My wife and I were called in to our doc's office last week to discuss the results of our triple screen. Turns out my wife (who is 30 y/o) tested high for one of the markers (not sure which, or even whether it was just one) and as a result the likelihood of Down Syndrome rose to 1 in 274. This caused us to panic quite a bit - we knew in our heads that those are still very good odds, but just the fact that something was abnormal and that a special visit to the doc to review the results was necessary threw us for a bit of a loop.
We were referred to a specialist for a higher quality ultrasound. We met with her yesterday, and the (19 week) ultrasound showed a few more markers for DS: an echogenic focus in the heart, a shortened femur, and a short nasal bone. We were expecting good news from this visit, but instead our odds rose sharply to 1 in 5.
She had an amnio done this morning, and we're awaiting the results on pins and needles. We both find it hard to believe that there is a 4 in 5 chance that our baby is DS-free - we've pretty much resigned to the fact that the fetus has DS and that we have some tough times ahead (whether that includes termination or keeping the baby).
This is our second pregnancy. Our 2-year old son also had an echogenic focus in his heart but it never amounted to anything. He is healthy today and currently keeping us sane.
Can anyone offer any advice or coping strategies for our situation? I'm trying not to think too far ahead (e.g. what do we do if/when we get the bad news?) but it's quite difficult. Has anyone been in this situation with relatively high odds and ended up giving birth to a healthy baby without DS?
We were referred to a specialist for a higher quality ultrasound. We met with her yesterday, and the (19 week) ultrasound showed a few more markers for DS: an echogenic focus in the heart, a shortened femur, and a short nasal bone. We were expecting good news from this visit, but instead our odds rose sharply to 1 in 5.
She had an amnio done this morning, and we're awaiting the results on pins and needles. We both find it hard to believe that there is a 4 in 5 chance that our baby is DS-free - we've pretty much resigned to the fact that the fetus has DS and that we have some tough times ahead (whether that includes termination or keeping the baby).
This is our second pregnancy. Our 2-year old son also had an echogenic focus in his heart but it never amounted to anything. He is healthy today and currently keeping us sane.
Can anyone offer any advice or coping strategies for our situation? I'm trying not to think too far ahead (e.g. what do we do if/when we get the bad news?) but it's quite difficult. Has anyone been in this situation with relatively high odds and ended up giving birth to a healthy baby without DS?