Up iN The aIR

I got some stoopit test results back today that hinted to the fact that my baby in-utero may have a chance of having Down's Syndrome.  Granted, it's less that one percent chance, but that chance is still there.  Now I'm hating myself for opting in on the QUAD screen test that delivered this bad news. 

You see, with my first pregnancy it was offered by I refused because of all the "false positives" I had heard about.  My Aunt, for one, had this "scare" with her youngest daughter who turned out to be fine.  A classmate in college went through it as well.  But being I am now OF ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE my doctor pressured me a tad more with this pregnancy and I caved.

So what do I do?  I meet with a perinatologist for genetic counseling to find out more odds and percentages.  Then I have an ultrasound done that looks for soft Down's markers, such as missing finger bones, shortened legs bones, wide spaced orbits...to name a few.  As an ultrasound tech I have glanced at my baby boy several times and haven't noticed anything different, but I'm only trained to look for certain things.  I haven't gotten a real good view of his face since he likes to hide his face downward.  Anyway, after that test I imagine I'll be offered an amniocentesis, where they stick a needle in my belly and test the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby.  And that will rule out things..

Less than one percent chance. 

I want my baby to be normal.  Children are a challenge as is.  Could I handle this?  People do. 

Less than one percent chance.