First semester screen:

About a week ago we went to our perinatal ultrasound. They did all the measurements and one was measuring the skin at the back of the neck of the babies. They also told us at this time that we could do a blood test that would let us know if we are at increased risk for having children with Down's Syndrome. It was a simple blood test and we'd already done the ultrasound, so we decided to go for it.

Thursday I got a call from my OB and they had the results of the screen. They said it came back that we had an increased risk of having children with Down's Syndrome. They set up an appointment with a genetic counselor at the perinatal office to tell us what it all meant and what our next steps were. That appointment was today.

Basically there was one part of the blood test that came back lower than what they want. It measures the protein in my blood that the babies give off. The other two parts of the test (the hcg hormone and the ultrasound) came back fine. When they factor in my age and the results they said I have a 1:44 chance that we could have a baby with Down's Syndrome. "Normal" people my age have a 1:500 chance. In percentages that is a 2% chance that we could have a baby with Down's Syndrome and a 98% chance that everything is fine. The ratio doesn't look so good to me, but the percentage makes it seem much better. Those seem like pretty good odds to me! But the counselor kept focusing on the 2%.

They told me about two tests I could take that would give us more definite results. We could do an amniocentesis or the cvs test. One tests the amniotic fluid and the other tests cells from the placenta. Both have an increased risk of miscarriage and it wouldn't change a thing. We have decided NOT to do either of those tests. They can do a more detailed ultrasound between 18-20 weeks to measure some more things on the baby. We will have that detailed ultrasound, but we already had that scheduled just because we are having twins. We have decided to focus on that 98% and that our children are just fine. But it's still in the back of our mind. We just wish the test came back that everything was fine from the beginning. We love our children and we will continue to think positive. And if one or both of our children have Down's or any other disease we will love them and do whatever we can to make their life the best it can be.

In other news, I have started feeling the babies move. Not specific kicks or anything like that, but I'm definitely feeling movement. It's like I'm twitching on the inside. It's the coolest thing. I can't prompt it to happen, but I love feeling it when it does happen. The hard thing is that one baby I feel more at night and the other I feel more during the day. I just wish they were on the same schedule already!! :) But I know it's still early and we'll work out whatever comes our way. Love feeling them inside and knowing everything is ok!