Found out today that I am high risk for Down's syndrome!!

[nicnee1976]

Had a phone call this afternoon to tell me the results from my screening tests for Down's show I have a 1 in 15 risk!! Now I have to decide whether to have the amniocentesis test or not.

I am totally scared and confused. I really don't know what to do. If I don't have the amnio, then I will spend the next 27 weeks worrying and if I do then that opens another can of worms.

If I have the amnio and the results are negative, I could still put a healthy baby at risk. If the results are positive then I have a near impossible decision to make.

If this was not my 4th baby then I would not have the test and go ahead with the pregnancy Down's or no Down's. But with 3 other children I don't feel like I could cope with a disabled baby too, and continue with my career, etc etc.

What a pickle!! Any of you ladies had an amniocentesis that can reassure me, or maybe have been in the same confusing situation??

The midwife is ringing tomorrow to see if I have made a decision. DH wants to do the test, I'm scared whether I do or I don't.

Thanks for reading.

[purplepoet20]

My cousin has one son and is a few weeks pregnant... she has also mc twins and her daughter passed shortly after birth.

She has a family history of genetic issues, so testing was done. With the daughter and the living son and twin boys... All said the babies had Downs, only the daughter was born with Downs but she had many other defects which is why she passed. The son Joey is prefect and beautiful. The twins were mc at 19wks but testing was done after the were delivered and they didn't have Downs.

[nicnee1976]

Thanks for the quick response. That is reassuring for me, but very sad for your poor cousin. I hope she has a normal pregnancy this time.

[purplepoet20]

I hope cuz has a perfect pregnancy... they just moved to the south and they have no family nearby. She almost lost her son too, he was 3mths premature. She deserves one normal pregnancy and delivery.

You have had 3 healthy boys so aren't the odd slimmer with a forth or is it higher??? I heard from several people who were told Downs and had normal babies.

[nicnee1976]

As far as I know with Down's the risk increases with maternal age, but the measured risk from blood tests etc is individual to each pregnancy, despite mother's age. I was borderline high risk with my second son, but because he fell outside the 'at risk' ratio I wasn't offered any further tests. But this time I have a 1 in 15 chance of having a baby with Down's and that it pretty high.
I know the amnio would tell me for sure and put my mind at rest, but the test carries a 1 in 100 risk of miscarriage. I would never forgive myself if I harmed a healthy baby by having it.

[purplepoet20]

amnio also has a false postive risk too.... some people abort think the baby has a 10% chance at having Downs. But in the end maybe if the risk are high and you don't want to chance it then the amnio might be a good idea.

[Indira]

I´m sorry you have to go through this. I guess it´s very hard to give some advice, because it´s such a personal matter.
I think I would concentrate on the question what I would do if the amnio tells me the baby has Down´s.
If I were sure I wouldn´t keep the baby in that case, I would have the amnio and otherwise I wouldn´t. Ofcourse this is simplifying things too much, it is really a difficult situation. Rationally speaking, the changes of harming the baby are a lot smaller than the changes the baby having Down´s.

[gizmo77]

As far as I know with Down's the risk increases with maternal age, but the measured risk from blood tests etc is individual to each pregnancy, despite mother's age. I was borderline high risk with my second son, but because he fell outside the 'at risk' ratio I wasn't offered any further tests. But this time I have a 1 in 15 chance of having a baby with Down's and that it pretty high.
I know the amnio would tell me for sure and put my mind at rest, but the test carries a 1 in 100 risk of miscarriage. I would never forgive myself if I harmed a healthy baby by having it.

i have 2 girls one at 30 the other at 31. each pg the risk was higher for me. each tim ei freaked out. they did a U/S and saw that bone growth was normal, and physically there were no signs of downs. youre right, as you age the risk goes up. i asked how they did the screen. i dont remember much but all i remmeber is that they just use your age to determine. so its likely the "risk" or screening test will show the probabilityis higher the older you are.

im an OT and worked with kids with developmental delays and i myself didnt want a downs kid. so thats why i had teh screen done, i told my husb if the kid were downs id abort. however, once i was that far in the pregnancy i was able to feel teh baby move around already created a bond. i coudl care less if the baby was downs or not there wa sno way id abort electively. as far as the amnio, i mulled over it. some drs will say there is more of a risk for m/c with the amnio than teh risk of you having a baby with downs.
ask yourself, why do you need to know? to abort before the time limit? or just to know? that helped me make my decisions. i didnt do teh amnio and both girls came out fine. thank God.

whats the purpose of knowing for sure for YOU and dh?

[begonia]

Are they not going to do an u/s before offering amnio? My results with DD1 put me at 1 in 15 for downs as well, and I was only 26 at the time. I freaked. They did an u/s the next day and like gizmo mentioned, the markers they can look for were not there; bone growth was normal, etc. She is 100% fine though I thought about it every day until she was born. I wouldn't have aborted either way and the whole experience was so rattling that I didn't have the bloodwork done with my second pregnancy.

Also, I have TWO friends who went through their entire pregnancy, bloodwork, u/s and all ... and wound up being surprised with down's babies at birth. There really is no guarantee to know the baby is healthy until they arrive, unfortunately.

Keep us posted - FX that your results are a false indicator and your bean is super healthy!

[DoulaMama]

My close girlfriend had a false positive with her little guy. She had a 1 in 15 chance as well. The triple screen blood test is notoriously wrong. She had an amnio done as well and after 3 weeks of waiting and dreading the outcome she was told that it was all ok. Looking back she wishes that she had said no to the blood test in the first place. Although she was not going to abort if it had been a Down's baby. I can't even begin to understand the stress you're going through right now, not knowing I hope that you have a perfectly healthy little baby in there. XO Hugs~