Pregnant over 40

[Downtherabbithole83]

I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant and am 41. Very aware of all the extra risks this brings and as my last pregnancy (at 39) all went wrong at the 12 week scan when they discovered a number of issues, I’m feel a little stressed by the next couple of months.

Just looking to see if there are many other older mums on here?

I get really bad scan-anxiety on the run up to each scan and I swear my symptoms always disappear at that time then come back later!
I'm sure it'll be fine, please come back and let us know how it goes

So sorry to hear the sad news x

All measuring 6w4d which is behind the 8 weeks by LMP but I do have longer cycles! Saw the little heartbeat he said they do t measure the heart rate though which I thought was odd because most people get told don’t they?

So pleased the scan went well and you saw the heartbeat!
I had an early scan at 6+2 but they would have been 8 weeks going from my LMP (I too have long cycles and ovulated late)
I then went back for a follow up 2 weeks later and baby had grown exactly 2 weeks and strong heartbeat again.
They measured the HB at the second scan (8+2) but not the first

I’m 11+0 today. Finally booked my first appointment, I’m really not looking forward to being asked the same set of questions from the Socialstyrelsen list again and again but I have to go through this to get the NT scan booked.

Fortunately I’ve more or less learnt to manage my nausea so haven’t lost any weight so far so at least I can avoid the lecture about being underweight!

I’m so sorry for you, I know how this feels. Sending you strength!

@TracyJaxx how is your diabetes reacting to your preganancy? Are you managing everything OK?

I’m having a nightmare lol I didn’t have the best control and had a bit of a telling off because my HBA1C was ideal as this was a surprise baby BUT I’m booked in to receive a closed loop pump on 16th!! I can’t believe it :) how are you getting on?

Nothing realy rational, just my anxiety that sometimes flare up. (I feel better now.)

Amnio has it's minimal risk, but I think it is still worth doing it of for the certainty. Although NIPT has a very good rate for down Detektion.

My numbers are all over the place! It was actually the diabetic nurse who suggested I test, as high numbers that can't be bought down are one of the very early symptoms of pregnancy. I laughed at her. She was right.

I saw the gang of consultants, Dr's and nurses yesterday, and though I'm in the green a lot more, my graph is more heart rate looking than steady line!

aww same here! I am having a lot of lows then swinging to highs. It’s an actual nightmare! lol

How are you all doing? I had my first midwife appointment and survived. The was a moment when I lost my shit. She saw that I had many first appointments, said how sorry she was and suggested we cut this one short and then she made me list all my previous miscarriages with exact dates because otherwise the system would not let her proceed. I went on a rant and asked why that was necessary. I never got any help regarding my miscarriages and this info is not used to improve healthcare for women over 40 either. It was just an exercise in bureaucracy.

I’m also 11+3 today, if I make it till tomorrow I’m going to have my new personal best 😅

I had sad news on Friday the scan showed no heartbeat.
Wishing you all the best

I am so sorry for your loss

@Gracie1825 I’m so sorry. It’s heartbreaking.

I'm so sorry to hear this. Hope you have support around you.

Morning all, how are you all doing today? I had my scan on Thursday at what I thought was 11+2 (they wanted to scan early and do the NIPT) and they’ve moved me up four days so I’m now just over 12 weeks.

Having the scan was terrifying as the last time we got this far, the NT measured over 6mm and was our first indication that something was wrong (two weeks later we tfmr). They were really understanding of our anxiety and were really reassuring: this time the NT was 2.2mm and there were no other soft markers of known issues.

I’m now waiting for results of the NIPT and I am terrified that, even though the sonographer said things looked fine, it will come back high risk for something. NT measurements with my other pregnancies were 1.5 and 1.7 so I’m concerned that 2.2 is higher and I’m at an earlier point than with the others (and I saw her take at least one measurement with said 2.7 before she decided on the 2.2 measurement).

We didn’t want to tell our daughters but the oldest kept asking and my autistic daughter was worried that something bad was wrong with me because of all the sickness and exhaustion (causing anxiety and meltdowns for her), so we caved on Friday. I am now terrified the NIPT will give bad news and they’ll have to go through the loss with us.

I'm just over 11 weeks and also waiting for the results of the NIPT so we can anxiously wait together!!

i had a scan on Wednesday and NT looked good, no soft markers etc - it doesn't stop this worrying though does it!?!

How old are your other children? DD1 is 4 and we haven't told her yet (waiting for NIPT results) but the other night she put her head on my belly and said 'mummy, is there a baby in your tummy' before answering herself 'yes, there is, I can hear it!'. I nearly passed out!

Good luck and keep me posted.

Thanks for your response. When did you have your NIPT? Wednesday as well? When are you hoping to get results? Fetal medicine said they’d call me as soon as they come in so I’m sure I’ll be anxiously jumping every time my phone rings from about Wednesday this week.

My daughters are 7 and 5, my partner’s daughter is almost 10. I’m quite impressed we managed to keep it from them this long as at one point I was being sick 5 times a day!

Yes, Wednesday, and they said the results should be back in 7-10 days. Feel like everything is on hold until I get that call 🙈

Positive vibes that both our results will be absolutely fine and we might then be able to relax a bit and enjoy our pregnancies!

2.2 mm sounds good, fingers crossed it works this time for you!

I’m 12+4 today and I have my first scan next week. I’m surprised I managed to hold it off for that long but I repeatedly refused early scan offers. Last week I had an appointment with a consultant arranged by the midwife and I just sat there and looked at the ultrasound equipment.

Hope your results come through for you quickly @Downtherabbithole83 @sel2223 and reassure you that all is well.

I also had my scan last week (measured just over 13 wks). They explained I'm not able to have triple screening or NIPT due to the vanishing twin as that can interfere with results meaning they aren't an accurate indicator of risk. Visually I was told all looked well with surviving twin on scan in terms of NT etc. BUT then it all got complicated. Sonographer identified a rare complication that without intervention baby is unlikely to survive. Was seen by fetal medicine consultant the next day. Only a handful of babies affected by this each year and I've been referred to a specialist in London. Huge shock. This complication is just random bad luck, no known risk factors and nothing to do with my age. Trying to keep hopeful but realistic that this might not end well.

Gosh that all sounds complicated! Hope you’re okay - will the intervention be required before or after birth? (If you don’t mind me asking)

It sounds very scary. I hope it helps that it was identified quickly. I also hope that it can be a human error and repeated scans will clarify this!

Thanks @Downtherabbithole83. My understanding is that the intervention would be sooner rather than later - could be in the next couple of weeks or perhaps in a month or so. Depends on consultant's view. The baby itself is absolutely fine currently, completely normal - the complication is specifically related to the fact this started as an identical twin pregnancy. To put it vaguely, it will in time affect blood flow to/from the baby (I'd rather not name the exact condition here as it is so rare). I had never heard of it before and there is very little on the internet about it.

I had hoped at this stage I could announce pregnancy to close friends and in some ways I feel I am going to have to as will potentially need practical support from people, but hard to disclose a pregnancy when there may not be a baby at the end of it. I have now told my parents.