Genetic Screening Results

Fingers crossed.

How far along? 17 weeks 4 days



Today we had our 3rd appointment with our midwife and a big part of that appointment was finding out the test results from my genetic screening tests. Because I am 35, the chances that our baby could have downs syndrome is higher than ...well, that of a younger person. Why? I don't know but statistically it is true. The series of tests not only are to discover chance of downs syndrome but also help detect spina bifida and trisomy 13.
Our test results reveal that our baby has a 1 in over 520 chance of having downs syndrome. This is a good reading in that, if the results had of been 1 in 200 or less, further testing (amniocentesis) would be recommended to determine if the baby was free of chromosomal abnormality (I can't keep writing the DS words...feels a bit like saying "Voldemort" out loud). Anyway, our test for that was promising and we feel confident to proceed without further testing on that front.
The chances of our baby having spina bifida is way way way less than our other results and the same for trisomy 13.
Woo hoo!! and phew. I have to say that I was feeling pretty good about things before we had our results explained to us but when our midwife told us she would review the test findings with us my heart started to palpatate a little. Simon revealed that it was that moment that he realized how much he had been looking forward to hearing that news too.
We're feeling good about our baby's development after our appointment today and our little one is apparently quite active in there...look soon for blog entry "Ninja Baby".
Next big marker: 20 week ultrasound...if you don't want to know if it's a boy or girl...too bad.