got my .

I am 35 and will be 36 in February. I am SO very worried about birth defects due to my age. I want this baby more than anything. I have been reading about over 35 pregnancies and it has me scared. Down's is 1:400

Can someone put some light on this.

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Debbie

Host of Due in July 2006 - Hot Tots

Oh yea...I am due 7/05/2006.

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Debbie

Host of Due in July 2006 - Hot Tots

I'm 38 and just had my second. I opted for a CVS test near 10 weeks to rule out birth defects. It is not like at 35 your chances all of a sudden go sky high. It is a gradual increase over the years. Look at it this way: I was told that at 38, I had a 1 in 64 (I think that was the number they gave me) chance of something going wrong. But, the chances of everything being completely normal was 98.5% or something like that. So, the odds are in your favor.

I hope that helps. Big hugs. I completely understand the angst.

Susan.

P.S. My 20 week loss had nothing do to with age.

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[center]
Mom to Clarise born 9/1/01
Mari born 9/16/05
Miles Angel - lost 8/21/04 - 20+ weeks gestation
Miscarriages - 6/03 and 9/03

Well, I do not have any stats to give you, but my doc says that he doesn't worry about patients who are between 35-40. It isn't until you turn 40 that he starts asking the tougher questions and wants you to think about possibilities of birth defects and also pushes for more testing.

He said that his reading and past experience say that it isn't until after 40 that you should be too concerned.

And CONGRATS!!

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Thanks ladies. I feel much better!

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Debbie

Host of Due in July 2006 - Hot Tots

All I can tell you is that my AFP when I was pregnant last year was 1:17 of having another Trisomy baby (I lost one at 8 weeks 3 months before). Also, My level II u/s showed a kidney issue which was not uncommon with Trisomy babies. I opted for an amnio and my baby girl is perfectly healthy and is now 8 months old.

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Cricket

Oh, I forgot to add, I was 37 when I had Carlie!

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Cricket

I agree with the ladies, the odds are in your favor. Congrats on your BFP and enjoy your pregnancy. May it be happy, healthy and uneventful.

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Kim 39
DH 33
BFP 16 DPO, EDD 5-16-06 We are so excited!

1 in 400 comes to a .25% chance of having a baby with issues. .25%!!! We have a larger percentage in getting into a car accident today. And if that doesn't scare us, .25% shouldn't either! Sweetie, you're gonna have a happy, healthy bean.



Sweetie, congratulations!! Have a happy, healthy and extremely boring 9 months! And keep us posted.

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I believe it was Mark Twain who said 'There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.' Worry about how boring this pregnancy will be....and enjoy it!

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Susan
jwdcreations

Susan, 41 & Kevin, 35
Getting on with our life and our furbabies.
Nikki & Schnitzel

I've had 3 children after age 35, 4 amnios and 4 healthy children. Stats stink.

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Where did I come from?" the baby asked its mother. She answered, half-crying, half-laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast: "You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling. You were in the dolls of all my childhood games. In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother, and in her mother before her, you have lived."
--Rabindranath Tagore

I remember reading this one fact somewhere, most Down's babies are actually born to women under 35 (they are the ones having most of the babies! so even though individually the risk may be lower, collectively they have more babies. I hope I explained it properly.)

Anyways, I had perfectly healthy girl at 39!!! My nuchal scan gave me a risk of 1:400 of having a Down's baby and my AFP gave me a 1:100 risk. I didn't do a amino or a CVS. (too nervous).

My sister had her first baby at 41. She got pregant naturally and she did absolutely no testing whatsoever. She has perfectly healthy normal little boy whose is almost 3 years old.

Anyways 1:400 translates to 99.75% chance of everything being normal.

Jilda

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good for you!! 99.75% is darn right near perfect! I'd take those odds anyday!!

I gad my twins at 34 and my husbands cousin has a child with severe downs and she is only 24!! Being PG at my age wiht twins etc I was HIGH risk never had one probelm my entire pregnancy!! I have two healthy babies, well not babies anymore, healthy toddlers.

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Coming out of lurkdom to add: just had my healthy baby girl at age 38. I too opted for amnio, it is 100% accurate. After those results came back negative, *phew, the rest of the pregnancy was smooth sailing. Good luck and enjoy your pregnancy!

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99.75%???? Really??....my birth control was 99.5% effective. Guess I had a better chance of getting pregnant on the pill vs. having a downs baby.

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