Pregnant at forty and over - thread 3

[Marquand]

To continue support for mothers to be over 40.

Blondes, I had acupuncture in my last pregnancy to help moderate my immune system, once in the first trimester, again in the second and third and twice a week at 38 and 39 to induce labour. I really enjoyed it, plus the acupuncturist was lovely and I enjoyed a good chat and laugh for an hour.

I had acupuncture up until August and really enjoyed it. I'm wary of doing anything right now that could affect my body in any way but I have considered returning. Maybe when I'm further along and less angst you about it all.

I woke up 6 times to pee last night! Thankfully fell back asleep each time but ugh!

Bloop, six times! Wow! Bet you're tired during the day! This pregnancy insomnia is killing me! And the dreams are getting more weird by a day!
Acupuncturist is treating me to the end of first trimester. Then it's up to me whether to carry on but not as often as when she was preparing my body for pregnancy and first trimester. Or I stop altogether and return for birth preparation. I'll decide when we've covered the first milestone

I'm usually a terrible sleeper anyway Russkispy so I'm used to surviving on a few hours. I've slept great past few nights. Perhaps I'll get it really bad at the end. I remember 3rd trimester insomnia being a nightmare with DD, especially the restless legs.

Btw orgasms are great for restless legs!

I'm usually ok for 5-6 hours, pre-pregnancy. But what I find it hard now is to go back to sleep once awake at 3-4am! Will be tossing and turning for ages and then feel tired all day! But I guess this is not as bad as nausea/food aversion and morning sicknesses, which I don't have so far. And hopefully won't get!

Well, I've had two much better nights but still fighting sleep during the day. And have had a touch of heartburn already - that was quite a problem in my last pregnancy. Still, I find it reassuring to have some symptoms!

Orgasms, bloop? I got awful leg cramps from time to time last time around. I would wake suddenly, sit bolt upright in bed and shout 'OWOWOWOWOWOW'. First time it happened DH nearly wet himself.

DH and I still not talking about it because we don't want to get too invested in it after last time. But my thoughts are racing ahead to arrangements of bedrooms, practical challenges with 4-yr old, names.... but we are avoiding the subject altogether. I will pay for a scan around 7 weeks, hopefully after that we can start to enjoy it a bit.

If all goes well we will be able to tell people at Christmas.

Well I spoke too soon about sleeping well as was awake most of last night or having really odd boring (!) dreams. Totally paranoid symptoms are disappearing so was thinking about that quite obsessively.

My dreams are so weird, it's unreal!

This morning I'm feeling a half human! Last night I had a late night, went to sleep around 11.30pm, still sore breasts. I slept through till 6.10am, although wasn't a deep sleep. Woke up, quite perky and breasts not sore anymore as such and I can actually touch them and it's not painful! I kind of don't feel pregnant this morning!? My tummy is still heavy but I'm not feeling that sleepy and tired today. I'm not in any pain and not bleeding etc. Is this normal not to feel the same as the day before with all symptoms I've had so far. Shall I worry?! I don't know what to think and nobody to ask.

No idea Russ I'm afraid. However, with my first pregnancy I had incredibly sore boobs for a bit (can't remember how long - weeks not months though) and then they stopped hurting. Everything was fine though.

Ladies who are second trimester & beyond - when does it stop feeling like you're going to die? I feel absolutely awful & I don't remember feeling this bad before. I really hope it's just an adjustment phase.

Hello all,

Have been lurking and watching all your stories. Congratulations to all on pregnancies. Wondering if I can join - am 43 and 12+4, will be 44 when baby due. I've had my harmony test and very reassuring with low risk 1:10,000 but got my NHS today which gave me risk rating of 1:50, which has rather knocked me a bit. I know the harmony is the one to listen to but just wondering what risk rating others of my age get on NHS. Does an age of 43 basically just mean you get high risk pretty much regardless. My HCG was quite high at nearly 3 and pap a slightly low which has contributed to the risk rating. Be interested to know what risk rating some of you got - although it's too personal to share.

Thanks Christmas! Kind of lost appetite today but forced myself to eat! Feeling thirsty all the time! But no frequent peeing. Also noticed oily hair straight after washing! All I need is excessive hair, I.e a beard, to complete my first trimester! Hahaha
I have no idea what to expect in the second trimester! I don't even google it! Waiting for surprises!

Oldmum (seems very rude to call you that!) I haven't had any screening yet so can't compare.

Both harmony and the NHS nuchal fold are both screening tests so they tell you your probability of DS. There are always instances where someone screened low but was 'that one' - for your harmony risk there is a 1in 10,000 risk. You could be that one but the odds are very long.

As far as I understand it the NHS screening test gives a risk which is a composite of the screening data and your age. It is less accurate than NIPT so that's the one you should be able to rely on.

In your shoes I would be worrying because it's my baby and it's inevitable to worry! However, I would contact your NIPT provider and ask then what they advise re. Higher risk NHS data. I am sure they get a lot if people having a high risk NHS screen and then going on to NIPT rather than having an invasive test, so I'd have thought they will be used to talking people through the data and what it all means for you.

Is this your first child? Congrats on your pregnancy anyway, I hope you get some reassurance soon.

russ, I have an incredible thirst all the time too!

Oh and Russ, oddly in my last pregnancy my hair got less oily as my pregnancy progressed (I was washing it approx every 4 days st the end instead of every 2) and my body hair growth slowed down loads. Hardly any shaving required!

Bloop. I felt better at 14w. Still am sick but usually less so. Was tue. Wasn't yesterday or today (so far) so prob will be tomorrow

And I'm at a wedding .,,,, but I go the flow and if I'm sick I'm sick. I'm preg and Suffering from hg and can't change it

Older mum. Welcome. I was told
40yrs 1 in 75
45+ 1 in 50

So at 43 thought would be 60 in the middle

Harmony give you a yes or no to downs don't they? So if 1 in 10 000 that's very good

Nhs was 1 in 500 and told low risk

Even if was high df and I decided that we wouldn't do harmony as there is a low risk of miscarriage and down wouldn't make a diff to us iyswim

Assume you had a needle through tummy for results?

Thanks Christmas! I wash it every 2 days. Will be trying Head & shoulders shampoo for the first time tomorrow. See if it makes any difference. Otherwise will keep using dry shampoo.
Saw Bridget Jones new film last night and they mentioned testing for DS and have you seen the size of that needle?!!! She legged it right there and then!
At my early scan (private clinic), I'll ask them about testing for DS. They've got one called NIFTY, blood test and gives 99% accuracy. Has anybody heard of it? Done it too?

Thanks Christmas and Blondes - yes my name probably isn't the best choice just felt very unimaginative at the time and how I was feeling. It is my first pregnancy so may be why I'm worrying a bit more. You're right Christmas that people have the NIPT after high risk NHS to avoid invasive testing, I was trying to get ahead of myself and when all the measurements were fine etc. just assumed NHS would come back low risk, although higher risk than the harmony. Have spoken to a lot of people today who all say that the harmony is far better than the NHS test so to go with that. I'm trying to get my head to delete the worry that has crept in.

No needle through the tummy Blondes - I think that happens in the invasive testing. Is that what you had to get your 1:500, which is a great result by the way.

Rus, I can't stop drinking water either. Be interesting to hear what you find out about the different tests.

blondes just re read your post - there's no risk of miscarriage with harmony as it is a blood test. It's the invasive tests of the amnio or CVS that carry the risk of the miscarriage. Harmony is 99% accurate but still a risk rating rather than yes or no.

I'm puzzled. Doesn't take much. Blonde and baby brain

So if NHS shows risk people then pay £300/400 called harmony for a blood test which shows % of downs

But isn't a yes or no?

Where the cvs is needle in tummy and risk of mc but will say a def yes or no ?

If so then seems an exspsnive blood test that doesn't give you a def answer

I didn't have harmony or anything. Just NHS 12w scan where measured neck and I had blood test. The 1 in 500 was on bottom of my letter they send

Hi Blondes, yes, that's about right. It seems a bit mad but it is more accurate than nuchal fold and with a smaller false positive rate. I guess for some people it is valuable because they want to avoid the invasive test if at all possible - and if you get a worrying NHS result but then reassuring NIPT result, you might then avoid amino /cvs.

With my DS, I went for my 12-week scan but they couldn't measure the nuchal fold because he wouldn't lie right (in spite of me being sent out to eat something sugary and jump around a bit before trying again). So I didn't get an NHS risk rating. I didn't have any other testing because I didn't know about nipt and in any case I don't think I'd have bothered because if it were DS we'd have gone ahead anyway. I was 37 and the pregnancy had taken a long time to achieve and was much wanted. But I was a little worried that if it was high risk for DS I'd wish I'd been prepared a bit.

The other advantage for some people is that you can do NIPT at 10 weeks (and in fact I think there is a version you can do at 8 weeks) but the NHS screen is at 12 weeks.

Hello to everyone.
I'm new, though I've been reading bits and pieces from mumsnet for years. Just scanned through some of the comments and as a first timer at 41 I feel relatively young (for once). I'm somewhere between 6 and 7 weeks and (cautiously, tentatively) excited and thrilled by this whole thing. I seem to have all the right symptoms. I booked a private scan for next Thursday to get the pregnancy dated, and hopefully to be reassured by a heartbeat in there. I've had a pretty easy time compared to many (came off the pill which caused a hormonal whirlwind of confusion, but periods regulated immediately and we conceived on cycle 5, which was also 4 months after our wedding). It all seems too good to be true. Really interested to read about all the tests you are doing. We will do the Harmony one I think. I keep obsessively googling 'paternal risk Down Syndrome' to reassure myself that my DH being 32 lowers our risk compared to an average over 40 mum married to an over-40 man. It does seem to help a bit, but I'm sure I'll move on to googling something else soon. My search bar is a catalogue of worries!

Now that sensitive and sore boobs symptoms kind of ended and doesn't hurt too much, I think now I've ended up with nausea! Last night it was pretty bad and I couldn't work it out if it was nausea. Had to google it this morning as was feeling kindness of sick on the tummy but not vomiting. Guess it's nausea, right? But strangely enough I'm feeling a bit better right now. So, it's nausea comes and goes?
Booked the DS-NIFTY test/scan for the 22nd November but need to read more prior to it.

The main difference between NHS and harmony is that harmony checks dna of baby in your blood. The blood test NHS do at 12 week scan just checks two hormones in your blood and uses those readings to predict the risk rating. The CVS and amnio also look at dna but are taken directly from placenta and amniotic fluid so closer to the baby so can be called diagnostic. The dna used in harmony is parts of dna found in your blood that have come from the placenta so can only be classed as screening. Downs is a chromosomal problem so should be detected if extra chromosome seen in dna.

From what I read last night and understood, Harmony and NIFTY are the same DNA blood tests, and more reliable and reassuring than NHS. I know they're expensive but worth it.
Was feeling nauseous yesterday morning but it ceased during the day. Guess it comes and goes? This morning as soon as I woke up I had a ginger biscuit. And after breakfast I felt so dizzy I was wobblying all over the place. But feeling a bit better now. Guess that's normal too? Sleep is still erratic. How's everyone so far?