20 weeks old baby and the possibility of down syndrome /?

Question

I am 20 weeks pregnant, just received a call from my nurse about 3 hours ago - stating that my test was 76% - and that it was abnormal with a possibility for the baby to be born with down syndrome. She said an ultrasound or amio test are the 2 ways of finding out if the illness is 100 % present in the baby - with the amio being the most effective test. She also mentioned that abnormality in the test may not be anything because most test are abnormal but turn out to be nothing in the end.
I can not even concentrate at work - i don't know what the outcome will be - I have an ultrasound scheduled friday aug. 18th.
Has any experienced this or do you know of any friends who had to deal with this?

Answer 1

i was told that my baby would almost definitely have downs syndrome and was told they could only do the amnio to tell for sure... i decided i didn't want that b/c it wouldn't change what i would do with the baby (i would, of course, keep it- plus, depending on the doctor's rates it could cause you to miscarry). if they got the results just off your blood tests i wouldn't worry too much- they have TONS of false positives with these things. that's how it turned out in my case- my little girl is perfect. hope things are just the same for you.. i know i was upset at first and didn't know what was going on, but all you can really do is leave it in God's hands.. i hope you are a believer b/c it can make the time so much easier for you.. that's how i got through. good luck

Answer 2

for this VERY same reason is why I DID NOT get the triple screen test to check. A HUGE % of those test come back as abnormal when in FACT there is nothing at all WRONG. My doctor said less then 10% of the pregnancy that cause a + actually have a problem it's only a screen it's not a 4 sure answer. I knew i did not want a amino if it came back + that is what they want you to do with a +. NO MATTER how this kids born I'll accept that. IN THE END CHANCES are way more in your favor your baby is FINE you should get the amino to be 100% sure a ultrasound will not catch all problems.

Answer 3

I have know people who had the abnormal test results and it was fine. It is a test that just isn't 100% reliable.

Advice do the ultrasound then if somethinglooks wrong do the amono.

The amono isn't all that dangerous, but it is more risk than the ultrasound.

And even if something is wrong, it is still your baby and will be beautiful no matter what. I hope everything turns out for the best.

Answer 4

My brother in law and his wife went through this - they ahd all three tests and were told that their daughter was positive for Downs Syndrome. The doctor recommended that they terminate and decided not to. The baby was perfectly healthy.
I had the blood test and the ultrasound for it and they both came out negative and I opted out of the amnio because the risks of miscarriage were higher than the risks of Downs. Also, the results would have only prepared me for what was to come and I would not have terminated.
Go with your heart. I'm hoping that the blood test is wrong but I'm sure that if you do have a DS baby you will still be able to give him or her everything you can. Remember, with these children - they are all so full of love and will give you back so much more than you can give them.

Answer 5

I had a very close friend of mine who was required because she was a little older to get tested and was given a 98% chance that her child would have downsyndrome. She is very against abortion so decided not to get any further tests but worried, stressed and cried a lot for the remaining of her 18 weeks of pregnance and the day her baby came he was perfect with no sign of downsyndrome AT ALL. If that were someone who wasn't against abortion that child would be dead as a perfectly healthy baby.

The false positive results are extremely high. Don't let it get you down seriously. I have heard of way more than just this case where they said the child had downsyndrome and turned out to be perfectly healthy baby.

Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 6

The best (and only conclusive) way to tell is to genetic testing through an amnio. Of course, if you are not going to terminate the pregnancy, then it may not make sense. At 12 weeks, they should have done a nuchal translucency test (by sonogram) to see the chances of a downs syndrome baby (the nuchal area - the back of the baby's neck - would be thicker). Good luck and I hope it's just a false positive.

Answer 7

You poor thing, this happens to women ALL THE TIME!!!! The stupid AFP test is not "normal" or "abnorma", all it does it put you at more odds of having one. For example, if they give you the risk of 1:200, all it means that out of 200 women in the same shoes as you, there would be 1 that is carrying a downs baby. Most likely, your baby is just fine!


Ultrasound is only about 50/50% at detection. The only SURE way of finding out is through an amino, but there are risks such as miscarriage with an amino.

I highly recommend you go to babycenter bullertin boards, there are just SO MANY women in the same situation as yours, and you can get lots of info and support there. http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=bcus1311584

Answer 8

i had to deal with this same issue when i was pregnant with my daughter. i got the ultrasound. i was told my daughter had a syst in her brain stem. they said this could be a sign of a cromazone defect. after my blood test they told me the risk was extremely high. i chose not to have the amnio as it was more likely it could be harmful to mu unborn child(1 in 200 have complications) everything turned out OK in the end. the syst just went away. my daughter was born perfectly healthy.
i know it is hard but try not to worry about it as much.( i worried constantly. in my fears i missed a lot of the great things you go through in the later stages of pregnancy)

Answer 9

i can understand your concern.

my aunt actually has a child with down syndome, michael. and she did not find out until later in the pregnancy.

when she became pregnant with sammie (her younger son) she was highly worried for his safety, and the possibility of the defect being present in him as well.
im not really sure what you can do but i think possibly you should go home, call the baby's father, and take a long bath and try not to think about it too much, but if you need to have a good cry.

Answer 10

It's Hard to Deal with I dont have any personal experiance BUT to help you cop look um down syndrom learn all you canabout it they have "support groups" u can go to. the more u know the more prepared u will be and alos the more you will realize a baby with dows is jsut as beautiful if not more bueatiful then one born with out any problems. the are absoulutly wonderfull kids and turn out to be wonderfull caring aduts