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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Down's test has come back - we are at high risk :(

83 replies

vanimal · 21/02/2012 09:57

Hi,

I am 14 weeks pregnant, and have a stressful pg with some early bleeding and early scan. I have also had hyperemesis again (this is my 3rd pregnancy).

I am 37 years old, and had a call from the screening unit - my scan showed normal nuchal fold readings (ie. not indicative of Downs), but my blood test results show I am at high risk :(

The cut off point is 1/150, and we have a risk of 1/120. It's not massively high, but I am still a bit shocked. We have decided not to tell anyone about this, as the bleeding was a worry for family anyway, and we don't want to stress my parents/siblings out if there is no need for it.

I usually share everything with my best friend, but wierdly for me, I am keeping this all quiet and digesting the information with DH, but not with anyone outside of the situation.

We have a counselling appt tomorrow morning, and have already decided we would like to have an amniocentesis to confirm the diagnosis either way.

I am a bit numb about it all - we have had 2 stress-free pregnancies, so this is a real shock to the system for me, although I may just be over-reacting.

We have carried out announcing our pg to family and friends as normal, and I am burying my head in the sand about what future decisions we may have to make regarding the pregnancy/baby if it does have Down's syndrome.

So I have no idea why I am posting this really. Does anyone have a similar experience? What was the outcome?

OP posts:
Original poster
vanimal · 08/03/2012 16:05

It's 4pm and no call yet :( I think they close at 5pm.

I called (twice), no pick up, so I left a message asking them to ring me. It looks like I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow at this rate :(

OP posts:
grrd · 08/03/2012 16:31

sorry to hear you are being put through the mill like that.. must be mind destroying.

You wrote your risk is only 1/120 so you got a really really good chance that all will be fine!

tiggy02 · 08/03/2012 21:08

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Original poster
vanimal · 09/03/2012 09:42

Got my all clear this morning!!!!

The midwife rang me at 8.55am, whilst I was dropping off DD1 at pre-school. I am SO relieved! It was quite funny as the phone rang whilst mums and kiddies were waiting to go in.

I dashed to the furthest, quietest corner I could find, so I could have some privacy. Except around 5 kids dashed there with me, and all gathered round whilst I took the call! DD1 and DD2 were obviously there too, so I tried not to cry when she told me. But so, so relieved.

I didn't ask any questions, couldn't think of anything, just said thank you a million times over then hung up. I am so, so relieved. Thank goodness.

I hope everyone else who is waiting is doing ok. You are in my thoughts.

And thank you so, so much for the support on this thread.

I still can't quite believe it!

OP posts:
SoozyWoozy · 09/03/2012 09:53

So glad you've had good news vanimal :)

Good luck to all who are awaiting amnios / results Thanks

tiggy02 · 09/03/2012 11:00

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ChippingInNeedsCoffee · 09/03/2012 11:09

Oh that's wonderful, wonderful news :) Congratulations x

pixiestix · 09/03/2012 12:04

Oh fantastic!! Smile
So pleased for you Vanimal.

KnitterNotTwitter · 09/03/2012 12:11

Great news vanimal. I've been lurking on your thread and had my fingers crossed for good news for you.

Boggler · 09/03/2012 13:27

Wow fantastic news Vanimal, so very happy for you xxxGrin

mamababa · 09/03/2012 15:52
Grin

Now you can enjoy your pregnancy

joosiewoosie · 09/03/2012 16:47

Fantastic news vanimal! Wishing you a plain sailing rest of your pregnancy x

nearlymumofone · 09/03/2012 18:54

I am so relived for you. Congratulations. (It's making me think maybe I should have had the amnio too as maybe I'd have chilled out then if I got the all clear!) x

Boggler · 10/03/2012 11:50

nearlymumofone you can have an amnio at 32 weeks if you just want to know whats what, no miscarriage risk but small chance of premature labour. Apparently they give you steroid injections just in case your labour does start. I'm having my amnio on Monday and whilst I can't wait to get it over I'm very nervous about the whole thing, still not long to go.

nearlymumofone · 10/03/2012 15:19

Boggler thanks for that, worth considering. Are you having it at 32 weeks then? Best of luck for Monday xxx

AmethystMoon · 10/03/2012 15:26

You could have been me back in December. I am 36, will be 37 when baby is due in June. I had Downs odds of 1:42 and decided on an amnio. So glad I did it, it came back clear. I was same as you, normal nuchal measurement, no other signs at scan but bloods made it high risk. Even with 1:42 I still had 97.5% chance of my baby not having Downs...I know it's hard to think that way though. Amnio doesn't hurt, just feels strange. Good luck I really hope you get a clear result. I know how shocking it is to get that news though and how it turns your world upside down, I've never sobbed so much. I was distraught, my first (and last chance) to have a child and I thought it was all over. Big hug x

AmethystMoon · 10/03/2012 15:32

Oops just seen that you've had results ( I really should check dates of posts)Blush . Fantastic news, so happy for you Grin have a fabulous pregnancy Smile

InmaculadaConcepcion · 10/03/2012 17:20

Good news vanimal! And good luck for your amnio, boggler and anyone else due to have one.

This will be the second time I've gone through this process. With DD, I was given a 1/60 risk and stressed like hell about the whole thing until I got the all clear back after a trouble-free amnio.

This time, I got a 1/47 risk, but I was expecting something like that, especially when they told me the nuchal measurement (about midway in the normal range - knew they would combine that with my age (41) and give me an elevated risk, irrespective of the blood results). Even as the phone rang I knew it would be the specialist midwife and what she was going to say.

My amnio is on Tuesday.

This time round, I'm actually feeling very calm about the whole thing. I guess that's partly because everything was fine last time round (and reading the heartening accounts on here helps, too) and I know that the risk of the fetus having DS is still only just a smidgeon above 2%, so still pretty low in real terms. And this time I'm being more zen about it, working on the basis that there's not much I can do about it if things turn out bad at this stage. Well, it's working so far!

And on the upside, assuming everything is normal, I like the idea of being able to rule out many other chromosomal disorders and finding out definitively the sex of the fetus is another plus (I'm not one for surprises, me! Hence having the amnio - again.)

Anyway, it's good to find a support thread like this, even though it means others are having to go through the whole worrisome process.
FX everything will be fine for all of us.

Boggler · 10/03/2012 23:39

nearlymumofone I'm having my amnio at 16wks I thought about waiting but I just can't - I need to know.

nearlymumofone · 11/03/2012 07:46

Good luck boogler and immaculada I've got to say while I'm not getting the amnio as I would continue the pregnancy regardless I would love to know where I stand with it all. Do you know what you would do if there was a problem? Although odds are in your favour and I'm sure all will be fine.

InmaculadaConcepcion · 11/03/2012 12:50

nearlymum I think it's impossible to know exactly what you'd do, but my personal feelings are this:

First time round, I don't think I could have gone through with a termination, although I would still have preferred to know and hopefully prepare myself to some degree if I was going to have a child with special needs/disabilities.

This time round I would consider a termination more seriously because I now have my DD to think about as well as myself and DH.

That said, I don't know for sure what I would do. I can only hope it won't be an issue I'm forced to confront, but at the moment it's still in the cross that bridge if I come to it category.

Boggler · 11/03/2012 16:17

I'm feeling much the same as inmaculada if this was my first I'd probably carry on, but we have a ds to think about plus we are now in our 40's so a major problem in 20+ years. I never thought I'd think it but a termination might be an option, although it would be terribly difficult to make that decision. I don't know if I've been distancing myself but ever since we had the 1:36 bombshell I've stopped looking at prams etc and it's almost if I'm trying to forget I'm pregnant! Roll on tomorrow I can't wait to get the amnio over with. Then it's just waiting for the results...

InmaculadaConcepcion · 11/03/2012 16:22

I'm the same Boggler - I've sort of disassociated myself from the pregnancy since getting the T1 test results back. I've been feeling the fetus move from a very early stage and now I'm sort of tuning it out. It's a defence mechanism.

If I get a normal result back from the amnio I'll start getting back into it again. (Although I will wait until the outcome of the anomalies scan before I allow myself to start getting excited about it....)

tiggy02 · 11/03/2012 19:43

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Boggler · 11/03/2012 19:43

inmaculada omg I'd totally forgotten about the anomaly scan! No doubt even more worrying to come lol x