Positive AFP Test

I felt like I should post something on this because when we got our results from our AFP test we jumped right on the web and looked for any sort of silver lining we could find on the topic.

With out going into too much personal detail we had a standard AFP test done for our baby. I think here in California they push it on everyone. About a week and a half went by and my wife got a call from her OB/GYN that the results were 1/40 that the baby could have Downs Syndrome. This is still like 2.5% but hearing you have an elevated chance of your baby having anything will ruin your day. Plus the kicker was that her Grandma had a Downs Syndrome son in her 20's, so even though it isn't necessarily genetic, it's still in the back of your mind.

Any ways her OB/GYN scheduled her an appointment at the local Children's Hospital for the level 2 ultra sound, a meeting with a genetic counselor, and if needed an amniocentesis. We had to wait a week for the appointment to be mailed to us. I don't know why they do it like that, but they do and it sucks.

So while keeping this short and just doing this to give people hope, the level 2 showed no signs of anything wrong and the genetic counselor said the protein levels they measure where all fine by them selves but for some reason with all the factors (like moms age, estimated age of the fetus, and what ever else) the test bumped it back with a 1/40 chance. But after the ultra sound results and talking with us about our history he said the new results are below 1%.

We didn't do the amniocentesis, and the counselor agreed that it really wasn't necessary.
So now all is gravy. I hope if any one comes across this they will comment on there experience. This stuff is a major stresser for new and seasoned parents, and you can be sure they will be scouring the web too looking for a silver lining.

Regards,
Rob

UPDATE: We had our little girl who is now almost 7 weeks old. Besides having colic (uggg) she is a perfect little baby.