13 weeks, 2 days – results are in

So our elation at the scan having gone well was reasonably short-lived. AS the sonographer had said that everything was looking great and there was a strong heartbeat, we just presumed that everything was ok (although it still may be, we just don’t know yet).

I had a phone call on the day I turned 13 weeks to say that we had come back as high risk for Down’s Syndrome. High risk is classed as a ratio greater than 1:150. Our ratio is 1:39.

The woman who called me was wonderful, very calm and reassuring, and talked me through the various options we now have. After talking with my husband, we’re going to go for the CVS procedure, which must be carried out before I hit 14 weeks. The procedure is very much like an amnio but instead of extracting amniotic fluid to test, they extract some cells from the placenta. There is a 1% chance that the procedure would cause a miscarriage, but for the definitive yes/no answer on whether or not our baby has Down’s Syndrome I’m willing to take that 1% risk. Afterall, the risk of it having Down’s Syndrome is higher than that and I’d like to know for sure.

One thing that did shock me, which hadn’t previously crossed my mind, was that we’ve been asked to consider what we would do if the CVS procedure result shows that the baby does have Down’s Syndrome – whether we would keep the baby or terminate the pregnancy. This made the reality of the situation hit home with me and I was deeply shocked and upset and spent most of that day and night in tears – although I suppose some of that could have been the pregnancy hormones.

Having taken a couple of days to think through my thoughts, discuss things with my husband and do some research, in hindsight I think I was just upset at the thought of having to make a decision, rather than the results and the fact the risk is so high.

I’ll be 13 weeks and 5 days when I have the CVS procedure. We should have the result within a few days, hopefully by next weekend, if not the beginning of the following week. I’ll post again when we know more.