First time TTC. Starting charting w/ FF. Need gyno or OBGYN visit? Tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have gotten some good advice...the only thing I have to add is if you want genetic testing done for cystic fibrosis or any other specific disease, DONT just draw blood for cystic fibrosis by itself. Counsyl is MUCH cheaper and tests for 100 other genetically inherited diseases as well. This was an expensive mistake for me. Cystic fibrosis test alone cost me $400 AFTER arguing with the company while counsyl ended up being a $25 lab copay.

Thanks - I will look into Counsyl. Is this kind of testing pretty typical? I've seen it recommended for older or high-risk moms, but I wasn't sure if younger first-time moms were having it done as well. Do you think it's recommended for a 31-32 year old first time mother, or could it just do more harm than good by making us worry unnecessarily?

Counsyl is genetic testing so nothing to do with chromosomal abnormalities that become more of a concern as you age.

Pick an OBGYN who delivers at the hospital where you'd like to deliver. Drs Andersen Manaavi and Yoon at Nova Group for Women delivers at Inova Fairfax and is great. Arlington Women's at VHC is great. Or look at any of the 1000s of threads on this topic at Expecting Moms.

But get a Pap smear and check into your health. Having pre cancer cells is really common in sexually active women. The suggestion to wait 3-5 years between Pap smears does not apply to someone who hasn't had one since they can't remember when.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have gotten some good advice...the only thing I have to add is if you want genetic testing done for cystic fibrosis or any other specific disease, DONT just draw blood for cystic fibrosis by itself. Counsyl is MUCH cheaper and tests for 100 other genetically inherited diseases as well. This was an expensive mistake for me. Cystic fibrosis test alone cost me $400 AFTER arguing with the company while counsyl ended up being a $25 lab copay.

Thanks - I will look into Counsyl. Is this kind of testing pretty typical? I've seen it recommended for older or high-risk moms, but I wasn't sure if younger first-time moms were having it done as well. Do you think it's recommended for a 31-32 year old first time mother, or could it just do more harm than good by making us worry unnecessarily?

It's really your call. Counsyl will test for genetically inherited things like CF, Tay Sachs and a bunch of other things you've never heard of. These diseases can happen independent of mom's age, and they usually require both mom and dad to be carriers. Totally different than Down's Syndrome and other chromosomal problems. We ended up with infertility. Since I already knew my CF status (a common cause of infertility) from the labs my OB had run, we initially declined the Counsyl when it was offered to us at the RE because we didn't want the added stress of knowing if something else was wrong. But then I didn't respond as well to IVF as someone my age should have and RE wanted to rule out Fragile X premutation, which is part of the Counsyl test. At this point, I figured the news couldn't get any worse and I was curious about what diseases I was a carrier for so I did it. Two things ended up coming back but even with my carrier status, the odds of having an affected child with the disease were SO low (0.2% and 0.1%) that we chose not to test DH. So now that I'm actually pregnant it's nice knowing that if our baby is able to escape any of the major chromosomal problems that he/she will most likely escape the weird genetic syndromes too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

If you are only starting TTC, I would not worry about genetic testing. It seems unnecessary and I don't know a single person who did it before they were pregnant. And keep in mind that many, many people never do genetic testing at all. They just have the baby. My friend just had it and she is pregnant but it was not covered by her insurance, and she said it was costly. So OP just know that I think people doing it while TTC is the exception, not the norm.

I myself have been TTC for 6 months and my midwife basically laughed at me at my last annual appointment when I asked if I needed a separate preconception visit. She said no, just take prenatal vitamins and call me when you have a positive test. She said nothing about vaccines. However,then I began reading all the threads on this board and got worried about if I needed boosters for my old vaccines.

[Anonymous]

Sorry this the PP and I hit submit before I was finished. I asked her about getting a booster for chicken pox or blood work to test immunity levels and she said not to worry about it (I believe I'm current with all vaccines, though some I got many years ago). So I would say, yes definitely see your doc, but don't worry too much if he/she doesn't test you for your antibody levels.

[Anonymous]

I think you should definitely to the Counsyl test, before TTC. I did it and found out I'm a carrier for an incredibly rare, but very serious disease (frequently fatal to the child and a very high maternal death rate) . Once I got this test result, my OB suggested my husband also be tested. Turns out he's also a carrier. That means any child of ours has a 25% of being born with the disease (not just a carrier). No one in our families has had this, as far as we know. We'd never heard of it and had no reason to suspect. I would have had no idea this was a possibility without this knowledge. And now we are armed with the information so that we can make decisions--and have plenty of time to make them and not be surprised at the last minute. There are genetic tests in utero that can detect the illness and we can make the decision to abort. Or we can go forward with the pregnancy but my doctors are armed with information that can help keep me alive while I try to carry full-term and help treat and care for the baby should it survive. Or we can think about going through IVF with PGS to create an embryo free of this disease. Why on earth wouldn't you want to have that information? It's a spit test. Most people probably don't get the news we did, but you never who whether it will be you.

In addition to the other things people have mentioned, you really should also do some investigating into all medicines you currently take and all products you are using. For example, it might surprise you to learn that the allergy pill or over-the-counter headache medicine or face cream you are using is something you should stop taking now, while you TTC. This forum has a lot of good info--run searches and read past posts.

[Anonymous]

Just keep charting!

[Anonymous]

So of course you don't NEED to do this, but if you are a planner type, find a well-regarded OB or practice and book a preconception visit. They will do a pap and likely tell you to take prenatals, avoid high mercury fish, and live a generally healthy lifestyle while you're TTC. I did a Counsyl test, which cost about $100 bc I don't think it was covered by my insurance, but I discovered that I'm not a carrier for any of the diseases on the list and I thought that was good to know. They might do blood work & check your vaccines as well. I have a cat and they tested me for resistance to whatever that disease is that you can get from cleaning litter boxes (I'm resistant, but I made DH clean it during my pregnancy anyway). They'll answer whatever questions you have. I thought it was worthwhile, to make sure there wasn't anything that I hadn't thought of. Also, it sounds like you might not be an established patient anywhere yet, and you'll probably be able to get a pregnancy confirmation appointment faster if you are an established patient. Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should definitely to the Counsyl test, before TTC. I did it and found out I'm a carrier for an incredibly rare, but very serious disease (frequently fatal to the child and a very high maternal death rate) . Once I got this test result, my OB suggested my husband also be tested. Turns out he's also a carrier. That means any child of ours has a 25% of being born with the disease (not just a carrier). No one in our families has had this, as far as we know. We'd never heard of it and had no reason to suspect. I would have had no idea this was a possibility without this knowledge. And now we are armed with the information so that we can make decisions--and have plenty of time to make them and not be surprised at the last minute. There are genetic tests in utero that can detect the illness and we can make the decision to abort. Or we can go forward with the pregnancy but my doctors are armed with information that can help keep me alive while I try to carry full-term and help treat and care for the baby should it survive. Or we can think about going through IVF with PGS to create an embryo free of this disease. Why on earth wouldn't you want to have that information? It's a spit test. Most people probably don't get the news we did, but you never who whether it will be you.

In addition to the other things people have mentioned, you really should also do some investigating into all medicines you currently take and all products you are using. For example, it might surprise you to learn that the allergy pill or over-the-counter headache medicine or face cream you are using is something you should stop taking now, while you TTC. This forum has a lot of good info--run searches and read past posts.

Agree with this. Plus if you belong to any high-risk groups you should get tested. Yes, you can wait until you're pregnant, but isn't it better to know ahead of time than be blindsided? My family are Ashkenazi Jews, who are often carriers for very serious diseases, including Tay-Sachs. In fact two of my cousins had Tay-Sachs and died of it, years before I was born. So I was adamant about getting tested. Turns out I am indeed a carrier for Tay-Sachs, but not for anything else. So we had DH tested and he is not, thank G-d. But if he had been, there's a strong chance we would have done IVF. At a minimum we would have had the fetus tested once I was pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should definitely to the Counsyl test, before TTC. I did it and found out I'm a carrier for an incredibly rare, but very serious disease (frequently fatal to the child and a very high maternal death rate) . Once I got this test result, my OB suggested my husband also be tested. Turns out he's also a carrier. That means any child of ours has a 25% of being born with the disease (not just a carrier). No one in our families has had this, as far as we know. We'd never heard of it and had no reason to suspect. I would have had no idea this was a possibility without this knowledge. And now we are armed with the information so that we can make decisions--and have plenty of time to make them and not be surprised at the last minute. There are genetic tests in utero that can detect the illness and we can make the decision to abort. Or we can go forward with the pregnancy but my doctors are armed with information that can help keep me alive while I try to carry full-term and help treat and care for the baby should it survive. Or we can think about going through IVF with PGS to create an embryo free of this disease. Why on earth wouldn't you want to have that information? It's a spit test. Most people probably don't get the news we did, but you never who whether it will be you.

In addition to the other things people have mentioned, you really should also do some investigating into all medicines you currently take and all products you are using. For example, it might surprise you to learn that the allergy pill or over-the-counter headache medicine or face cream you are using is something you should stop taking now, while you TTC. This forum has a lot of good info--run searches and read past posts.

Agree with this. Plus if you belong to any high-risk groups you should get tested. Yes, you can wait until you're pregnant, but isn't it better to know ahead of time than be blindsided? My family are Ashkenazi Jews, who are often carriers for very serious diseases, including Tay-Sachs. In fact two of my cousins had Tay-Sachs and died of it, years before I was born. So I was adamant about getting tested. Turns out I am indeed a carrier for Tay-Sachs, but not for anything else. So we had DH tested and he is not, thank G-d. But if he had been, there's a strong chance we would have done IVF. At a minimum we would have had the fetus tested once I was pregnant.

I am the pp who brought up counsyl. Interestingly one of my positives was familial dysautonomia which apparently is another common Ashkenazi Jewish trait. I had no idea I had Jewish ancestry muchless Ashkenazi... So you never know what will come back.

[Anonymous]

My TTC checklist for you:

Make an appt for a pap smear.
Take pre-natal vitamins.
Go to the movies.
Chart.
Go to happy hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should definitely to the Counsyl test, before TTC. I did it and found out I'm a carrier for an incredibly rare, but very serious disease (frequently fatal to the child and a very high maternal death rate) . Once I got this test result, my OB suggested my husband also be tested. Turns out he's also a carrier. That means any child of ours has a 25% of being born with the disease (not just a carrier). No one in our families has had this, as far as we know. We'd never heard of it and had no reason to suspect. I would have had no idea this was a possibility without this knowledge. And now we are armed with the information so that we can make decisions--and have plenty of time to make them and not be surprised at the last minute. There are genetic tests in utero that can detect the illness and we can make the decision to abort. Or we can go forward with the pregnancy but my doctors are armed with information that can help keep me alive while I try to carry full-term and help treat and care for the baby should it survive. Or we can think about going through IVF with PGS to create an embryo free of this disease. Why on earth wouldn't you want to have that information? It's a spit test. Most people probably don't get the news we did, but you never who whether it will be you.

In addition to the other things people have mentioned, you really should also do some investigating into all medicines you currently take and all products you are using. For example, it might surprise you to learn that the allergy pill or over-the-counter headache medicine or face cream you are using is something you should stop taking now, while you TTC. This forum has a lot of good info--run searches and read past posts.

Agree with this. Plus if you belong to any high-risk groups you should get tested. Yes, you can wait until you're pregnant, but isn't it better to know ahead of time than be blindsided? My family are Ashkenazi Jews, who are often carriers for very serious diseases, including Tay-Sachs. In fact two of my cousins had Tay-Sachs and died of it, years before I was born. So I was adamant about getting tested. Turns out I am indeed a carrier for Tay-Sachs, but not for anything else. So we had DH tested and he is not, thank G-d. But if he had been, there's a strong chance we would have done IVF. At a minimum we would have had the fetus tested once I was pregnant.

I am the pp who brought up counsyl. Interestingly one of my positives was familial dysautonomia which apparently is another common Ashkenazi Jewish trait. I had no idea I had Jewish ancestry muchless Ashkenazi... So you never know what will come back.

Well, not saying you don't have Jewish ancestry, but a lot of these diseases aren't confined to Jews -- they're just far more prevalent due to a more limited gene pool. So you could have Jewish ancestry, or you could just be a carrier regardless.

[Anonymous]

Something like 1 out of 10 people with Irish ancestry are carriers for CF. I think it's worth checking out.

[Anonymous]

The cystic fibrosis test is standard regardless of age. My doc ordered it when I was 31...whether you are a carrier has nothing to do w age