How to Complete Your Pregnancy Without Worrying About That Positive Quad Screen!

Here you go... be prepared to cry a little.. or a lot =)

http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-...

The quad screen is often falsely positive, which is why its a screening tool only. I know you declined the amnio due to risk of miscarriage. You are in the third trimester (you didn't say how many weeks). Could you have the amnio now? Are you far enough along that your baby is viable now? Is it better for you to know now or to continue to worry until the end of the pregnancy? I am sorry to read over and over again that people associate having an amnio as having decided to abort if the results do not indicate a heathy baby. Just because an amnio reveals the baby has downs, does not mean you have to abort. It does mean that you have time to learn about downs and to process how that will change your expectations of your family. Also down's babies can have other heath issues at birth. If you know about these before birth, decisions can be made about where is the best place to deliver your child and what specialists should be involved from the beginning. Hopefully your child is healthy!

You already know you won't end the pregnancy no matter what. So...try to relax and take what comes. You will fall in love with your baby the minute you hold it. Worrying isn't helping you or your baby.
It's perfectly normal for you to be worried and terrified, every pregnant mother feels that way.
You have a 1 in 18 chance your child will have down's syndrome, but you also have an 18 to 1 chance that it won't. Try to look at it that way.
My doctors told me I could NEVER have a child and there were scary complications but I have two perfectly normal, healthy and happy kids.
I chose not to have the quad screen.
You're going to have a baby. He's coming! Allow yourself to be excited and happy and know that you are going to love him. His little life is precious whether he has down's or not.

You're going to be a great mom and you're going to love your baby no matter what.

I wish you the very, very best and be sure to let us know when your baby arrives! Blessings!

Hi, a different take on your post...

I worked for many years with special needs preschoolers. I enjoyed working the most with children with Downs. I find them fascinating, adorable, and more rewarding even then regular old kids (which is easy for me to say since I've got three really boring totally successful hopelessly normal kids, tehehe).

I believe things happen for a reason, and you will rise to the occasion and learn more about your strength and beauty within then you ever would with a non special needs child.

That said, WAY WAY more false positives, it's enough to freak you out!
Try to focus on other things. I LOVED fussing with baby clothes and buying teeny weeny diapers and such while I was pregnant. Folding all the onsies, organizing drawers and such.

Congratulations to you and your husband! Won't be long now!

Congrats on being pregnant! YAY!
Anyways, my cousin-in-law was told all throughout her pregnancy that her baby most likely had d/s. Bella is now 5 1/2 years old, going to kindergarten, a little spoiled, but perfecly normal. I have also heard numerous stories of ultrasounds that mis-sex babies. DON'T STRESS its not good for you or the baby and it won't change anything. Hopefully your baby is perfectly healthy, but either way it sounds like you and hubby are prepared to love and nurture your baby no matter what! Good luck Mama!

With my 2nd pregnancy i had a positive quad screen. they did and advanced ultrasound and told me my son would most likely be d/s. i worried all through the pregnancy and when he was born he was perfectly normal and healthy. No d/s. My third pregnancy i decided not to have the quad screen done. I hope this helped you.

Questions like this have been posted before and most everyone says that their positive quad screening was actually a negative. It seems to be that getting a true positive is very rare! I would suggest just relaxing and knowing that no matter how your little boy comes out, you will love him unconditionally. There is nothing more wonderful in all the world, and it won't matter in the end one way or another.

I agree with Diana and was going to suggest reconsidering an amnio as well. From what I understand, the risk of miscarriage with amnio has gone way down and it not as scary as it once was.

Of course you're worried and I'd be terrified too. Your feelings are justified, but you could have an answer. Is it better to continue to worry and raise your blood pressure. That isn't healthy for the baby either. I would at least talk to your doctor and see what he/she says about doing an amnio now. You may still decide against it, but to me, it'd be worth the talk.

Can they do one of the advanced ultra sounds to get a better look at the facial features of the child to help put your mind at rest one way or anther? After my screen came up positive I knew I would have my son either way, but I still had the Amnio because I knew I could not wait not knowing. You are already stronger than I was. Just hand it there and know that an amazing child it coming your way, regardless.

There is so little risk of miscarriage, especially now that you're in your third trimester. You should have an amnio, so you'll know for sure and your doctors will know in case they should have NICU staff on alert or specialists present for the delivery.

I have no experience with d/s (save for a cousin who is severe), but I did have a baby recently, knowing he had kidney issues beforehand --thanks to the second level screen!

I just wanted to say this: even if the baby has d/s. you will bound so quickly --I am sure- that it just won't matter. The last few weeks are awful, just take a deep breath, have a glass of wine (my midwife swears pregnant women in the late stages should drink wine a few nights a week!) and relax. The new love of your life will be here soon.

You have some wonderful concrete suggestions you can follow posted here already, i.e. considering an amnio now that you are further along, the baby is viable, the risks of miscarriage are lower, etc. Being prepared and informed certainly does help ease the transition.

My recommendation is along the lines of how you deal with fear in general. I made the same choice as you. I was almost 42 yrs.old with my 3rd child. I was 39 with my 2nd baby. The docs wanted every test run on me. I almost aborted after the amnio with baby #2. It was so stressful. The nurse hit an artery going in, I bled all over, started cramping on the table, etc. So I opted to pass on the fancy testing with baby #3. Yes, I worried.....

However, even though I am a worrier, to this day, I find ways that calm my fears: prayer, music, focus on positive poems, quotes, journaling, humour, meeting with a friend for a walk, a cup of tea and a beautiful sunrise....you know best what will calm your thoughts and calm your heart. Practise these until your fear subsides. Know that you have the capacity to handle this new life that is given to you. You live in a city with phenomenal resources. You and your family will be able to rise to whatever needs this baby brings into your life.

if you can just tell yourself,"we know no matter what, we would never end the pregnancy, so why am i doubting myself?" if your insticts tell you this was the right thing to do, then you havent gone wrong. they are there for a reason and while help guide you through all kinds of things you might think are hard., you and your baby will be okay "no matter what"!

Reading your post brings back lots of memories. My Quad screen came back with a 1/26 chance. I did not have an amnio, mostly because the thought of the big needle scared me :-) I was also having ultrasounds every month because they were concerned about his kidneys. Have you had several ultrasounds? Have they seen any other markers? His kidneys ended up being fine. After he was born we did find out that he had Down Syndrome. No one wants their child to be different. It is ok to feel the way you feel. I did not know until after he was born. I can't tell you not to worry, because you are human and you will. I wish I had prepared my self a little more before I had him. I kinda thought about it a bit and let myself cry and worry for one full day, it was a long day.....then I just decided that what will be will be and he was ment to be my son and I didn't worry too much after that. I kind of put it out of my mind. If he does have DS you will have alot of emotions to process and that is normal. Even though I thought I was ok with everything I still had a roller coaster of emotions. If you feel like it there are lots of groups to contact in your area to get more information and facts about DS. There is also a great group on Cafemom.com for moms that have children with DS. My son is 3 now and we can't imagine life with out him. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you would like to chat.

I did not do this testing with either on my children. We are trying for number 3 and I will not do it when we are blessed again. It is for me why worry about things that we have no power over. And test are wrong so many times. I like the idea of keeping your mind on getting everything together and know that no matter what you are blessed with this little one. Congrats.