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Hi Shey, in my case the numbers were arrived at after considering my age and measuring the thickness of my baby's neck. Down syndrome is not hereditary though I read somewhere that having a family member with DS increases one's risk of having a DS baby by 1% ... I think. Seeing a doctor or specialist would be best so that he may give you a detailed explanation of the risks involved. Dear Helene, thank you for sharing those happy stories. I will try to think positive, or at least, have a positive att_tude as I know my emotions can affect my baby as well. All the best to everyone.

I was 34 when I gave birth to my son with DS. He is doing great and is just as wonderful as my older daughter. I never had the screenings for either of my pregnancies because I didn't want to worry. I had no reason to believe I would have a child with DS, but it happened, and boy is he a character. He's been great, no health problems and he is learning just fine. He seems "normal" to us. I am pregnant again, and when I asked my doctor if I should have any kind of genetic testing he told no and that I have a 50/50 chance. I understand your concerns, I worry that I'll have two kids with DS, but I am not sure the odds of that. So I will pray for you that all goes well. Take care!!

Hi Bridgette, in a way I wish I hadn't had screenings. The results have made me anxious and worried all the time and I don't know if I'll ever experience the so-called "joys of pregnancy". I love my baby very much and I feel bad when I think of how he'd feel if he knew how worried he's making me feel throughout my pregnancy. He's such an innocent little child and I hope he'll understand that I worry so much because I love him very, very much and that I only want the best for him. I'm really sorry if my worrying is hurting him in any way. Am I making sense? It's great to know that your son has no health problems and is learning just fine. Thank you for your prayers. I, too, will be praying for you and your family.

Heart: You are not hurting your baby by worrying. Every mom worries. I worry about my kids now even though they are 5 and 2. I'll worry when they are 90. It just shows how much love you already have for someone you haven't met. Just wait till you see that little face and smell that sweet baby breath. I'm looking forward to it again. God Bless!!

Comfort and Best Wishes To Kaz, Kaz, If you're still reading this forum, I want to say that I completely understand your decision and I wish you as much comfort as possible at such a hard time as this.

Dear Forum friends, I just wanted to let you all know that I went through with the termination, it was every bit as traumatic as you could imagine and probably worse. I could certainly understand anybody deciding to not go through with it because it is not like a simple little operation where they put you under and you don't know a thing about it. I had to suffer the whole process of giving birth slowly and very painfully. It is something that is very hard to go through and the worst thing that has happened to me in my life so far. I just wanted to let you know that all the choices are very hard to bear. I am recovering but this is certainly going to leave a big scar.

What a very sad situation, I will pray you have peace and recovery.

Heart, My heart goes out to you as well. Try not to worry, I know how hard it is. Pray to God to give you strength and peace and He will. Seek and you will find. Its hard. I know how you feel about the tests. We are considering ttc for a fourth and I have 3 beautiful healthy kids already. I feel so blessed and am almost afraid to try again. I will be 37 yrs old next month and am nervous of my age. my youngest will be 3 and I was 34 when i had him and never worried about it but now am. I pray for God to guide us in our decision and if it is a closed door to remove the desire. So far the desire is still there. I really think your baby will be healthy but it will be a blessing even if he/she is not. We can't see the big picture but all things will be used for good. Hold on to your faith, sometimes we go through through these struggles and we will never know why.

Just an update as this thread is still running, my pregnancy is going well, have the 19 week scan next week and not at all worried (well i am not looking forward to the actual birth thing), when the doctor said i had 1:65 downs risk i just laughed when genetic testing was mentioned... baby is moving and is easy to feel. Really a down's baby is not a death sentence (unless you happen to be the baby in some cases) and i just want the next few months to pa__s so i can start getting baby stuff, will be good to know the s_x as i am going to get a bit of second hand baby clothing and will be nice not to just have to stick with lemon, pale green or white.

ps, Heart, i think at your age your risk is not so high, ie, iffy nuchal fold measurement at your age is less of a worry than if it was at my age of 44, there can be a number of other reasons the fold was not in the perfect range (from operator error to dates out a little) but as you get older the odds are more for downs. Actually as you are prepared for the 'worst' you will probably have a perfectly 'normal' baby.... things often work out that way, when you have accepted the worst it doesn't happen. :-)

Thanks, lovemy3 and marranie. I am now in my 19th week. Baby has been moving alot and I find it so cute when little buldges appear on my stomach when he pokes me from inside. My husband can now feel the baby's movements as well. I, too, will be having the detailed scan next week. Unlike you, marranie, I am very scared. Nevertheless, there's nothing I can do other than to trust in God's plans. I hope everyone keeps us in their prayers. Thanks!

I will follow your pregnancies on this forum and hope that they will all go well for you in my place. I think your case is really. Lovemy3 you are really not so old and I think your risk not so great. I had number 2 at 38 and number 3 at 40, they had no neuchal markers of course, but I never worried at all even for their amnio results. So of course I was just as nonchelant at my age (45 next week). I really miss my pregnancy, and feel so empty, also the birth after effects with no baby are awful, I even got the rock hard b___sts and milk despite medication. I have been giving much more attention to my 3 children now which has probably been an hormonal need. I can imagine how scared you are for the next scan, its amazing how such a happy event can become so scarey. I went for my first fatal scan on Valentine's day thinking how romantic it would be to see the 4th little heart we have produced beating, Valentine's day will never be the same again for me.

Hey everyone. Tomorrow i will be 19 weeks with my 2nd child. I had a nuchal transluceny and the results were great. There was 1 in 4980 chances the baby had downs and 1 in 9900 chances the baby had trisomy 18. About 2 wks ago I had a materal serum screening which determined there was 1 in 62 chances thr baby would have downs. The dr wants me to have an amnio but I am going to wait to have the level 2 sonogram first which is on 4/3. I have been told that the AFP has a high false positive rate. I am not too concerned since the nuchal was good. I am 35 yrs old, never thought I would go through this in a pregnancy. My DH has ben most supportive and feels we should wait for the results of the 20 week sonogram on Monday before electing to have the amnio. Anyone have any experience with this?

Oh Kaz, I feel so sad for you. I really hope you can have peace and healing from this experience. I will keep you in my prayers.

Monique, My sister-in law had a false positive at age 35 as well. The anxiety for her was too much and she did the amnio only to find out her baby was perfectly fine and it was all worry and risk for nothing. Hde was born and is wonderful!! Hang in there.

Good thoughts for those getting scans next week, mine is on 10th april, there seem to be a few on this thread who are due around the same time, i am due first week in september. And Heart, i am not scared, but no doubt when the time comes i will do my usually shaking like a leaf at the u/s place. I think i am still in shock that i am actually pregnant after having the last few pregnancies end in miscarriage. There was an attractive teenage girl (only really noticed the down's in the way a possible pregnant and over 40 woman would) in the supermarket packing shelves the day i got the test... i think maybe seeing her might have helped in that if thats the worst that can happen it wont be so bad.