September 2013 - The Beginning of the Bumps

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Old thread getting full. Already!

Oh Frog dont cry:-( If you need to know then thats what you will have to think about doing. You cant just pretend you dont know. You can come to a decision together about what the results would mean and either carry on from there or do the alternative but ignoring the results youve had now will drive you insane.

You need to have a plan. I would be the same as you but once you make a decision you have to stick to it. I think your midwife should give you the breakdown of the bloid results if you ask her. You could then post in the antenatal results forum on mn for advice, im sure there are so many more people with experience on there dealing with what you are going through.

Also i think the nuchal itself is based more on the average gestational age rather than your age. For example my nuchal was 2.4 which i was shocked at but the midwife said was normal. And then i saw that she had dated me at 13.2 instead od 12.4 like i thought i was so its bound to be higher the further along you are.

Speak to your midwife again and then arm youself with as much information as possible before deciding.x

Oh Frog dont cry:-( If you need to know then thats what you will have to think about doing. You cant just pretend you dont know. You can come to a decision together about what the results would mean and either carry on from there or do the alternative but ignoring the results youve had now will drive you insane.

You need to have a plan. I would be the same as you but once you make a decision you have to stick to it. I think your midwife should give you the breakdown of the bloid results if you ask her. You could then post in the antenatal results forum on mn for advice, im sure there are so many more people with experience on there dealing with what you are going through.

Also i think the nuchal itself is based more on the average gestational age rather than your age. For example my nuchal was 2.4 which i was shocked at but the midwife said was normal. And then i saw that she had dated me at 13.2 instead od 12.4 like i thought i was so its bound to be higher the further along you are.

Speak to your midwife again and then arm youself with as much information as possible before deciding.x

And...yep you can ask for the breakdown of your bloods. This happened to me with DD1, my risk came back as 1:300, which perplexed me as I was 32 and the nuchal was only, it was my HCG levels that were high, which can be an indicator or downs, but can also just be high or signify other things.

Sorry nuchal was only 1.2

I agree totally with FrootLoops. We only did the nuchal test so we could be prepared either way and had no intention of further tests. Your risk is still quite low Frogchops.

I suppose the real question is how would you feel if your baby had DS? If you don't think you'd cope then, perhaps get further testing.

Just to reiterate tho, you're only just out of the low risk category. Imagine you've got a bin bag with 139 blue balls and one gold ball. How likely is it if you randomly pull out a ball that you'll get the gold?

Please try not to worry.

Sorry to hear that frog- but some great advice on here. You might need a cry and a hug, then put your head together with your partner and think about the risks, possibilities and what you would do in each situation x

Please someone else tell me that they are constantly thirsty?! I don't remember this ever beng this bad with the other two pregnancies?! I have just downed three pints of water and still thirsty, plus it's not helping the wee wee situation! Is this normal? Mr Google says so, but I don't feel like its normal! S'pose my addiction to salty foods like capers and anchovies may not be helping?!

Oh Frog, I don't know that I have anything useful to add, but I really feel for you. We didn't have the test at all because we knew we wouldn't do anything about it. I have let myself, rightly or wrongly, be reassured by the fact that the nuchal measurement was low and the sonographer didn't find any of the other soft markers for Downs. Personally, I would consider 1:140 to be low risk, even though I know people get figures well into the thousands. I've decided not to worry about it, even though the fact that my brother has Downs could put me genetically at a higher risk of having a baby with Downs.

As other people have already said, I think before having an amnio you need to be reasonably clear in your own mind of what you would do if a decision is required. Such a difficult one.

I'm very thirsty too Eeek. I'm up in the night for drinks and wees. It's a constant cycle!

Frog, sorry you are in this position and that it feels so impossible. I think I would not have the amnio, in your case, but of course if I was really in your position I would probably be paralysed by indecision. I think 1:140 is not bad, still heavily against the likelihood of downs.

ION, I have just had an initial phone call with an independent midwife. Waiting for her to send her packages/pricing info, but it was a good first chat - the things which surprised me were (a) she takes over A/N care completely from the NHS, so it is like going private, but with referrals to NHS for scans, bloods, etc (b) she only takes on 2 women due per month - the more I think of that though the less I like it, because even if she also assists other IMs at births, it is a low throughput and so does she really get to see and recognise lots of conditions that could present into problems? How many women per month did Domino scheme/case loading midwives from NHS trusts typically handle, when those schemes existed?

Oh frog what a choice! I still haven't had my test results back. However, I wanted us to have a roadmap before we had the test originally so we would be able to make decisions more easily when it came to it.

My first decision would be based on the score. I decided if the ratio was higher than 100 then I was more likely to have a miscarriage from the amnio than I would have a child with chromosomnal complications. However, I also know that I would have worried throughout the rest of the pg wondering. My mum had an amnio with my little brother has her risk was 1:4. It came back negative and he's fine at 19.

If if was positive would it change the outcome of your pregnancy? Because that's what it boils down to really. The NT sounds low, and your age is in your favour. And it's 1 in 140. 139 babies will be perfectly healthy, and in with your 140 will be the ladies like my mum who was 41, and was told her risk was 1:4. Ultimately you have to do what you feel is right, and what you have to do to get through this hard time. Whatever decision you make will be the right one.

frog a hug for you
I second everyone else's advice to try and find out the details of your bloods - breakdown on levels etc as they must be the factor that lowered the score as your age and nuchal were low. Then once you get the blood breakdown ask your MW to discuss them with you. I think it is important to find out about the bloods.

sending hugs your way frogs.

I don't have any advice but definitely ask for a break down of your results - this is what the hospital sent me with my results:
breakdown of bloods
Age related risk
Michael measurement
overall risk

so your MW should definitely be able to provide you with these.

nuchal not Michael! I don't know what it is with my predictive text and men's names!!

One of very good friend's parents were told before she was born that it was a 50:50 for DS, and she is absolutely fine, lovely, normal bubbly lady!

I'm quite thirsty too, but it's more the hunger that's getting me today. Maybe it's the cold weather?!

God, Frog, this must be so stressful for you. Talk, talk, talk to your DH - I know I could raise a child with DS but my DH has always been far more wary, but then, he wouldn't have to physically go through a termination...
That's what it comes down to - if you had Amnio and your baby did have Downs, could you either a) raise a child with DS or b) have a termination at 15/16 weeks (and once past 15 weeks you have to have surgery, no other option).
If you know you're going to worry for the next 25 weeks then have the Amnio, but the main question is what you'd do after that. Really hope it all works out for you xx

frog - thinking of you. Such a hard thing to be thinking about and so much depends on what you would do with any information. You and DH just need to sit down and talk. Don't know if anyone has mentioned ARC - antenatal results and choices but I know others have found them hugely helpful.

Today I'd like to thank Moonpig, who clearly so appreciated the £2.99 I spent with them in April 2012 that they sent me a bar of (fake Green& Blacks) butterscotch chocolate. Which I stuffed my face with. I've also (after reading eeks post about capers) decided I fancy a gherkin, but luckily I bought some from ocado! Haha! I win.

Best food post ever, fl0b0t. Enjoyed the mix of sweet and savoury but the exuberant "I win" made it doubly awesome!

Thanks everyone...ur thoughts and opinions help! There's two ways I'm looking at it though.... 139:140 is a fab chance everything will be fine. My gut feeling is to go with this. On the other hand, I know the results if bad would change out view of the pregnancy. DP would not cope well with this (he has to deal with my long term medical issues too- which have no impact on this btw, but I'll check it doesn't affect bloods) and in turn neither would I as a result. :-(

Also , I think my positivity comes from the mw saying she wouldn't have even called me if it was 1:150. This is horrible.

Oh Frogchops. I really do sympathise. I think like others have said you need to think about what you'd do with the amnio result and then make a decision. It is tough.

((((Hugs))))

Frog- just to echo what a few others have said ARC are fantastic, I phoned them and they really helped me out.

Such a horrible situation for you. I am expecting twins and was given odds of approx 1:100 for both. Had CVS not amino and it wasn't as bad as I feared. Twin 1 came back fine and the sample for twin 2 was contaminated. So, I had CVS so that I could relax and not worry but still didn't get that complete assurance. . We decided to just try and forget it and carry on, we feel positive and I am determined to enjoy my pregnancy now.

Such a horrible time for you though and I wish you well with whatever you decide.

Take care.

Amnio even, flipping 'phone...

Hey frog, I think if I'd just received a letter through the post saying '1:140' I'd have thought that was pretty good and not given it a second glance....it's just the call that's spooking you. Try and take a step back and imagine just reading it in a letter, how would you have felt?

It really is a low risk in the scheme of things. x