Em - glad you are doing much better now.

CeeCee - the 12 wk u/s we had wasn't just to determine chromosonal abnormalities, but also for a host of other things. Completely agree with you making your own choice on finding out about disabilities or problems, and we were sat down by an ob at the u/s clinic who fully explained the risks of any further testing, etc, etc. They went out of their way to tell us that the u/s was in no way intended to diagnose all problems.

At our u/s, they also looked at my ovaries, cervix (make sure it's all closed properly), position of fetus (and made sure there was only one!) and placenta (in our case mine is low, so they warned me I would need watching for that and may experience some spotting). They could also make sure I didn't have any fibroids, which can cause problems, or cysts. They checked that the umbilical cord was functioning properly, with two arteries, and I'm not even sure what everything else was for! You don't have to have the NT scan for Downs (that's just a measurement of the back of the neck) as this is only really accurate when combined with a blood test, or maybe you could just tell them that you aren't interested in knowing if the baby has any deformities? In any case, even if they suspect abnormalities, further testing is required if you wanted them to be conclusive, and they certainly don't push that given the chance of miscarriage.

As for the u/s, the blood test was also taken to determine a whole range of things, not just for abnormalities. Tests can help you plan a healthy pg if there is anything you should be concerned about for yourself, not just the baby, but of course whatever you decide - I hope you have a great pg!!!