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Hi Ana Claudia, I'm 36 and refused to have the amnio since it has a chance of miscarrying. I had one m/c and I didn't want to take the chance. I'm going for the Nuchal Translusceny tomorrow, actually. That's the ultrasound test and it's non invasive. I too am afraid that I will be worried sick the whole time but I figured I'd have it and see how it goes. I also know people who have had the amnio and have not had a problem. But with my history of m/c there is no way I'm having one. Hope this helps!! I'll let you know how this test goes tomorrow.

Hi Ana Claudia, Before doing the amnio, ask your doctor for a triple screening with nuchal transluscency. Many times the result of the TS indicate that there is no need for invasive tests. Bear in mind that you should only undergo amnio or CVS if you would be willing to terminate your pregnancy in the event of it yielding positive results for some abnormality. If you´re going to have the baby regardless, then don´t even put yourself and your baby through it, as there is a chance of miscarriage. Good luck with your decision.

Hi I am 35yrs pregnant with my 3rd and let me share with you what happened to me I took the afp test and got a positive!!...1/41 for trisomy 18 which is way worse than ds, I went thru a week of pure hell with worry!! I found out last this last fri that is was a false positive if I were you I would opt for the level 2 sonogram they can tell alot with that thank God mine showed no markers what so ever for trisomy 18 or ds just showed my healthy baby boy!!...If they find something on the sono you can then opt for the amnio I opted not to do the amino cause there was no reason for me to and I did not want to take that risk but really you should skip the afp test just because you get a negitive does not mean there is no problem it is JUST A SCREENING TEST just do a google search and read up on it, I wished I never would have done it and with you being 37 you will most pobably get a positive I talked to a genetic couceler and that was very helpful ask your doctor to refer you to one and good luck...

Thank you all for replying. I will ask my doctor to skip the AFT test and do the level 2 ultrasound. I could not stand the agony of a false positive result.

How did you found out it was a false positive? With the ultrasound?

I wish everyone would not jump to the conclusion that if you have an amnio and something was wrong, all women would terminate. Termination is not the only reason for having an amnio. Many downs babies require special care after birth. I have a friend that knew she was having a downs baby and was happy to be prepared. Many downs babies have serious heart problems and in my friend's case, her baby needed immediate surgery. I had the amnio at my doctors suggestion, and if anything would have been wrong, I would have just felt better being prepared.

I had an amnio and I am 36. There were no problems. The AFP is the one that can have false positives. The amnio is basically 99.9% accurate regarding downs and tri-18. I wanted to be sure and make sure that everything was ok. My healthplan required that I take a cla__s before hand. It answered all my questions and concerns.

I had an amnio done today. It was no big deal. The ultrasound tech and my doc were great. She also said not to be fooled by 'old' statistics out there on amnios and miscarriages. Now ultrasounds are so much better and the needles used are so much smaller. I watched the screen with my tech and doc. I saw the needle go in - it was no where near my baby (now 18 weeks.) I'm sure within 2 weeks I'll know for sure that my quad test result for downs was a false negative. I'm happy I had it done. I didn't get numbed up and it hurt less than a blood draw. ...and bonus... while we were waiting for my doc to come in, after the tech had found good places to take fluid... she let me look around a bit... I counted fingers! Joy! ... the cord was between the babies legs... but now and then it moved out of the way and the tech thinks twice she may have seen 'boy parts'! Double Joy!

Thank you. I will see my doctor on Thursday and discuss this procedure in detail.

I had the amnio and I'm glad I did. the statistics on miscarrying scare people, but if you go to a good doctor who dos a lot of these, the chance of miscarrying is slim. You need to find out how many they perform a year, if they've ever had a complication from it, etc. If you would not abort regardless of the results, then don't do it, but i will say that it was great to have the peace of mind. The other tests are not as accurate.

Ana Claudia, I'm 36 (almost 3&) and chose Level II ultrasound. When that and the quad-4 results came back fine I'm satisfied and glad I didn't take the amnio, which of course I didn't want to do due to the miscarriage possibility. All went well for me. I hope it does for you as well. But I don't regret my choice to wait. You can always have the amnio if something shows up on the level II testing.

I just found out that I now have a subchorionic Hematoma. I hope that all goes well for me a it dissolves on its own. Ana

Hi Ana - I also had a sub. hem. and bled until the 16th week, very scary and three weeks of bedrest - but it did resolve and I am now 29.5 weeks with a baby girl. Best wishes on your pregnancy.

you asked how I found out it was a false positive on afp test well to be honest there are not false positives as this is just a screening test..but yes with the level 2 sono they look for certain markers that a baby with a defect would show like heart problems,thickened skin on the back of neck, fluid around kidneys stuff along those lines...when you have your level 2 done the doc will come in and go over everything they are looking for and show you what they have found on your baby with me my baby showed no markers what so ever and was the correct size ect that went along with the weeks I am pregnant hope that clears that up and good luck I am sure everything will be fine and that afp test is c___p in my book I don't care what anyone else thinks I lived thru that hell and it was just awful I felt like my life was on hold did not know what to think or feel and as far as ending the pregnancy I would have trisomy 18 is so mucy worse than ds I could have handled ds but that trisomy 18 most babies don't live beyond the first few days of life they have sooooo many problems and I would not bring a tiny little baby into this world to suffer I could not live with myself if I did!!!

i just wanted to tell you that my doc reconmended amio but my husband and i discussed it and looked at our families. i just wanted to tell u that my mother had me when she was 41 and my husband also was born from his mother in her late 30s so we checked and we have no sickness in our familys so we decided not to take it.

My doctor thinks I should have it. he says, I am at a advanced maternal age, although I disagree.