Seeking More Advice....

Don't worry! They did the same thing to me when I was pregnant with my daughter 11 years ago and she is perfect. And I agreed with you then and now, If I had to deal with something like that, Downs is one of the less invasive ones. My advice, again, is don't worry. Ask the OB what the stats are, because if I remember right(it was 11 years ago) the chances were pretty low and there were a lot of false positive results from that blood test.

Hi, I'm on my third pregnancy due the end of the month and I know this is one of the hardest parts of pregnancy. The not knowing. However you have to ask yourself some important questions. Would you change the fact that you got pregnant if you knew for sure your baby would have Down's? Also will it change the fact that your going to have this baby or would you consider terminating? After you have the answers to these it will be easier (if your anything like me) to not worry because you will know this child is what you want no matter what the test says.
I hope this helps. But remember, there is nothing that will completely take all the worry away, that's part of being a good mom.
Your in my prayers.
K. D

Hello - I know it is not easy to get yourself not to worry about these things but the test they did comes back very, very often with the results to get further testing and part of the formula used is your blood test, your age, your history, etc. I had the same thing but from what I have understood further testing is recommended alot. I did happen to refuse the extra tests other than an extra ultrasound to take measurements which also can help tell the doctors if something like downs is possible. I also know God only gives us what we can handle in life, so I felt I would wait to find out at birth. Best of luck to you and try not to worry.

C. -
I had the same test and the same result when I was pregnant. My husband and I discussed it and decided that if our son did have Down's syndrome we would deal with it when he was born, but we made a conscious effort to put it from our minds. We didn't discuss it with anyone and pretty much pretended the blood test didn't happen. He was born with no issues and is a perfect little boy. In fact, it was several weeks after he was born before I even remembered the silly blood test.

I recently polled my relatives to find out if they had similar experiences. My sister has two children and one on the way; the first had a chance of spina bifida, the second cerebral palsy, and her current pregnancy she tested positive for a chance of Downs. Her two current children are healthy with no defects. My cousin tested positive for a chance of Downs and her son is fine. My friends two kids tested positive for a chance of Downs and they are both fine too. Seeing a pattern?? :)

I think doctor's test for everything and give you the worst possible case scenario to protect themselves from malpractice suits. It's unfortunate, but don't let it get you down. Try to put it out of your mind and enjoy the holiday. Good luck!

Joy

Hi, my sis then appx 26 or 27 had an OB say the same thing, she had the amnio test and it was negative. They said that she most lkely did not have the test done in the time alloted for results to be right. MY niece is 8 2nd grade A student smart as a whip and sassy as can be.

Good luck, god bless.

This posting personally hit home for me. I don't mean to worry you, but I am one of the women that had positive bloodwork come back and there WAS a problem with baby (this was my first pregnancy, 3 years ago. After careful consideration, my husband and I decided to terminate). I would ask your OB what your % chance of Downs was. If it was 1/10000 I wouldn't worry but 1/10 I would. Nonetheless, I highly recommend going in for further testing!!! It will only help you make an informed decision on how to proceed with the pregancy.
I pray that everything is ok for you. Try to relax, there is nothing you can do to change the situation. You are in my thoughts- I look forward to finding out what happened. Think good thoughts! Good luck!!

Don't worry I went through that with my daughter. I had the screen done then I got the call that I needed to make an appointment to come in. At that point I had an elevated risk of my baby being born with downs. That test is very sensitive your dates have to be exactly correct. I was even charting everything and when I went in they did an u.s. to confirm and they moved my due date back 3 weeks, That put me into the normal range. He also explained to me that It shows your risk of haveing a baby with Downs, not that you definately will or will not, He had a patient who had a 1 in 5 chance and still delivered a normal healthy baby. RELAX I know it is hard when you get that phone call, I panicked, I can't believe they are makibg you wait that long, my dr got me in the next day.

I am sorry that you have to go through this over the holiday. I can tell you that I have a girlfriend that got pregnant through invetro. When she was however far along her bloodwork also came back suspicious and the doctor told her the baby may have a diability of some sort. i think it was downs also. They have a relative with Downs so to them it made sense. she wasnt sure what she was going to do. She went to see a specialist and the specialist ended up telling her nothing was wrong. They also told her they thought she was having twins and when she got her 20wk u/s she was having only one boy. SO...maybe its a fluke. It could mean nothing. Her son is now 8months old and as happy and healthy as can be! Try to remember that maybe to get you through.

C.,
I don't like your ob if that is all they said...you probably had an elevated AFP which can mean many things and also has a well documented history of false positive results...ask more questions, demand an earlier appointment for screening and take a deep breath. There are many reasons AFP can be higher than average. Age of mother, inaccurate conception dates, the list goes on and on...I have five "normal" healthy children all my afp results for the first 4 were way high and I was sent for risk screening, triple screening, level III ultra sounds...then I said NO I was done with looking for something wrong...I refused all testing with my 5th pregnancy for my own beliefs and values...I am sorry you have this added stress now, no woman should have to have that when pregnant we have enough in life alone....call your obgyn and ask for more info, tell them how worried this has you and hopefully they will return the call and calm your fears...
sorry
E.

I gotta tell ya - the docs thought that my baby brother had downs. They swore up and down about it! My mom never had an amnio (which says there's a what... one in a thousand chance unless you do furhter tests that can be dangerous to the fetus, right!?), but he had thickening in his neck, and a couple of other things. Well, guess what!? He was just fine!! Is it possible? Sure! But not probable!

Just relax! I'm due in about 4 1/2 weeks. I chose not to have any tests like that. The most important thing to me is that my baby will be happy! And, as you and I both know (i was a nanny to a boy with Downs), these children can be the most happy children in the world with proper upbringing!

I wish you luck and happiess... and worrying won't change the situation for the better, potentially only for the worse (stress in pregnancy = baaaad!)

Speaking from experince just hope for the best! I am mother of 2 boys. A 2 year old and 4 months. I personally went thur that with my second son. It scared me to death when they told me something could be wrong. I worried and worried. All I can do is suggest for you to relax and think and the positive side of things. I know it will be hard but you will get thur it. In my case it ended up being a miscalculation of my due date which throw the results off. I suggest to any to not get those test if you can help it. All they do is make you worried and add stress when you don't need it while you are pregnant. I now live happy with 2 wonderful healty little guys! Just remember you will love your little one no matter what and it will be a blessing! D.

If you have not had an Amniosantesis yet then I wouldn't worry about the blood work. Sometimes that can give false positives I've been told. The best of luck to you!

Congratulations on your pregnancy, newlywed! What a gift! I too am 13 weeks, but with baby #6. I had this experience with my first baby, but further testing showed that everything was fine. I have since heard of many women falsely testing positive with this test and, because of my experience in the past and the high rate of false positives, I have refused these tests ever since. (I don't need the stress and I wouldn't care if there was something wrong with the baby anyway!)

My advice to you is this... Look up some information about this test and see for yourself how innacurate the results are. Remember that it is just a screening test- not an actual diagnosis. The odds are very good that everything is fine!

Hope this helps!

C., 28yo mommy to 5 kids 9 and under with another on the way...

HI C.,

What was the name of the test that was performed when they ran the blood work?
The reason that I asked is because my sister had some type of test when she was pregnant and I can't remember the name of it. But it involved checking her blood. She was told that the test indicated that there "could be" a chance that the baby had down syndrome. We were having a phone conversation about something else and in the middle of it she burst into tears and told me about this test that she had. I remember researching this test for her over the internet and most of the women who had this test run had some type of positive result. To make a long story short, her daughter just turned a year old on the 17th and she does not have down syndrome.
I was over 35 when my second was born and they ran every test imaginable on me. Just because of my age. If I had it to do over again I probably would not have gone through that genetic testing marry go round.
I hope that you have the best pregnancy and just enjoy this time because it is so special!

The test you're refering to has a VERY VERY high false positive rate. So don't freak out just yet. If you are a few days off on your dates it could cause the test to be wrong. They are testing hormones that change with each day of being pregnant. I didn't even have the test done with my 3rd and 4th because it was so terrible to deal with false positives with my first 2. Good luck and I hope you have a healthy baby!!!