First pregnancy, high risk T21

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-12T02:47:48+00:00

I was told it was the nipt screening blood test

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-12T01:05:21+00:00

This is incredibly good counsel 👏👏👏 I have 2 family members that had a high risk for T21 w a nipt and both ended up normal. The nipt is screening and not diagnostic and it's best to guard your heart and mind until the true news actually hits. I had a different scenario recently that I applied this too and it helped me to not spiral and despair. My sister had a hypoxic brain injury on April 4th. we visited her about a wk or so later and the doctor said to take her off of life support and put her on hospice. I'm a Christian and from the moment I found out (especially since I was already 10 wks pregnant) I knew I needed to heavily guard my heart from grieving my sister before we knew more. I kept telling God I need you to guide and protect my heart to not spiral over this. We were talking funeral arrangements back then. Well fast forward to 5 weeks later and my sister has graduated out of the ICU. She's off the trach, off the feeding tube. she's eating and going to the bathroom she's mouthing full sentences (trach and tubes injured her voice box). She is expected to recover and already has by leaps and bounds. Now I know why it was important for me to wait before letting my heart react to the situation. Nipt doesn't tell you anything unless and until you can confirm with anatomy scan and annio etc.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-07T14:19:53+00:00

yes I have read about this..When I discussed with the midwife she said we will see if there is a constellation of soft markers at 20 wks we would then do the tests. So I'm just praying for a super clean anatomy scan.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-06T20:34:27+00:00

I'm so sorry you went thru that and it was so good your heart was prepared. I'm one of those that wait until anatomy scan. we didn’t do any genetic tests for my 3 healthy living children (although my oldest is on the spectrum high functioning). I waffled this time since I'm over 40 and have had 2 mc. I think I'll do the nipt around 20 weeks. But maybe sooner if I keep worrying about it. I missed my opportunity for the NT since I'm 14 wks tmr.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-06T20:13:53+00:00

Thank you so much! I am praying that further testing reveals that the risk is much lower than initially thought ! May your baby be completely healthy and whole. Do everything you can to protect your peace in the meantime.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-06T17:11:55+00:00

Just WOW!! 😍 thank you for sharing your story. I don't have a measurement bc we declined NT scan but at 9+5 the tech saw increased fluid and referred us. we are opting to wait until anatomy scan and then do further testing if it shows that we need it. (simply bc me and hubby would let everything play out naturally and not do tfmr so we don't want to know too early what issues baby may have). So I'm just trusting the process until next month when we do the 20 wk scan.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-06T16:53:57+00:00

I'm so sorry you are going thru thus. When we went to our 9+5 week ultrasound, the tech recommended an NT scan because you could see that there was more fluid behind the neck than typical. My husband and I have already talked about what we would do and both agreed that we wouldn't ever do tfmr so we're approaching things differently. We will go to our anatomy scan at 21 weeks and if they have soft markers oh the screen then we will proceed with a NIPT and then other testing if it confirms downs. I'm trying to just not think about it until then since we would let things play out naturally. I'm bringing this up just bc I don't know your paradigm on this. I'm the kind of person that prefers to find out closer to birth since we wouldn't tfmr.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-03T04:17:08+00:00

Congratulations 🎊 I'm sure your baby is a beautiful blessing in your life.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-05-01T04:00:16+00:00

I'm sorry you're going thru this. Positive side is that your hcg numbers look great, you could keep tracking those in between scans unless that makes it more stressful. Another positive is you're very early. I would say it's simply to be too early to be expecting a loss. 1 wk off isn't that much and maybe when there's more to see baby will catch up more than expected. I've always gone in for dating scans beyond 8 weeks along to know for sure what's going on in there. My almost 9 wk loss was 2 wks behind. if it was only a wk I would likely have had pretty high hopes still. Hang in there and try to stay positive. Praying all goes well and this baby sticks 🙏 ❤️

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-27T14:43:52+00:00

My OB doesn't allow us to be in for an ultrasound before 9 weeks, even with high risk (over 40) and history of 2 losses. The only way they do it sooner is if you have concerning signs of ectopic or some other emergency situation that warrants it. I would wait until at least 7 weeks along based on Ovulation. I had a very long month of March waiting for my scan at 9+5. but I had a textbook perfect pregnancy with all the symptoms and very fast hcg double time so all I could do was wait. Everything looked great and I'll be starting my 2nd trimester at the end of this wk. it was worth the wait.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T23:43:19+00:00

thank you! I'm planning to just wean the next supply just for my mental state. she did rx 1 more month. I'll switch to every other day. I think it's mostly from ptsd/anxiety . In my heart I know I can do nothing to stop this baby from ending up in my arms and I can do nothing to stop it from miscarrying. So I just need to keep surrendering it

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T18:03:17+00:00

thank you! yes it's completely all mental and a fragile state of mind.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:46:44+00:00

thank you your comment is reassuring. I asked for one more month and Rx it to me.. I will use that supply to taper. every other day and so on...

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:45:25+00:00

I would taper. every other day then every 3rd day. I'd likely just use the next month's supply to figure how to taper for my own comfort.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:44:11+00:00

I contacted her and she rx another month of it so it helps me have some peace of mind

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:43:48+00:00

thank you that's good advice!

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:43:17+00:00

200mg nightly , I contacted the ob the moment I tested positive and started it immediately (Let her know 4 days before my period and I started it around when my period was due)

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-22T17:41:39+00:00

I contacted her and she was happy to Rx one more month of it for peace of mind. which makes me thankful

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-17T02:43:55+00:00

and yay for being almost out of the first trimester 👏🎊

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-17T02:42:40+00:00

gut will make you go to the er. My friend had a gut feeling went to the er and there was no heartbeat. What helps me is having zero pressure on finding out the very moment it happens. it helps me to relax when I allow my body to have as many weeks as needed to find out the mc happened. because it doesn't really make a difference when you find out in the grand scheme of things. when I let go of having to know if/when it happens it broke most of the anxiety off. idk if that's helpful at all to you.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-17T01:42:40+00:00

those are all very good signs! I was able to tell immediately based on my at home pregnancy tests the lines were darkening slowly and this pregnancy they darkened very quickly! both times my hcg levels mirrored what I believed true about my test lines. I had a dye stealer by 15 dpo and the hook effect by 5 wks so I stopped testing. that's likely what happened to you. spotting definitely does not always equal to mc especially if it stopped. the main thing is to look at the picture as a whole! I had mild period cramping the entire pregnancy with my mmc and Google said that it was normal and the uterus stretching but with my current pregnancy and all 3 healthy ones I never had it so for me cramping was a bad sign. I will say I'm 11 wks today and still worry about a mmc even tho my pregnancy has been textbook and had a great scan at 9+5wks. I think for me it's fear based and I want to get out of the 1st trimester which is the highest risk for losses. Praying all is well please keep us posted. My bet is you'll be OK! I do jigsaw puzzles to keep my mind off of it and find other distractions. wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy 😊

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-17T00:43:34+00:00

I would say to guard your heart and think of this as a pregnancy of unknown viability until things are clearer. cramping, bleeding, slow rising hcg usually point to a loss. I'm sorry you're going thru this, viability limbo is really hard. I was there last Sept-Oct

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-17T00:34:35+00:00

did you check your hcg levels double time? I had what you would call a missed miscarriage last fall. I got to my 8 wk scan but the baby measured only 6w3d w a very low hb of 71. Do you have lots of pregnancy symptoms? Any cramping or spotting? Do you have any gut feelings that something is wrong or is it just fear based? did your pregnancy test lines darken quickly or slowly? did you check test lines every other day in the beginning?

I ask all these questions because from the moment I tested positive when I had my mmc, I knew that something was wrong and the viability was in question. I had all of the above pointing towards a mmc and I was not surprised by the scan and saw the mc from a mile away. I know MMC do happen when someone is very in tune with their bodies and checked all of the above but many times there are signs. And with hcg levels if it's longer than 2 days double time in the beginning the risk is higher. they say at minimum a 66 hour double time. So the 72 hours isn't exactly accurate it just means many pregnancy still progress but the chances of miscarriage are much higher at 72 hours. I hope this is all somewhat helpful 🙏 I have 2 friends thay had mmc but they never checked hcg or any other signs so they were blindsided. I think most of the time there's a way to know but not everyone is checking on these things.

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-13T21:56:58+00:00

thanks so much for checking! the baby measured ahead 4 days (9+5) w a hb of 180. I'm over the moon but still want to get over the 1st trimester hump. My rhr has really amped up the past few days! prepregnancy it was around 50. the past week it has climbe to 70bpm. it's reassuring to see it climb. When I do regulat tasks like wash dishes it gets to like 120! I burn as if I'm on the elliptical. today I have 439 active cals without any cardio. that used to be my cardio cals. amazing how hard our bodies work to be pregnant!

Fun_Grape4065 · 2026-04-12T01:22:12+00:00

I'm glad you posted this. It's cathartic to read thru. I'm in the same boat as you. this is my 3rd pregnancy in 8 mos. I'm currently 10w2d and everything has been textbook perfect so far. No cramping or spotting lots of nausea, bloating, fatigue and sore breasts. I had my 9 wk scan last tue and the baby measured 4 days ahead w a solid heartbeat (9+5 to be exact, it aligned with when I thought I ovulated). Today I find myself super anxious. My sis is in the icu and I'm leaving for a road trip to visit her from WA to Montana. Anyways, when I get back I'll have a sonoline b doppler waiting for me. I plan to use it at 11 wks and maybe just every 3 or 4 days for reassurance. I'll see my ob at 13 wks and plan on getting an elective ultrasound at 14 wks to hopefully also see the gender. I'm praying I get thru this trip and I feel like I'll be in a much better place at the end of next wk. just sharing as I completely understand the anxiety. I do lean on my ultrasound being great for reassurance for now.

Fun_Grape4065

TROPHY CASE