in terms of the pregnancy, is my age.
You see, in case you didn’t know, I’ll be 40 in, oh, about 12 days. And as a 40 year old women having a baby? A lot of genetic risk factors increase. Down Syndrome, for example, because I am 40, is an automatic risk of 1:100. So for 100 babies born 1 will have Downs.
Now, some say, and I think they are right, that the numbers are a bit skewed. That it really isn’t that more Downs babies are born to Moms who are 40, but that less babies in general are born to moms who are 40, so it looks like a higher risk factor. So for every 5 babies who are born (for example) to women who are 20, 2 babies are born to women who are 40. And for the 40 group, 1 of those babies will be Downs, but also 1 of those 20 year old babies will be Downs, but one of 2 is 50%. 1 of 5 is 20%. (NOTE: those numbers are completely made up!!)
But, whether it is truly the age of the mother, or the fact that less of us have babies at my age, it was a worry. A big worry. A ‘OMG What do we do if the baby has Downs Syndrome’ panicky worry.
So I had a test. Its called a Triple Test. I had it 5th January. I got the results yesterday.
Remember that automatic 1:100? Well, my results were 1:1002. My baby is fine.
I cried at the news. And then had to go back into a meeting. 🙂
Oh, it also tests for Spina Bifida. Apparently my odds for that are even lower than for Downs Syndrome.
Now if it would just be June already!