Down Syndrome test? *with scan picture*

[siouxie]

I had my booking appointment on wednesday and was offered the down syndrome test. The dr put me down as 10 weeks pregnant even though im sure im 14 weeks, i tried to tell her but as i haven't had many symptoms apart from gaining a little weight and she said i must be 10 weeks.

I was reading online last night to have the down syndrome test, you have to be like 13+5 days or less but since thats already passed and once they done the scan i will be past that will they not be able to do it.

I am unsure if i actually want this done as she said its only to see if ur high risk or not and it could be wrong anyway.

Just wondering if once ive had my scan and they confirm im further on that my dr said will they refuse to do it?

Thanks

susie

 

[Sarah7]

I'm not sure whether or not they're able to do the test further on in the pregnancy,sorry. But what makes your doctor say 10 weeks and you 14? When I went to my doctor we came up with the same dates as they worked it out from my LMP.
xx

 

[siouxie]

My last propper period i had was in febuary. Then in march it was very very light spotting that wasnt even a period then the following month nothing. I told her this and at first she was happy that my last period was in february. she then started asking about symptoms n sickness which i told her i had, had none she looked confused and i told her my mum had, had no symptoms as all with me or my brother except for a baby belly. But she wasnt happy with this and said she would take the spotting as my last period. I didn't think it would matter as when i had the scan it would tell if she was right or not. But just found out yesterday about the down syndrome test.

 

[CARNAT22]

They can do it later on hun, but it will be just the blood test (and not the nuchal fold measurements!)

However if you are less further along than you think you can have the full test [scan and blood test]

xxxxxxxxx

 

[Sarah7]

Ah, that's a shame that there's such a huge difference.
As far as I know the nuchal translucency is done before 14 weeks in everything I read, but I'm honestly not sure if it can be taken any later. It might be worth calling your local hospital's scanning department to see if they can give you any information or maybe let you book one yourself or something. I'm not sure if that's possible, but it might be worth having a word with them as they'll know about dates and things.
xx


Edit: I typed that so slowly that Carnat got in there first with a proper answer. She knows all! xx

 

[siouxie]

When i filled in my forms at the hospital and i didnt fill in the date of last period when i handed the forms in i pointed it out and explained why. She was like ok, and nothing else. A bit annoying this is my first baby and wish they would have said something, i know my dr also write something in the email about the period before being spotting and possibly 14 weeks. Also the woman in my booking appointment didn't ask me either. My scans on the 30 which is when im ment to be having the down syndrome test as well.

 

[KarolinaMoon]

Siouxie, I didnt have the down syndrome test done, my mw kinda put me off having it coz she said it was inconclusive. I just waited til my 20 wk anomoly scan, and they measure the back of the neck then, which was thankfully in the normal range. It is really a personal choice if you want the test or not. Some prefer not to have it.

Once you get a dating scan done, you will know how far on your pregnancy is then, and you can always change your mind about having the down syndrome test after your scan as its on the same day. x

 

[siouxie]

Hey Karolina.
I was told that as well which kinda made me erm and arrr i asked if i could think about it and she said well i wont be seeing you again so i said okay and she done the forms and then i asked if i can change my mind at any time and she said yes. At the moment i keep changing my mind. But she said if im high risk then u have a needle in ur belly to check something which i know for a fact there is no way im having.
And as much as i want my child to be healthy and normal, i really dont think i could have an abortion anyway... so there doesnt seam much point in going forwards because if i come back high risk i think i will be worry about it the whole time & also they can be wrong.

 

[KarolinaMoon]

Yeah, if they find you are high risk (which even then does not mean down syndrome, and you can have false positives!!), you can then decide if you want an amniocentresis performed, which is testing the amniotic fluid, and that involves a needle in your belly! Heres some info on it - http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/testsandcare/screeningfordowns/

It is a personal choice, and you shouldnt feel pressurised by your mw or anyone else...it is how you feel about it. I decided not to have it mainly because if I was found high risk, and then found to have a baby with down syndrome, I wouldn't abort. The 20 wk scan picks up on alot of anomolies, and they look for soft makers for down syndrome, such as lack of nasal bone, fluid behind neck etc....

xx

 

[calphurnia7]

They waited too long to scan me and my baby was too big so I had the quad tests, they can always do it up to 20 weeks, after that I was told they can't do that.

 

[siouxie]

What's the quad test and how do they do it?

 

[babyem]

I doubt your doctor would put you at 10 weeks unless they had reson to believe you are...

 

[siouxie]

Well I've got my scan in the 30 so il find out then if she was right or not. But drs can be wrong.

 

[fresh]

Not sure if it helps; something to consider way down the line if bloods come back high risk and if like us you get extra problems that may signify a problem

I denied amnio as didn't feel we needed to know... til 20 week scan picked up markers for downs syndrome so we opted for the amnio, I am a big needle phobic but it's only like having a blood test, they just go a bit deeper. it doesn't hurt; you just feel it, i was surprised how easy it was, honestly, I am the biggest wimp ever and it's fine. Tummy sore after but paracetamol killed the pain, went away over night
Baby been moving fine since plus I got a few days off work for it too
It is a personal choice and you will get for and against, but sooo glad we had it done so we can start to move on with our result

 

[NavyLouise]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, you'll get dated at your scan so I'm sure the sonographer can advise you there and then whether they can do the test or what your other options are

My WF told me about the DS test but didn't pressure me to decide, husband and I had already decided to get it done and the sonographer just asked toward the end of the scan if we wanted it. It was reassuring for us as she told us that the nuchal fold was teeny tiny and we got the results back 7 days later that it would be a 1 in 40000 chance so very unlikely

Try not to worry about it and see how it goes, they'll give you good help and advice no matter what happens.

 

[Sproglett]

i had no sickness etc, if i felt a little bit icky i ate and was completely fine, when did you get your bfp b4 or after the spotting in march? surely she should have booked you a dating scan if she was unsure

 

[calphurnia7]

Sorry the quad test is just a blood test, basically if they do the scan too late but before 20 weeks they just can't measure the baby accurately to determine downs so they just so a blood test. YOu have them anyways for other reasons, over 20 weeks is a no go unless it's really invasive I do believe.

 

[jen9984]

I had the opposite problem - at my scan I was measuring just too early for the NF test, so I'm just going to have the quad test at 16 weeks. Not too fussed to be honest - I'm not expecting to have problems, and if we do, then we'll deal with it

Hope your scan goes really well!

 

[calphurnia7]

Yeah mine came back really low risk, it's not as scary as anyone thinks

 

[siouxie]

It's my scan today I'm super excited now. I don't think I'm going to have the ds test but maybe il chang my mind at the last minute lol. Can't wait, fingers crossed everythings perfect with the baby