NT 1 in 6 and terrified.

[babybritjo]

Results came back yesterday, NT was 1.8 so all fine there, age puts me at 1 in 1000 but bHCG pushed me up to 1 in 6. Terrified now, have to wait till next thurs for amnio. so scared to find out.

[spaceal]

Sorry to hear this, babybritjo. I got 1 in 19 a few weeks back, with a 1.6mm NT. My bHCG was a bit high (1.4) and my PAPP-A low (0.25), but I'm 38 so already had a pretty high age-related risk. We decided not to have an amnio, but have had lots of reassuring scans and are keeping our fingers crossed (I'm 25 weeks today).

There's lots of similar stories on here - have a look at some of the recent related threads. For me, it was good to know lots of couples were in similar positions and agonising over similar odds.

But good luck with the waiting and take care of yourself.

[mummytoh1]

6 weeks ago I was in a similar position. NT was higher than yours at 2.6mm, bHCG was up at 1.65 and PAPP-A was very low at 0.39. I'm 35 and that all combined gave me a risk of Down Syndrome specifically of 1:15.

I had a CVS the next day and the results came back all clear.

After the amnio, make sure you rest up and maybe buy some dvds to keep you occupied while you wait for the result.

Don't forget there's a 5 in 6 chance that your baby is normal, and also your NT measurement is very good so that's a good sign.

Claire x

[squeezytoy]

Sorry to hear this, babybritjo. I was 1 in 7 a week ago so I know how it feels.
I had NT 2.5, PAPP-A 0.6, hCG 2.75, age 40. It was very scary and stressful but the people here are very helpful and we were lucky with brilliant hospital staff. I had a CVS and it turned out OK for trisomy 13, 18, and 21 and the rest of the results come through next week - so not out of the woods, but feeling better than I did.

Stuff that helped make the time go quicker included the stories & people here & other forums (baby and bump), dvds, computer games (I'm a working mum so never do this normally but they sure make time fly), and books.

I also found it helped to look at it in percentage terms. 1/6 is 17% so you have an 83% chance of things being OK.

I won't tell you not to worry because we're all worried when we come here, but if you look around here there are other people with odds of 1 in 4 or 1 in 2 who still got positive outcomes. It helps to read the stories and to remember that these figures are markers - they act as guidelines for further testing, they do not signify definite problems.

I also found it helped to find someone being tested the same time as me so we were waiting 'together'.

I wish you all the best and hope you and your baby are both fine so that you can relax and enjoy your pregnancy.

[babybritjo]

Thanks so much for the kind words, have spent the day reading other peoples stories and feel so much better, still a nervous wreck but better than yesterday. My DH is wonderful and is so very caring. He knows people who have been through the same at work and has chatted with them so is feeling better too.
Will keep fingers crossed and keep reading the threads.

Thanks

[DrSeuss]

So sorry to hear you troubles. Remember, there is a far higher chance of it being OK than not. Let us know how you get on.

[Sparklies]

I'm sorry to hear you've got such scary odds - seems like there are a lot of us in the normal NT, terrible bloodwork boat.

Mine, if you haven't already read it, was 1.6mm NT, 0.2 PAPP-A and 1.91 bHCG at age 34 which gave me 1 in 60 - that was my basic NHS NT. I then had a second NT scan at the Fetal Medicine Centre in London 5 days later, which was 2.2mm NT, 0.29 PAPP-A and 1.73 bHCG (so the bloodwork was improved) and a very thorough clear ultrasound (loads more so than the first) which instead of improving things, gave me 1 in 34 . To my mind this does rather prove that there are different methods out there for calculating risk.

You might have been told 1 in 6 but I bet if you went somewhere else you could be told anything between 1 in 2 or 1 in 60 depending on what methods they use.

Hope all goes well with the amnio and you get great results. And have a good cry too, if you haven't already.

[babybritjo]

The tears have been free flowing today!
I have heard a few people say that they went for second opinions and got a worse ratio.
Im just gonna wait and see what the amnio shows up.
I have hope in the fact that when had my 12 wk scan, the nurse commented on DC's facial profile being fine, as well as limbs and the NT was perfect. Just hope i was having a bad blood day eh!!
Had a MC in June, when bloods were taken after this, nurses said my HCG levels were high for how far gone i was.
Fingers crossed. Hoping for the best.

[Sparklies]

That's interesting about the high HCG. On another more American board I asked if there was a correlation between high HCG in early pregnancy and at first trimester screenings. Apparently, yes, there is. Twins, for instance, are a lot more likely to screen positive because HCG levels are higher. As are IVF pregnancies as apparently they produce higher levels of HCG. Bleeding in early pregnancy produces higher HCG too. I have high HCG in early pregnancy (above average for triplets with the three pregnancies I have had early bloodwork with) so it makes sense I'd have it later on. So if high HCG is normal for me, it can't be a marker, I'm sure. So I asked what my risk would be if my bHCG was 1.0MoM and it was 1 in 1645..

So if you're a naturally high HCG lady too, then things could be a lot better than they sound right now! I'm holding onto that for me anyway :)

Hang in there! You will know for sure soon, even though the next week will drag for sure.

[babybritjo]

You dont know how much better that makes me feel, until my 12 wk scan i really believed i was carrying twins, as i was starting to show from 11 wks, and still being really sick and tired further than everything suggests, i know we are all different but little things played on my mind.
My HCG levels wer over 5 MoM so that is crazy high! Without the high HCG my risk is 1 in 1000.

Crossing fingers and everything else that can be crossed :)

[Sparklies]

Yep, over 5.0 is crazy high, no denying it! It's kind of how the doctors look at my low PAPP-A (0.2 - it's in 0.5th percentile but interestingly enough 5 days later it was 0.29, hmm..) - off the charts.

But if there's a physiological reason for it that is normal for you, then I do believe, as a total non expert, that it can't be counted as a marker. It would make sense..

I wish I'd had blood tests on my first two children so I had something to compare things with!!

Lots and lots of finger crossing and everything else indeed! :)

[babybritjo]

Just had the amnio this morning, back home now. Wasn't too bad, husband has a nice fingernail shaped hole in his hand from when the needle punctured the uterus!
Scan went well, heart was fine as was all measurements and other body parts, one thing nurse said was the bowel was a bit bright and this is usual in 3rd trimester, just a tad unusual at 16 wks where i am now.
Get results wednesday morning so fingers crossed!!

[Sparklies]

Glad to hear it's all over now and went well - sounds promising about the scan! I've had soft markers before when I haven't screened positive - I think it's pretty common. So hopefully it will all mean nothing!

Roll on next Wednesday.. hope the week passes quickly for you!

[babybritjo]

Thanks so much!
Stomach is feeling fine today, have had few minimal cramps/twinges but am scared to make the wrong move and cause a problem!

Heres hoping for a speedy week.
:)

[babybritjo]

Hi,

Results are in and no abnormalities found. Thank goodness!!
What a load of stress!!!

Thanks for the support and strengthening words.

[spaceal]

That's great news, babybritjo. You must be enormously relieved. Best of luck for the rest of your pregnancy!

[Sparklies]

That's fabulous!! I am so thrilled for you and relieved for you too! Yet another good NT-crap bloodwork "victory" Hoping that when spaceal and I find out for sure we can join you!!

As I've just posted on another thread, I swear they're unreasonably favouring bad bloodwork in their screens. I am starting to think that a 1 in 20 bloodwork-based screen positive does not have as high a risk as a 1 in 20 NT-based screen positive even though it bloody well should do as that's the whole point of getting a risk factor.

[olii]

Yayi congs babybritjo!! fantastic news and that really gives me hope as am in the same boat too.
At least now you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy :o!!!

[babybritjo]

Thanks guys, im just so sad
that so many women have to go through this heart wrenching time. It was so hard to stay positive and not to worry.
Reading the various threads on here really gave me hope and in some sense, kept me sane!
I just hope it all works out well for the rest of you.
Crossing fingers and sending all my well wishes.

Heres praying for lots of healthy bundles of joy
:o

[doritos]

hello all, im new to this so please bare with me, here goes im 16 weekspregnant and received a call to let me know results of my quad test, i had a 1:6 test result back. i dont want to risk an amnio could they have seen any defects at my what i though was my 12 week scan but turned out to be 14 weeks gone? im worried sick im 38 and i cant eat or sleep ha anyone else had such a low result? what did i do wrong? :(

[Georgimama]

Doritos I'm sorry you've had such worrying news. Without wanting to trivialise, if it was 1 in 6 odds of something you wanted to happen, you probably wouldn't rate your chances all that highly. As someone once said on a similar thread, you wouldn't put all your worldly goods on a horse at 6 to 1 and expect anything good to come of it.

And you didn't do anything wrong so please put that thought right out of your head. When is your next MW appointment? You need to talk the results through with someone - I'm stunned that anyone thought it was a good idea to tell you this over the phone.

[doritos]

thank you for your words. i was also stunned to be told this over the telephone i am having another scan next week. im terrified as i have other children to consider i am all out of decisions ive used all mine up so i feel im in limbo.:'(

[fifitot]

How many weeks gone are you doritos? You could ask for a full marker scan at around 18 weeks which can show some problems, more detailed than the usual 20 week anomaly scan.

As always someone always suggests ARC. www.arc.org.uk (I think) who are brilliant at advice and information. Look at their website and give them a call in the morning. They are lovely people. I have used them myself and found their info invaluable.

It is a scary time I know. Good luck.

[TheFeministParent]

I had a 1:9 based on a thick nuchal...had CVS and it was fine. I would have terminated.

[doritos]

hello fifitot, im now 17 weeks gone and have a scan on thurs this week i am goin g alone and tears are free flowing, im wondering if anyone has had a similar result and if so what were their results? i feel so ill.

[Bubandbump]

Doritos, you have my sympathy, this is an awful, awful time for you but yes there are lots of people on mumsnet who have had similar results or worse and everything has been fine. I had a 1 in 2 probability and just before Christmas we got the all clear from a cardiac and abnormalities scan at 20 weeks. If you look through some of the other threads, there are other people who have had no invasive testing and are also relying on the ongoing scans. Even then, we had a soft marker for downs at a 16 week scan which had cleared up at 20 weeks (we had also had clear cvs results back by then) so there really aren't any hard and fast rules to all this. I really did find ARC helpful to talk to when going through all this- you can just give them a call and they understand what you are going through.