on Monday to redo the blood work and hear a heart beat.

 

I don't know if this means Blinky is in trouble or if it is just a fluke. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do. In all of the kids, even including Sprog and Mouse, we never had high AFP results. And all of them had AFP tests too.

 

Positive thoughts appreciated. This mommy is over the top stressed. If you are inclined send positive thoughts around 1:00 Monday afternoon. Just so that the heart beat is still there, then for the AFP retest too.

[sleepy]

I hope Blinky is fine. I'll be thinking about you both.

[Caroline]

Hugs, and good thoughts going your way. I had one set of high AFP results. Baby was/is fine. He is now 7.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I got the results of the AFP test back today. They are high. My doctor wants to redo them. So I am going back on Monday to redo the blood work and hear a heart beat.

 

I don't know if this means Blinky is in trouble or if it is just a fluke. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do. In all of the kids, even including Sprog and Mouse, we never had high AFP results. And all of them had AFP tests too.

 

Positive thoughts appreciated. This mommy is over the top stressed. If you are inclined send positive thoughts around 1:00 Monday afternoon. Just so that the heart beat is still there, then for the AFP retest too.

 

Ummm, no, it's pretty high on the false positive side. 90% is what I've read, but I know I've heard 95% false positive.

 

Understand, that does not mean 90% of all babies are fine, it means 90% of all babies who test positive are fine.

 

It's a screen for further testing. That's all.

 

You have my positive thoughts, but chances are pretty astronomical that you even need them. :)

[Sue G in PA]

AFP has a very HIGH rate of false pos. resutlts. Also, AFP does not test for the presence of any abnormalities...only the POTENTIAL for any abnormailites, KWIM? That's why I always declined. The test could not tell me definitively (like an amnio) if my baby would have such and such but rather there was the "potential". Blinky is fine! Don't stress...prayers for peace sent your way!

[battlemaiden]

Re-doing an historically inaccurate test seems foolish to me.

 

Will your insurance cover an ultrasound to look for genetic "markers"? You should ask. They have ways of taking measurements on ultrasound that are much, much more accurate in determining. With your history there must be a way your MD could get an ultrasound coded correctly to be covered by insurance.

 

I have had abnormal AFPs before but I stop getting the dadburn test at all now- it's a waste of time and money IMO.

 

You don't need any extra worry Jenne :grouphug:. I have been praying for

you and the little one. I will continue to until that little one is safely in your arms.

 

Jo

 

Edit: I meant *foolish* for the physician to re order the same test- not you for having the test. Just wanted to clarify.

[5kidsforME]

I just want to say, I use to work in the perinatology unit and soooooo many women would get so stressed about this test. It needs to be done at an exact time or it comes back positive. IMNSHO That test is a stress inducer.

 

Just to clarify I am sure it can help sometimes but in too many circumstances it only causes needless worry.

[WTMindy]

Praying for you and baby now. :-)

[Carol in Cal.]

The way I learned it, good AFP means little or no risk. Bad AFP doesn't mean much at all--just a faint possibility of trouble.

[M&M]

I have refused this test the last few pregnancies because of the high false positives.

 

As a matter of fact, last time I was pg my doctor didn't even want to do it since I was over 40. Apparently the test is even less accurate in the over 40 crowd :glare:.

 

I would try not to worry.

 

Prayers and hugs

[LizzyBee]

I usually refuse the AFP, but with my last baby I let a doctor talk me into it. According to the results, there was a 1 in 20 chance of Downs Syndrome, whereas my age-based risk was 1 in 200. I cried, worried, read up on Downs Syndrome, and had a perfectly healthy baby. Your baby is most likely fine, too. :grouphug:

[momofkhm]

twins! One twin had a hole in his heart that closed shortly after birth. They are 8 now and perfectly healthy!

[Jenny in Florida]

And he's very much here and very much fine.

 

It was a horrible time, though. I remember getting the results of that first test on a Friday and being told I had to wait several days to go in for the re-test.

 

I read everything I could find on the subject, all of which consistently said that high AFP tended to mean one of three things: That the due date was wrong and the baby was older than you thought; That you were carrying twins; That there was some sort of really major problem.

 

Not one book or website I consulted ever said what I now know: That most of the time, it's just nothing.

 

I remember the absolute terror, though. My husband was due to go out of town, and it looked like I was going to have to be home alone with our three-year-old when the results came in.

 

I spent several days walking around feeling like I was in a transparent bubble: I could see and hear other people, but I felt very far away from them, and wasn't at all convinced they could hear me.

 

Finally, my husband called the doctor and insisted on getting the test moved up so that he would be home with me.

 

That test, too, came back high. At that point, the doctor wanted to do amniocentesis. We did some research and decided that, in our case, the risk of that procedure was too high. So, we compromised on agreeing to have a series of high-resolution ultrasounds.

 

In the end, all it meant was that I was officially classified as a high risk pregnancy and that it cost our insurance company a bunch of extra money, because they insisted on having some kind of neonatal specialist on call "just in case."

 

However, the baby was totally fine, perfect, in fact. And, with the luxury of time, I can sometimes even find it mildly amusing that we were so terrified our baby would lack brain function, and instead we got this guy who's so smart he's exhausting.

 

So, my guess would be that Blinky is fine and dandy. I'll keep you (both) in my thoughts, though, because I remember all too vividly exactly how stressful that episode was!

[Mamagistra]

Continuing to pray for you and Blinky here. Please try not to worry. :grouphug:

[JenneinCA]

Thank you for the good thoughts and good stories.

 

I have had an ultrasound, actually two of them. The first at 8 weeks, to confirm the pregnancy and because I was nervous. My OB did this one in his office. It gave a due date of Oct 5.

 

The second was at 12 weeks, a nuchal translucency test. It was done by an ultrasound tech in a lab. The due date from that test was Sept 28. Going by my last period, the date would be Sept 28. So the OB and I decided to go with the Sept 28 date. It is not possible that the date could be any earlier.

 

It isn't multiples. Or at least one kid would have to be hiding from two different ultrasounds and have gotten past blood work too. Or I suppose twins could explain the week difference in dates...

 

He is going to redo the blood work and perhaps some others on Monday. I will get a chance to find out what the best guess issue is then. I already have an ultrasound scheduled for May 5, so either I will keep that one or if he decides I need one sooner then I suppose I get one sooner.

 

 

Thank you for the good stories about high AFP results. I will keep thinking about them.