Early scan tomorrow, am terrified

[soupmaker]

I'm going to be 11 weeks tomorrow. GP has arranged for me to have early scan. I didn't ask for one as have experienced seeing a heartbeat at 8 weeks only for it to be all over weeks later. Couldn't face that again.

Was so surprised when the hospital called I just agreed to it.

I guess they are taking into account that I'm 42 and have had 2 MC since having DD.

DP coming with me. As I just can't face the EPU on my own. It's got such horrid memories for me.

Just need a bit of handholding as hadn't been expecting to have to do this for another week or so.

I hope today goes well for you. Such a horrible time.

Good luck! Crossing my fingers for you.

Good luck I'm sure everything will be fine x

Good luck hope it goes well.

Thanks everyone. Have had the most stressful day at work but heading home for a bath and some relaxation. Keeping everything crossed for tomorrow and trying to remember to look after myself.

Best of luck for tomorrow, I am 13+3wks and have my dating scan tomorrow, I am also so scared, this baby will be DC3 but 4th pregnancy, my second pregnancy was a mmc and I found out at my dating scan when I was 13wks! I am so scared, even though I went on to have a healthy DS2 after my mmc it doesn't stop me worrying!

Good luck soupmaker

Good luck LMBB. We can hold hands tomorrow. This is DC2 for us, if all goes according to plan. My first pregnancy was so relaxed and enjoyable. None of my friends in RL have had MC so it's hard for them to understand what an anxious time this is.

Good luck to you both. I know exactly how you're feeling...I had my dating scan on Monday at 12 weeks...having also experienced a mmc last July, it was extremely nerve wracking. In fact I had my eyes closed during the scan because I was that scared...however bubba is fine. And I'm sure it will be for both of you. Will be thinking of you both tomorrow. Let us know how it goes. X

Wishing you lots of luck for tomorrow. Will be thinking of you.

Thank you all for your best wishes and hand holding. They've worked. Bunches of flowers all round. All was well at the scan, I'm showing as 11 weeks and baby was wriggling about.

Thinking of you LMBB.

That's fantastic news! Congrats soup maker!

Hello All, I am new to the site so a big hello to you all.

I am 41 and 14 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, I had a m/c in June at 13 weeks so I am on tender hooks. I wonder if anyone could advise on nuchal scans/amnio. My results returned from my 13 week scan as 1 in 450. I was really upset as I was expecting 1 in the 1000s! As I am real worrier, I stressed this to the midwife who gave me the results over the phone, she told me the results were low risk, how can this be at 450? I have requested an amnio but again this was discouraged because of my results and was also informed I may have to pay for this privately as this is not something they offer freely. I now have an appointment to see a Consultant on Monday to discuss the amnio, I know I will not begin to enjoy any part of pregnancy until I know everything is fine with the baby. I do appreciate I have the 20 week scan to worry about too! Any advice would be grateful received.

soup...that's wonderful!! So happy for you!!

Soupmaker - wishing you good luck for today, I'm sure everything will be fine. x

Congratulations soupmaker!
Ava - try ARC (www.arc-uk.org). They are a charity devoted to counselling people going through ante natal testing. I had a very similar result to yours and although I too was told it was low risk, I was worried as my previous two babies had had results in the thousands. They talked me through it all very calmly and non-judgementally, and were just generally brilliant.

Ava - 1 in 450 is a 0.22% risk that there is a problem (or a 99.78% chance all is fine). Does it sound better when it's phrased like that?

Congrats, soup, and good luck to everyone else!

Ava, I am only 29 and my blood test came back as a 1:120 chance. Went through the trauma of Cvs and a hugely anxious wait for results. Turned out to be fine. If I had been 1:450, and had been told it was low risk, I would try not to worry. A low risk is just that- a low risk. If the risk of you miscarrying is higher (which I am pretty sure it is) then I would try and forget it. I know it must seem high after previous results, but like orange said, 0.22% is minimal. Please try not to worry about, but if you really can't stop stressing then maybe paying for a private test is best? Thinking of you, I felt horrendous whin I was worried about it xx

soup Great news!! Well, I am still waiting!! They phoned this morning and cancelled due to not having a sonographer!! They re-arranged for tomorrow evening!! So I am still waiting and getting even more nervous!!

Congratualtions soupmaker!

Ava, that's a great result from your scan, honestly! Your risk at 41 taking into account no other factors would be around 1:85 so you can see that this is much better.

The way the calculate the risk will take your age into consideration so it's much less likely for someone in their 40s like us to get a result in the 1000s.

1:450 is a 0.22% chance of the baby having Down Syndrome, or a 99.88% chance of not.

Granted, only amnio or CVS can tell you absolutely yes/no, but that's the case when someone has a 1:3000 or whatever chance - the screening tests can never give a definitive no, but 0.22% would not have worried me.

I got a 1:27 risk result with this pregnancy and did have an amnio - all was well. The midwife said that there was a good chance if I'd been 10 years younger, but other results had been the same, that we wouldn't have been there because of the weighting giving to age.

Amnio has around a 1% chance of miscarriage, it's not to be take lightly and it was a very scary time. I'd already decided that if I got 1:50 or better then I'd not go for further testing - with 1:450 it would haven't even have crossed my mind.

Good luck!

Ava, I had a 1 in 7 risk and decided on a cvs, thankfully all was fine. I totally understand your fears as no matter what stat you are given you wonder if you are the one. That said, I do think your ratio is low and as others have said it actually means 0.22% of something being wrong but if it is going to worry you throughout your pregnancy you may be best to have a diagnostic test done. Best of luck with whatever you decide. X

Hello Ladies,
Thank you so much for all your kind and supportive comments, it does sound better when the chances are 0.22%, however, I am such a worrier, I didn't sleep at all last night and got myself into a terrible state, I even had stomach ache! I think having a diagnostic test will be the only way to confirm this, then of course I will have the worry if I am going to miscarry after the amnio. I really didn't think pregnancy would be this stressful or unenjoyable. Thanks everyone, it's great to know there are people on this forum to chat with x

Ava - I am 40 and was also worried about Downs, so spoke at length to a private consultant (who is also a family friend). He is not a fan of the way the nuchal results are done for older women. The statistical risk due purely to your age is combined with the risk based on your actual results. This is how someone who is said to be low risk like yourself can have a ratio which implies higher risk. He feels too many older women are pushed into unnecessary amino/cvs procedures, which given the miscarriage risk from these is 1% means healthy babies have been lost as a result.

You are an individual, not a statistic, so if the scan shows you as low risk then you are. Can you afford to see someone privately before you make any decisions re amnio etc? Don't be pushed into believing that just because you're older your baby will have problems. I'm 33 weeks, with a perfectly healthy baby. The NHS would have pushed me to do further testing, but I saw someone privately who assessed me as an individual, and I was able to make a reasoned decision that was right for me.

Am keeping everything crossed for you Lovemybabyboy. Time just seems to slow down in these situations. Hope you've got a busy day to distract you.