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[mnhtnbb]

29. I was a 35 yo first time mom

in 1986 and we did amniocentesis. My husband was almost 44 at the time. Everything was ok.

I would suggest you hang in there until an amnio can be done and think positive. After all, the odds they gave you are 364/365 that
the baby will NOT have Down's Syndrome. And it would be a good time while you are waiting for that appointment to talk about
and find out about Down's and what it means in terms of parenting. But, other things can happen, too. Our youngest son--who was
born when I was 39 and dad was 47--turned out to have a juvenile genetic form of macular degeneration that caused him to lose significant
sight when he was 9. No history in either of our families, but there you have it since my husband and I were both carriers. We did NOT do amnio with him, because his sister had been stillborn at 21 weeks and there was some question whether the amnio we did on her had something to do with me going in to
labor at 21 weeks (turned out the amnio had nothing to do with it). I felt something was wrong with my second son--at 17 weeks--and sure
enough it was (with me) and I ended up on bedrest for 4 1/2 months, but he was born healthy at 38 weeks --no Down's and we hadn't done an amnio.

on edit: the second son--who is legally blind and has 20/200 vision due to his Stargardt's disease--is now a second year grad student at Yale School of
Drama. He never let his sight problems get in the way of doing something he wanted to do, other than driving of course, but he is a very talented
and hard working guy. His attitude has been that everybody has to deal with something, so you just adapt and get on with doing what you want to
and can do. That attitude has served him well.