What would I do? I'd have myself a set of twins and love them to no end! That's it!

I agree with mgabmt.

I'm not here to argue, BUT I would not deliver a baby w/those odds (of coarse I would do more testing) But my sister was delivered at birth w/forceps and has spent her life in homes she can't speak/or care for herself(THE ABSOLUTE WORSE LIFE)DS comes in all degrees (from VERY bad-to some what normal life) So from personal experience, I wouldn't put my child thru life handy-capped if I knew that was the case...WARNING: Please don't judge me, unless your speaking from your own personal experence, or you've walked in my shoes!)
Hugs, and I'm SO SORRY your going thru this! Good luck to you!

Now a days down syndrome children live a very "normal" life. They are mainstreamed at school and function very well in normal environments. They can have heart issues, but so can nondowns kids.
You will do what you are comfortable with.

Okay I think maybe I wasn't clear. Of course I will have my babies no matter what. I am just wondering if you guys would go forward with the amnio just to get the answer sooner or just wait until they are born to find out?

I would wait until they were born to find out. There are risks, although not very high, in doing an amnio. Especially if you aren't going to do anything different if it came up positive.

ahhh ok, I personally waited it out. With our third son the test came back that there was a possibility of downs. After weighing the pros and cons of an amnio we decided not to have it done. I was nervous during the birth because I was worried my podunk hospital wouldn't be able to handle any problems he might have.
I think part of the reason was because I am a sissy and don't want any part of having a needle stuck in my belly.
He was fine and this time we opted out of having the test done.

I think I would have the testing done. The difficulty with Down's is that there is such a huge range of effects from very mild to very severe. I think part of it has to do with how much there is extra of chromosome 21 ( a piece or the whole thing) so the test might be able to tell you that. I think the test might also give me peace of mind. 3% is small, if it comes back normal that's a lot less stress on you for the rest of the pregnancy. 3% is also a bigger risk than the risk of miscarriage from amnio. Of course, when the specialist looks they may find a different result than the 3% you have been told.

I do have to say that, both DH and I are biologists and we want to know every possible detail. Would the chance of knowing how severe the child was going to be affected allow you to better prepare for caring for this child? Will you choose to deliver at a different hospital?

I'd skip amnio because there is a chance of m/c and that chance is higher with twins. If you do decide to do it talk to your doc about this and make sure that whoever does your amnio has experience with twins.

i would love the twins like i would any other baby. i personally wouldnt do the amnio because of the risk of m/c. just as jennyjust has mentioned, children with downs live a very normal life and are part of a regular classroom setting. dont get me wrong, they do have challenges but with the assistance of an educational assistant or teachers aide, they do just fine.

IN MY OPINION I WOULD SKIP THE AMNIO AND JUST BE HAPPY WITH WHAT I HAVE NO MATTER WHAT THE GOOD LORD DECIDES TO GIVE ME.BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BE 35 AT TIME OF DELIVERY THEY WANTED ME TO DO ONE TOO BUT I SAID NO WAY.I DONT CARE WHAT THE TESTS SAY ITS A BABY THAT WILL BE LOVED NO MATTER WHAT.BUT I THINK THATS TOTALLY UP TO YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE TO DECIDE AND I WISH YOU LUCK.

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant, one month following a miscarriage we conceived again. This occured after years of infertility, we were told that my husband would never conceive without IVF. So, here we have our miracle baby. I did the triple screen blood test that showed our baby has a 1:38 chance of trisomy 18. A fatal condition. My doctor and specialist advised me against the amnio because of the miscarriage. We then had two level II ultrasounds that have very high rates of detection for down syndrome and abnormalties. We are as confortable as we can be with the results from the level II ultrasound and will not go forward with the amnio. The decision is a tough one and I am so sorry that you are going through this. I would ask for the level II with a specialist before I made a decision. Good luck!

I am so sorry to hear of this, I would think that if I wasn't going to be acting on the amnio results that I would not go ahead with one. Remember that while 1 in 36 sounds like a lot three percent isn't really that much - 3 in every 100, 30 in every 1000. Whatever you decide I hope that it is the right decision for you and your growing family and one that gives you peace and comfort. GL.

i know of 2 women who had the amnio because they were high risk. the doctors were almost certain in both cases that the babies were going to have down syndrome, and neither of them had it. 1 in 36 isn't that high of a chance, and if you're going to have it either way, it doesn't really matter if you know now or not anyways. if you get a lower odd it might make you feel a bit better, but if you get a higher odd its probably going to stress you out for the rest of the pregnancy. whatever happens, i'm sure you'll be a great mom, so it might be better to avoid extra stress when you should be relaxing.

I really think you should also read on the infertility board "Birth Defect how reliable are..." I think it's on pg 2 by now!!!