A hand hold, distraction and talking me down needed

[Bigkingdom]

On Monday i went along to my 12 week scan, opted to have the combined test. I had it with my previous children and all was fine, low risk.

Wednesday i get a call, right in the middle of a webinar i was sitting in for work. It was the screening midwife. I have a 1 in 60 chance of having a baby with Down’s Syndrome. I burst into tears and missed the rest of the conference because i just couldn’t think straight.

I pulled myself together enough to read the information the midwife emailed me and opted for the NIPT/Safe test, which i had yesterday. I now have a 10 day (or up to 2 weeks) wait for the results. I’m just so upset. My partner is trying to think positive but i just can’t. I just can’t bare thinking about the pregnancy right now

Ah, I can see why you're stressed

It's still 59/60 that there is no problem though. Plus the combined test is INCREDIBLY inaccurate.. it's based on all sorts of numbers (your age and weight etc) whereas the NIIPT is much more accurate so you've absolutely done the right thing in getting that.

Not thinking about the pregnancy is entirely sensible imo - just do anything you can to distract yourself.. difficult in lock down I know . Can you drive to go for a walk somewhere interesting? Or start a project in the garden? Or anything really. Tell your DH that you need distracting and make it his job.

I had a 1:30 chance of downs. Nipt came back low risk but there were other potential signs of issues throughout pregnancy. My twins are 15 days old today and despite 15 fetal medicine scans, 3 cardiac scans, and an mri during the pregnancy, and 2 neonatal teams at the delivery, they are both perfectly healthy.

I know the feeling of hopelessness but please don’t give up yet - as pp said, there is a 59/60 chance everything will be ok. There are lots and lots of positive stories on the pregnancy and antenatal tests sections of MN from people going through the same thing too.

When I was pregnant with my ds, I got results back with a 1 in 11 chance that he had downs. He hasn't. I know you can't judge your pregnancy against others, but I hope that gives you a bit of reassurance.

It was such a worrying time though. It was 12 years ago so the only way to find out was an amino. I did have one because I needed to know, so I could be mentally prepared.

When I spoke to my midwife she reminded me that there was a 10 in 11 chance that he didn't have downs, which is a more positive way of looking at it but didn't really make it easier.

It's still the most anxious time I've had in my life though. It's terrifying because all you can
do is wait it out, you have no control over it.

I had this, it was a very stressful few weeks but the second test was fine. I got advice from a friend who had been through the same tests and two weeks later had a phone call from another friend who was going through the same thing and we all had the same outcomes. I found I planned for the worse as a way of coping and when I had the phone call saying everything was ok it was like a light had been switched on in the world. You will probably be fine but a bear like hug for the next two weeks. Xx

Thank you all, and thank you for sharing your experiences. I’m trying to tell myself that there is around a 98% chance (maybe a little more than that) that the baby will be ok, but what if i am that one? Then i start crying all over again.
The midwife did say it may have been my age (39 when i deliver), combined with slightly high hCG and PAPP-a levels. My NT measurement was 2.6mm which they said was in the normal range.
I am going to start thinking of ideas to distract myself.