Anyone Else with a "False" Negative at 1St Trimester Screening??

My children were born a while ago, so I never had these kinds of tests, but I have attended over a dozen births and the support of your Dr is critical!! I have chased out the machine happy nurses and Dr.s from the labor room more than once!!

Decide what the worst thing that could happen is and face it as well as you can. Would you not have the baby?

Sonograms 'disturb' your child. The quantity of them given now days disturbs me greatly.

I would look for another DR or maybe a midwife and get some support. I wish I could give you a hug! You are in charge of this and do not have to listen to them. Do you have a labor and delivery attendant to support you? A friend or your husband to go through these visits with you? You have enough worry and having someone there to stand up for you and support you may be a big help. It is a big commitment and why some people hire Dulas.

My prayers are with you. E., you can know in your gut what is the right thing to do. My support for you says not to go to the extra visits unless you would consider not having the baby. IF your baby is going to come, (and it will be perfect!!) get this stress out of your life. Dr.s need to cover thier butts as well as thier costs.

I am not sure about what tests you are talking about, I may not have had those (it's only been 3 years and 2 years since my pregnancies, but I only remember the glucose and I declined the AFP), but I know how it feels to have an OB/Gyn who is worrying you and not being supportive. If there is any way you can get a second opinion, I would do that. I don't know of any doctors in the Murrieta area so I could not recommend anyone, but I went to an amazing, wonderful Midwife in Oceanside: Michelle Freund, of Birth Matters ###-###-####. I can't say enough good things about her, she also delivered my brother and his wife's two babies, he said it the best when he said, "if she were a basketball player, she would be Michael Jordan." His way of saying she is the top of her field (and my brother is not one to give out complements). I'm not trying to suddently talk you into homebirth (unless you want me to, I will!:), and Oceanside is probaly way too far for you to drive for a second opinion, but she is the only one I know that I can recommend (my OB/Gyn completely stressed me out through a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy and I would never go to her again - even if she hadn't dropped me at 40 1/2 weeks!).
I know I haven't offered any real help, but I hope you find some solution so you can relax a bit and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy without undue stress.

I declined to even have the AFB at all because I knew I wouldn't terminate and didn't want to have any extra stress during my pregnancy. Like you stated, 1 in 20 women get false positives and I have met numerous women who had false positives. I imagine they want you to do the fetal stress test twice a week which is a breeze and something you can do on your lunch hour. I am diabetic and had preeclampsia so they started mine at about 30 weeks. You have to eat a meal before the test and they hook you to a stress monitor for about 15-20 minutes. It sounds like a pain but it really isn't if you don't already have your lunch hour set aside for something else. As for the sonogram every 4-6 weeks...you only have 11 weeks left so that's only 2 (maybe 3) sonograms and I always found it fun to see our son in the womb. That's where being diabetic was a positive thing for me; because I must have had 15 sonograms during my pregnancy and I loved it. I would totally skip the amniocentesis but I don't think you should skip the other precautionary tests; unless you don't want to monitor and would rather just do the pregnancy like everyone else and deal with the possibility of something or nothing once you have given birth. I think that's a personal preference and if you feel like everything is fine and you are comfortable with skipping the extra stuff then you have the right to make that decision. It doesn't mean that you don't care; it just means that you don't see any reason to make a big deal out of it. Best wishes to you and your family.

There is actually a low risk of miscarriage with an amnio and may relieve you of so many tests. I would revisit the idea.
I have not had your experience but I do have two friends with downs children. One was an older mother and the other was very young.
It seems as though the amnio would be the quickest way to settle this issue and avoid so many excessive tests.
It is also not too late to switch doctors and if you are unhappy with your current OB, find another one. I switched Dr's mid pregancy with my son and I've never regretted it. Even if they are looking out for you, they aren't making you feel comfortable and that's so important in a pregnancy. Consider if you stay with this doctor, will it be a pleasant birth experience? Do you want to feel this way during delivery? You are in charge of your own birth process, your baby, your birth process, so don't be afraid to find someone who will make you feel the way you should be feeling throughout your pregnancy.