40+ and pregnant? Come and join the fun!

[cloudjumper]

I am 43 and currently pg with DC2, due early January. I thought it would be nice to have a thread for the pregnant ladies of 'older vintage', similar to the 40+ ttc thread, for advice, support and the occasional moan.

brooke The Harmony test is much more accurate than the combined blood test - it uses at the baby's DNA only and nothing else. The combined screening uses the mother's age, nuchal fold measurement, beta-Hcg and Papp-A levels in the mother's blood to calculate the risk for chromosomal abnormalities. The tests are completely independent from another, and the Harmony test is more reliable.
However, both still 'only' give you a risk, they are not diagnostic. For that, you'd need amniocentesis or CVS.

Does Harmony in conjunction with the scan provide greater specificity than Harmony alone?

No, the Harmony is completely independent. The scan might look at soft markers indicating that something is not as it should be, but they don't always do this.

Ahh thanks cloudjumper. Weirdly I'm not thinking too much about this yet. I think I'm very much one stage at a time, never having had a successful 12 wk scan before. So I suppose I just want to get to that, and then I'll start worrying about risk! Thanks for the great info

OK, thanks so much for all this information. Very useful. Is Harmony the gold standard for genetic screening?

What about non-genetic issues (not sure what they might be) - do these increase with age and is there anything to test for that?

Hello all can I join you? I'm 41 and 6 weeks pregnant. I have 4 ds aged from 12 to 18. I found out I was expecting the day we dropped my eldest son at university which felt rather surreal! My DP has 2 DDs age11 and 9 the eldest of whom lives with us. This will hopefully be my first (and probably only!) child with my DP - we suffered a late miscarriage at 16 weeks in January and an early MC in March.

Feeling rather nervous but I seem to have more symptoms in this pregnancy than ever before - feeling a bit crappy which isn't helped by DP currently
working away min-fi. I've got an early scan booked on Saturday and book in with my midwife next week. Will be seeing a consultant too for various reasons.

*mon-fri

flottilaz (waves)....hello there and wonderful to read about you.
All going well this will be our last baby because dh is 56 and freaking out about getting old.
bottle good questions ...I am following with interest!
I think (not sure yet) that after the 12 week scan we will devide regarding harmony or the other one .(nifty? Sp).
I am only 5+4so I am not even sure if I should contact midwife to book or go to gp and see regarding a reassurance scan or just go private (money short here until the end of October as we bought few things.)
Welcome probably and I wish you an uneventful pregnancy....

I so hope this pregnancy is perfect for you, Notsoold. My Dh is 46 and very, very fit but with a pretty chronic back issue which is only controlled with Tramadol. I think this, more than age per se, is what makes him determined 'we' wouldn't cope with further children.

Is Grizzer okay? Has she posted lately?

I'm sorry I haven't contributed to the Harmony discussions but I am clueless about these things. Brook, I hope this pregnancy is full of health and positivity. Welcome, Probably and congratulations! I'm sorry for your losses and I hope you are delighted by Saturday's scan.

Well dh is a classic case of peter pan.... he thinks himself young then his age crops up and right before your eyes he thinks he won't live past 65. Mind you if he retires at 63 , I can guarantee he won't see 65!!!.
Your poor dh.... back problems are the worst!!xx

I just got my first post deleted. Apparently you're not allowed to call somebody a troll

Do we have a troll in our midst?

Welcome probably! Here's to a boring and uneventful next 8 or so months for you. Sorry to hear about your losses, it is so heart-breaking. Let this be your sticky bean.

bottle Apart from testing for the chromosomal abnormalities in the first trimester, the 20-week scan is the main test to check for everything else, genetic or not. Any further tests will come from whatever they find during that scan.

A troll?

So I phoned epu.... my age plus my mmcs warrants an early scan on the 9th. I didn't want to phone because of jinxing it (I know...idiotic). She told me to phone midwife for a booking in app.... ow come that doing these things make me feel like it is all going to go badly again?
And how to take a toddler with me for a scan? He refuses to stay with anybody else!! ....off to eat something

notsoold Great that you are getting an early scan, hopefully it will reassure you. How far along will you be when you have it?
Can you maybe take someone else with you to look after your DS and distract him while you have the scan?

I know how it feels like jinxing it all when you have to go through the motions to get into the system (let alone having to fill in all the paperwork for the midwife) - on the other hand, it might help with getting better care/monitoring! In my case, it helped me getting an extra scan at the EPU (admittedly due to them messing it up and not realising that I had already had had one at 8 weeks ).

Just thought I'd share...

Since my booking in appointment at 10 weeks or so, I've been on some sort of special track involving consultants, multiple scans etc. I asked why this was, and was given various answers including thyroid condition, maternal age (41), relatively recent abdominal surgery (gallbladder removal last December)...and high BMI.

At the time I thought that was odd, because prior to falling pregnant I'd actually lost about 4 st (thanks, dodgy gall-bladder) and thought my BMI was in the higher-than-it-should-be-but-not-worryingly-so category - hovering around or just under 30. But finding out that it was over 35 was worrying and annoying because having a really high BMI would rule out home birth, birth centre options in my local health authority area. But I assumed they just used a really different special BMI calculator than the NHS one I'd been using...

Anyway, every time I'd show up for one of these special appointments, the consultant or midwife would look at me, look at my notes, look back at me puzzled and then shrug and carry on. It took until this week (27wks) for one of them to notice out that the original booking midwife had written my height down wrong - 20cm shorter than I actually am! Not sure how that happened, but according to the BMI calculations I was basically a bowling ball.

It has now been corrected and all the birth options are open to me again.

The moral of this story is: check all those little measurements in your antenatal notes!

Afternoon! Glad you're getting your early scan Notsoold - the reassurance is priceless. I've booked a private one for this weekend but will apparently also get an NHS one at 8 weeks due to my history. Still having the private one as I want to know everything is ok before I have to go to the EPAU for one as my memories of that place are the best.

Got to get my bloods done to check my thyroid levels as I'm hypothyroid and my GP increased my dose two weeks ago when I found out I was pregnant. At least it's being taken seriously this time as my consultant suspects that poor control of my thyroid levels contributed to my loss in January. The Dr and Midwife refused to follow NICE guidelines then.

Anyone else incredibly hungry? I feel sick when I'm hungry and that seems to be all the time! Also so flaming tired that the kids are having rather more pre-prepared meals than they normally would! I was never this bad in previous pregnancies and I'm now deeply suspicious that there's more than one in there!! My back hurts today too and I'm feeling old. Roll on bedtime!

Thanks everyone....
cloud I will be exactly 7 weeks on that Friday.
I am normally a level headed person but ttc and early pg turns me bonkers. I really really feel I jinxed things but know it is ilogical.
I will speak to dh regarding childcare on the day.
Sorry for ranting and taking over the thread. Not telling ppl in RL is really difficult

Sorry, to early.... djini very true about checking the info but I am laughing at the bowling ball.
probably I was born too hungry

Wow Dijini 20cms is a lot to lose! Glad it is all sorted now though and the options are all open for you.

Glad you have an early scan notsoold I was 7+2 with my early scan and it was so reassuring

Probably you have my sympathies, I seem to swing between being starving and feeling sick most of the day and by the evening I just give up and go to bed!

I am sat at my desk (home worker) trying not to nod off at the moment but could really do with a little nap right now!

Hello all! Any room for a latecomer? I'm 40 and currently 12+1 with 2nd, my DD is 3 in October! I've had my dating scan and the combined test this morning, so currently waiting nervously for results! Haven't told anyone yet until we get the combined test results! Eek!

The suspected troll wasn't in this thread, another thread. My post saying that I got a whiff of troll was deleted.

Thanks for warm welcome - and welcome to new posters also; here is to good news and a smooth pregnancy!

Notso - totally get the booking appointments and jinxing thoughts. I could not take me 3yr old to EPU ( am sure rules vary in different areas) but thankfully could book an extra childminding session.

Well as I am nearly 15 weeks and in 2nd trimester I am now off the progesterone and steroids - so hoping the placenta is doing ok! Hope to hear heartbeat next week at midwife and may just be able to tell people then.

I have had a harmony in previous pregnancy - my main comment is that if it works first time and get a good result (1:10,000) it is great but if it does not work first time ( about 5% do not) - then one has to travel ( if travel was an issue, was for us!) again and have a second test. Included in price but two days annual leave for Dh and myself. And total of 5 weeks from first test to result. Only 50% of second tests work. We had it due to high risk on NT. But a 5 week wait was not great! And if the result is indeterminate ( if not positive but not a 1:10,000) only way to know is amino/cvs. Another week delay potentially if on NHS. So if it determines what you would do it leaves no chance of a surgical TFMR. However most get results within 2 weeks! Chose not to do Harmony this time after last experience.

Hi everyone, I've just been trying to catch up on the news. Been so busy with all sorts of annoying evening things at work I've lost track. Thanks for asking after me Flotillaz, I am fine but tired. Going to Spain in a few weeks though so hoping for lots of lovely sun & swimming.
Congratulations on the new babies & welcome new pregnant ladies. Lovely to have you here notsoold. We're really on a roll from the conception thread.
I was given the DNA/harmony test at my hospital due to high risk down's. I think more hospitals are starting to offer it so check before you pay out. It's only free if you have a blood test result of less than 1:100 though.
I had my glucose test yesterday & haven't heard anything so assume all is ok. I have a heart scan on Friday due to previous dvt. My hospital are really going all out. I wonder if it's because they nearly killed me last time with 4 blood transfusions & retained placenta that wasn't discovered for a month! Would they have access to past information unless they specifically looked for it?
Hospital birth for me though (despite or because of past experience - not too sure) but I will do a natal hypnotherapy course to try to keep things as natural as possible. I am to be induced at 40 weeks & will go with that because I've had placenta issues before but will probably try acupuncture to help things along.
Baby is a rutabaga this week!! Without wishing to lower the tone WTF . I had no idea when I got this fruit & veg app how much I would have to google what they are! I was a vegetarian for 15 years in my youth & have never heard of half of them. I'm glad I've moved on from apple & orange but rutabaga - really!!