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Stay positive! You have a 99.2% chance of having a perfectly normal baby. I have heard that those tests give back ALOT of false positives. Good luck!

Truthfully I hear all the time that for any woman now we have a 1 in 130 chance of having a baby with down syndrome since it is so common. I am at high risk for pretty much any of these diseases since I got pregnant right after a miscarriage (miscarried in November 06, found out I was pregnant December 06) So my chances are high for a pre-term labor, down syndrome, heart defect and SIDS. So I refused the test because I won't be able to handle the stress. But they say false positives are common and all you can do is wait until the baby is born, try not to worry about it...everything will be OK

Slackette is right - stay positive. There is nothing to worry about yet, since the tests are slanted to catch more cases of fetal abnormality rather than let a few slip by undetected - that's why there are a lot of false positives. The good news is that amniocentisis has become a lot more common. This means that the doctors and professionals administering the test are better at it now than they ever have been in the past, which reduces the chances of miscarriage dramatically. The rate of amniocentisis miscarriage used to be 1 in 200 in the 70's - it is now only 1 in 1,600. So relax, get some rest tonight, and drink plenty of water so you know your dr. will be able to withdraw enough amniotic fluid. Have your husband/partner or someone else drive you and drive you back in case you are uncomfortable after the test. And please post back tomorrow and let us know how it went. Good luck!

Think of it this way, imagine you reached into a bowl of 130 white pebbles and 1 black pebble...imagine the liklihood of grabbing the black pebble. Infinitely small. Those screens are imprecise and even if it's 130 to 1, the odds are so in your favor. You'll have to wait for amnio results but then you'll have the results beyond a shadow of a doubt. and the amnio test is a breeze.

Just want to say, Good Luck! I hope it all turns out ok!

Just got the results of my 1st trimester screen. I'm 41 so the cards are already stacked against me. They heavily weight my risk based upon my age. Wish my numbers were a little more cushy. They are 1 in 72. It equates with a 98.7 chance of having a perfectly healthy baby. I'm fretting of course over the 1 in 72. It sounds worse than the 98.7 but it''s the exact same thing. My score started out before the test at 1 in 47 and my odds improved after the test just not quite as much as I was hoping. The only number off was my hcg. The genetic counselor said it was a little bit high. Anyone know of any reason outside of DS that hcg might be on the high side at 12.5 weeks? Jbentley, I ran some of the numbers last night and your 1 in 1,235 odds are only a few tenths of a percent to the better than they stand right now at 1 in 130. Your odds are great!! Do you know what part of the test affected your results? NT, PappA, hcg ?? Don't fret! I should take my own advice. Iqtoo your information about the 1 in 1600 for amnio intrigued me. My genetic counselor told me the odds were 1 in 300 for a m/c, which is what made me decide against the amnio. Any information you can provide could make me rethink my decision.

Nerdy_Girl, I didn't realize that getting pregnant right after a miscarriage increases your risk or those things? I've never heard that before...I got pregnant after only one cycle after my miscarriage.

I didn't either but when 3 different doctors told me and I read it on a few sites I was convinced. Most say they have seen a few pregnancies go on to be healthy pregnancies but there was a few where the baby didn't make it, or did have an illness. Thats why I refuse our test because even if there is anything wrong with our baby we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy and I would still always love my baby no matter what. I just figured it would be better me not knowing til the baby is born since there are so many false positives. But there was another doctor who said that everything can be fine and that most doctors just try to prepare you for the worse instead of going by statistics.

The only other thing I could think of would be twins. Twins pregnancies will cause hcg to be high. But, with the ultrasound and everything I think that is unlikely. I do know that if you are over 35 you are at higher risk for twins. i am glad your test went ok, and I am sure your baby will be fine, keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Oh, I am sorry did you have an ultrasound already??

Ok, went to the Dr yeserday and I feel a lot better. Before they did anything they did anything I had an ultrasound. Before she started she said that there are 20 "soft points" of down syndrome. Size of head, size of arms and legs, hole in the heart etc. So she would look at all of these things very carefully. Then she said what I needed to realize is that with my history of miscarriage (4 to be exact).....would I be OK with possibly losing the pregnancy because of the amnio, and then having the results be negative for downs syndrome. "Well, they sure as hell don't make anything easy on you" I said. So, we did the u/s and she said that there is not even one sign that would lead her to believe that there is anything wrong with this baby. And it's a girl!!!!!! I so thought I was having a boy.

Well congrats on your girl, also its great that they didn't find anything.

congratulations on finding out your having a girl. So now that the US shows no signs are you canceling the amnino- or did they do it at the same time. I go in for my AFP blood tests next week but part of me thinks it is a useless test. I know one woman who came out positive and had amnio and everything was fine but another girl got a negative and her baby was born with down syndrome.

I had a 1 in 10 chance of DS according to my test and I am scheduled to be induced in 12 days (yea!) and have had a ton of U/S (for that and other reasons) and I am also having a perfectly healthy baby girl. I also elected not to have an amnio regardless of what the first U/S showed because I did not want to risk a miscarriage regardless of whether the baby had DS or not. Testing certainly is useful and helpful, but it can bring on a lot of unnecessary anxiety. I wouldn't have it done again if I were to get pregnant. Good luck to you.

Congrats on your great news! So are you going pink in the nursery?

I'm glad you have good results on your test.when i found out i was having a boy they told me their were light spots in the heart and that was conected to down syndrome back in the day,but they Quickly told me that it wasn't a deffinant dignoses. I've been worried but in the back of my mind i know this is still my child, and no i don't wish this on myself but i would love it anyway.so for anyone who gets bad news or possibly bad news just remember its still you child, and just because it has down syndrome don't me you can't love it like you would a normal baby.