Amazon email had the right idea today:
If only that was an actual option. But alas, embryology waits for no one. Outlines for counseling must be done. Visual aids must be made. Bah. Tomorrow should be fun though because it’s the ACOG conference on “Diagnoses in Pregnancy, Ultrasound and Beyond”. It’ll be nice to spend the day listening to talks about cell-free fetal DNA, IUGR, and hCG thresholds. What is cell-free fetal DNA you ask? Essentially, there are some fetal cells in the maternal blood stream during pregnancy.
Super smart scientists have figured out that if they take a sample of mom’s blood they can check for the amounts of certain chromosomes. They typically check for 13, 18, and 21. These are the numbers that are sometimes present in “trisomy”, meaning there are three copies instead of two. It may not sound familiar but you most likely know what I’m talking about: Trisomy 21 = Down syndrome. So, for example, since the scientists know that mom doesn’t have Down syndrome, if they see excess amounts of 21 in her blood they know it has to have come from the baby. Cool huh?
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Anyways, I’ll leave you with a song for Tune Tuesday before I head out to do all sorts of homework stuff. But for a moment, let’s get our smiles on and dance it out:
Good night group. Have a wonderful day tomorrow. It’s hump day which means it’s kind of already the latter part of the week so it’s basically the weekend, right? Haha, I wish.
Questions: What do you think about this cell-free fetal DNA thing?
Would you want to know if your child had Down syndrome before they were born?
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