Pregnancy: After 35 Community

Hi there An,

I feel very strongly that if you would not terminate the baby no matter what then invasive testing is unnecessary. I just lost a baby last year to Trisomy 18 Edward's Syndrome and we found out at 19 weeks during an ultrasound. We did not have the amnio, no need at that point, we already knew he wasn't going to make it and we knew in our hearts that it was Trisomy 18. Turned out it WAS full Trisomy 18, a fluke.. I carried him all the way until I went into labor at 37 weeks, we did a c-section and I got to see him alive for a short time before he passed in my arms... just the way I wanted it. He actually survived and hour and forty -five minutes.. which I got the last 10 after a botched c-section (

I am now 39 and pregnant again.. very scared, BUT I will still have no invasive testing done, only the NT Scan and an ultrasound. They can see everything they need to see there, we saw it all with Jonathan (the son we lost). It was very clear.

This is my 6th child including Jonathan, and we have all healthy babies, so I just have to trust in the Lord and He will do the work. I am only 7 weeks and 2 days, so I am still in the waiting stages and it IS difficult, don't get me wrong, but the day will come soon when I will know if this baby is healthy or not.
I hope this helps you in your journey. You can look at it two ways.... if you absolutely HAVE to know if there is anything wrong with your baby, have the testing done. If you would keep the baby no matter what, then the invasive testing to me is not worth the risk of losing your baby, there is a risk of miscarriage... and that is hard to live with. Plus, ultrasound can tell you what you need to know. It won't diagnose.. but it can still tell you a LOT.

Good luck, my prayers are with you!! ~Christina

I completely agree with pp, I am also 35 my NT sono came back normal, however at my 19 week sono they found a calcium deposit on her heart, which is a marker for Downs, the sono DR tried talking me into a amnio and my husband and I long before we even got pregnant decided not to do any testing that would put our child at harm because it would not change how we feel about them so I declined any additional testing, I didn't even get my triple screen bloodwork done because there are so many false positives with that and I didn't want to be stressed out and stress out our daughter for no reason, I just have to pray and know that God will only give us what we can handle no matter what that is we will love our little girl. Good luck with all and hope you post updates!!

I just had my son in April at 36 years old (He's a healthy, beautiful little guy ). My MD actually suggested an ultrasound and bloodwork to see what the odds were of any birth defects and when those tests came back fine he said no further testing was necessary. My SO and I had already decided that we would have no other tests as we both felt that we loved our child and nothing would affect our decision to have the baby. There are tests they can do that are completely non-evasive and not at all harmful to the baby (see above). I would start there.. My OB told us that the CVS and amnio both had a high risk of causing miscarriage. If knowing your little one was going to have special needs wouldn't change your decision, I would suggest skipping the additional testing and if your OB persists you may want to consider someone else.

At today's visit my doctor told me that since I was 36 there are some tests that I have the option of doing to detect whether my unborn child will have birth defects. He said that amniocentesis was one of the tests but he doesn't recommend it. He also gave me some information to read about it and told me to think about it and I can give him my decision when I come back in 2 weeks. I was undecided about what to do then after reading your post it really helped me. Thank you!!