Has anyone had an abnormal quad screen before. I am 32 and my quad screen came back abnormal hig risk for downs. My normal range for my age was 1 in 453 mine came back 1 in 150. I am totally freaking out and crying. What does this mean has anyone else had a similar thing happen and their baby end up normal? I guess I need som reassurance. My doctor kept reminding me that this is still less then a 1% chance. Ugh but I can't help worrying. I am 17 weeks and they scheduled my level 2 for wednesday so I guess we will know more then. I am trying to stay strong but it is so hard.
I had a bad AFP test -- alpha fetal protein -- with my oldest (now about to turn 16), which is the older version of what you're describing. Just like you, they told me that there was a chance that my baby'd have Down Syndrome. Just like you, I freaked out, cried, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. Those weeks of not knowing were some of the worst in my life.
I went in the very next day and had an advanced ultrasound and an amniocentesis. It was the best thing I could've done. The ultrasound technician at the hospital was much better than the one in the doctor's office, and she pointed out a number of very reassuring things: She said that the baby's arm/leg ratio were proportional to the trunk, whereas babies with Down Syndrome tend to have shorter arms/legs. Same thing for the neck length. She showed us loads of details such as the baby's perfect four-chambered heart and her two kidneys. The doctor told us that although no ultrasound could say with certainty, our baby
appeared to be perfectly healthy. Like I said, it was a much more complete ultrasound than the ones they did in the doctor's office.
We talked to a genetics counselor in the hospital, who took loads of information from us . . . and then told us that Down Syndrome is rather random, and my age (I was 27) was the best predictor. (Gee, thanks. Are you charging us for that information?)
And then I had the amnio. It wasn't pleasant, but I couldn't wait months and months with the idea that my baby might have a serious problem. It was a couple weeks 'til the results came back, but they told us with absolute certainty that she did NOT have Down Syndrome.
When all this was going on, my mom was out of town, and I didn't tell her any of it. After I'd done all the tests and was in the waiting phase, I told her about it, and she immediately said without a note of concern in her voice, "This is all going to come to nothing." She reminded me that I'd had an odd urine test during a physical when I was teenager, and they'd tested me for this and that thing, and they'd finally determined that I'm a "protein thrower", which means that I don't hold onto as much protein as other people do. And this affects me . . . well, not at all. Literally, I'd forgotten it. But it did cause me to have a bad AFP test.
Oh, here's another big point: Though a really odd turn of events, the school secretary announced to the entire school that something was really wrong and my doctor was on the phone. So the students began making up horrible things: my baby was dead, my husband had just left me. And the teachers ASKED me what was going on. In a small school, something like 6-8 other teachers had PERSONALLY had a similar experience.
One of them had discovered that her much-wanted baby actually did have Down Syndrome, and she had chosen to have an abortion. All the others had good news at the end of their crisis, just like I did. And
in addition to those 6-8, at least 15 other teachers told me that a friend of theirs had gone through something simliar -- and every single one of them had had a good result at the end.
Admittedly, I'm talking about something that happened 16 years ago, and things may not be the same today. But these false-positives are VERY, VERY common. MOST women who hear, "Your baby may have Down Syndrome" go on to have a perfectly normal baby. The AFP test is a BAD TEST. It causes worry unnecessarily.
I heard this from SO MANY PEOPLE that when we had our second child, I had absolutely no confidence in the test and I refused it. I figured that -- being a protein thrower -- I'd just have the same result, and I'd just worry again.
I do hope that you'll have a good end to your story like I did. But go get tested. If you don't, you'll worry for the rest of your pregnancy, and that won't be good for you or the baby.
While she was not exactly the child that her parents first expected, she is the joy of their lives. She is now enjoying her role as big sister to a 2 year old brother. 
I'm so glad I took that chance.
He has sleepovers, hangs out with friends--pretty much most things typical for a teenage boy.
So would her students at the preschool she works at.
