Decisions already!

I had the midwife come round my house. She was great but blimey there was a lot of paperwork. I now have a file I must carry with me everywhere in case anything happens and someone can see that I am pregnant. Most of the questions were about family health and my health but then she told me about the 12 weeks scans. I got a little confused and ended up asking lots of questions, but was left with a big decision to make. At 12 weeks (I am 8 weeks now) I will need to go for a scan. I need to choose which scan to have.

I either have a regular scan which tells me a rough date when it’s due and if it is healthy or there at all! Or I can have a scan which tells me whether my baby has a high risk or low risk of having Downs Syndrome. This scan will also tell me about when it is due and growth so far. I immediately thought, well, if this scan tells you more then I would have the second option. But then came the ‘what ifs’. If the blood test and scan and health history all add up to say my baby is at high risk of having Downs then I have an even bigger decision to make.

I can then choose whether to have a second, more invasive, scan which can tell if the child does or does not have Downs. This scan however has a 1% risk of miscarriage. And then you are faced with what to do if it does have Downs.

So, I can choose not to have the high risk/low risk scan and never know until it is born or a much later scan or I can get this Downs scan, find out if it is low or high risk and then either live with the fact my baby might have downs but not find out or risk a miscarriage to have peace of mind! I didn’t expect such big decisions this early on! I thought my biggest worry was lifting heavy things and staying away from shellfish.

So when Nick came home we discussed it. I have spoken to friends who have children but most said they didn’t have the option. A friend of ours has just given birth to her second child who has been diagnosed with Downs Syndrome, her first was completely healthy. As it has happened to someone we know it is such a scary event. I did some research and Downs Syndrome is nothing a parent can prevent. Apparently it is pure fluke that the chromosomes do not split evenly within the womb at the very early stages of pregnancy.

We had a week to think about it and then my midwife called and asked if we had made a decision. I said “yes, we will have the scan that tells us about the risk of Downs Syndrome..."

My friend gave me good advice, see what happens and cross the bridge when/if you come to it. I have a month to wait now…