This has been the most surreal, horrible day (just to clarify - I'm in a different time zone which is about 11 hours ahead of the UK).
I am 12+5 days today with a much wanted DC3. This morning, I went for my 12 week scan and NT test, which I have been very anxious about - probably because I'm now 38 and was 30 and 31 when I had the other two. But I can't honestly say I've had any kind of feeling that everything will be okay this time round, like I remember having before.
To start with everything looked great - the baby was bouncing around on the screen, measuring right for dates, and everything was where it should be. The sonographer took the nuchal measurement and it was about 1.7mm, which is great. She took another measurement of 1.9mm I think - again, nothing to worry about.
It was took a while to find the nasal bone because the baby's hands were in front of its face, but eventually it moved, and she said there was a nasal bone there, but that it wasn't very developed. She really didn't seem concerned. I went off to the loo, and DH asked her about it again, and she said as long as it's there that's the main thing.
We went into a consultation with the doctor then, and that's when things started to get surreal. He had my bloods back and said they were all more or less normal. (One of them, I think it was the free beta HCG, was marginally low, but he said it was close enough.) But then he said that he had to mark the nasal bone as absent because it was too underdeveloped, and that as a result my combined risk of Downs - when my age was taken into account - was coming back as 1 in 25, while the risk of Trisomy 18 (Edwards) was 1 in 370.
If he had marked the nasal bone as present, my combined risk would have been 1 in 2,000ish (after I saw the 1 in 25 everything else went blank, but I think that's what he said.)
He presented us with the options - cvs, amnio or Harmony. I couldn't have the amnio until 16 weeks, the Harmony results would take 2 weeks and would still only be diagnostic, meaning that he would probably have recommended further testing if it had been positive, but he could do the cvs then and there, and we'd have the result in 2 days. We didn't even think about it for long - he said the risk of a miscarriage was 1 in 400 on average, but that he'd never had anyone miscarry. I just felt the need to know. I had and still have no idea what we'll do if we get a positive result for Downs but my anxiety levels were going through the roof and I wanted it over with.
The cvs was okay - it wasn't pleasant, but it was quick. Now we've just got to wait for the results, which should be in two days. I don't know what I'm looking for - maybe just some handholding or to hear if anyone else has been through this. It has helped to write it all down. I feel really numb - it all happened so fast, I keep thinking this was a dream and I'll wake up in a minute.
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Antenatal tests
1 in 25 risk of Downs. Still reeling.
adaloveslace · 02/12/2013 04:32
Two days is very fast, but it will feel endless, I'm sure.
Additional needs always sound scary. Fingers crossed you will get the result you want, but if not, there are many lovely mnetters with children with Down's syndrome on the sn board, so you have a ready source of support (you could search now, if you want to).
I have two NT children, and my third has a disability due to birth injury. Cerebral palsy isn't something that can be picked up in ante-natal testing. 
Sending you strength and calm whilst you wait. Be kind to yourself xx
Thank you so much madwoman. Sometimes it feels lonely being in the wrong hemisphere, so it's nice to know someone's out there. I really appreciate you replying and sending me much needed strength and calm.
What is NT, if you don't mind me asking? (Guessing neurotypical, but I may be way off?)
I have a very good friend with a gorgeous son who has the extra chromosome, and DH and I both feel we could really cope with a child with DS. It's the what happens when they grow up, especially given that we're going to be older parents, stuff that I think frightens us. In the last few years, we both have experience of children with varying degrees of special needs on both sides of our families (including one with a very mild form of cp actually, who is doing so much better than anyone anticipated - hope yours is too ) and in a way, I think I'm more frightened because of that. All that lovely, twinkly naivety that I had with my first is gone and all I can see are the curveballs life throws at you.
We are already at increased risk of this baby having IUGR and/or being born prematurely, so it's the idea of having a baby with DS and the added complication of a premature birth and/or all the other things that could go wrong that's going round and round in my head.
I think I need a good cry but my DCs are home from school now so I'm madly biting my lip.
Yes, neurotypical.
Hang on in there until they are in bed, and let it go for a while. Life is full of the unknown, and a whole whack of it is pretty scary. (()) and hey, if you crack, no harm done. Will dh be home soon? Maybe he can take over and get them sorted whilst you go and hide for a bit?
Are the other dcs old enough to understand that you are worried? Or will it freak them out that there is something going on?
Dd2 is doing very well, thanks - she is a star.
Hello Ada
Yes, as amazing as it sounds, he had something called an exomphalos - don't google it as there are very scary photos. His tummy wall didn't form around his umbilical cord, so his internal organs were in a transparent sac about the size of his head. But he was operated on the day after birth, and home after 13 nights in NICU - life became normal again then - well, as normal as it ever will be with kids! 
It sounds like your husband is kind, loving and supportive, just like mine is. The 2 of you will make sure you both get through these next few hours together, and then you'll look back on this with relief, knowing all is well. I agree with Aero - it really truly sounds like they're being ultra cautious.
Ps New dog is lovely, but she's pushing her luck at 5:00am!
Ada so sorry you're having all this worry 
. Something I remember from my scan at the Fetal medicine Centre in Harley street might help re: nasal bone. They see its presence as of course reassuring, but if it is there but measuring less than it 'should', your risk does increase a little but nowhere near to the extent of it being absent. From memory I think it drops to the extent your risk would be closer to 1 in 1000, so sort of half between 'good' and 'bad'. Hope this makes sense!
I know exactly how this feels, and I'm holding your hand here.
We had a 1:12 with our DD. I was 38 too. NT was 3.5mm, and they took us directly to a side room. 
We opted for amnio, which was harrowing enough. Then the results were a day late, and nobody had the courtesy to call us at all.
I was a blubbing mess. They actually even asked me to keep Friday morning free to discuss 'termination options'. The fuckers!
Anyhow, amnio was clear. So they referred us to Oxford for a heart scan.
That was clear too!
DD is now 20 months and a gorgeous little ball of fun. No idea why the results were wonky, but she's entirely NT.
I won't say 'don't panic', because you'll stress until the results are in. Anyone would.
Just try to relax and focus on the positives.
Before long, you'll have another little ball of fun around the place, and all this will seem like a bad dream.
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Hoping you get your results sooner rather than later! Even when it's double digit risk, it still knocks you for six because it sounds so much lower than everyone else's ones in the hundreds or thousands. It's hard to remember that actually the odds are pretty good!
I waited it out until 32 weeks (went for a safe amnio at that point) for a 1 in 34. The wait was "interesting". The last few days beforehand were amongst the worst though.
What diege said about the FMC is true. I bet if you had more sophisticated software (sophisticated as in allows for "partial" or whatever) you wouldn't be nearly as terrified right now! Hold onto that thought
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