Antibodies

So, I haven't ever really thought we're in the clear now at any point in this pregnancy yet. And I probably won't at all, honestly. But, I actually was just starting to feel more positive and excited about this baby.

Basically, I assumed that our only real obstacle to be aware of is that we could have Baby 2 too early. We have a plan, and loads of monitoring to try and keep that from happening as much as possible. And things have been looking good so far, aside from my random paranoia at the slightest change in my body. I actually started to relax a bit more and think about enjoying this pregnancy, even if just a tiny bit. Silly me!

My blood antibody levels were slightly raised at 12weeks, so we repeated that blood test this week, 16weeks. I know multiple pregnant people who have gone through this before. They are Rh - (a protein factor that is either present or not present on red blood cells, and when negative, one does not have them present), and their partner is Rh + which makes baby positive. Since baby's blood does get into the mother's blood system, it is then recognized as foreign due to the positive presence of the Rh protein and the mother's body doesn't like this foreign substance and wants to build up antibodies to it to fight it. Probably not the best explanation, but the best I can do. So, to prevent this, mother gets a Rhogam (not sure how it's spelled) shot either later in pregnancy, or for sure after delivery of the first child and then just later in pregnancy for successive pregnancies. And it's no big deal. Unless the hospital neglects to give the mother the shot after delivery of the first child. Guess what happened to me. Yup.

So I honestly could not have been any less concerned about my antibody levels until my OB called to go over this week's test results. I'm producing two antibodies, one called Big C that we will check again in a month (at 20weeks) as it's levels are still quite minimal, and the other is D. Now, D is the antibody against Rh factor on red blood cells, and my body is actively producing it and it has reached the threshold level above which we begin to worry about baby. No shot and everything's fine option for me, it's beyond too late for that to do any good. So what does this mean then?

First off, we need to determine Ry's blood type and Baby 2's blood type. Best case scenario, Baby 2 is actually negative, and we don't need to worry about at all. Thankfully, with Baby 2's blood in my system, we can determine Baby 2's blood type just by drawing my blood. But that takes a couple of weeks, while blood-typing Ryan takes just a few days. If Ryan is positive, then I'm pretty sure that means Baby 2 is definitely positive.

Okay, so then what does that mean?

Basically, these antibodies both have the ability to cross the placenta. If they do that, they then have te ability to cause anemia in Baby 2. If that happens, the only option is to do a blood transfusion directly into Baby 2, which it turns out is just like an amniocentesis and holds the very same risks. This is what I'm most freaked out about right now.

For one thing, what are the odds? Well, when the odds of losing Korbin were only 0.6%, any obstacle with odds even just right at that are huge. So odds don't change how I feel about all of this, or calm me in any way.

Well, what are we doing now and is there anything to prevent this all from happening? As I said before, the shot was te prevention and is not an option any more. But we are doing even more monitoring now. My blood will be checked every two weeks now for the production levels of antibody D. Once/If they cross into the danger zone, we switch to seeing a perinatologist for ultrasounds weekly or every two weeks. These ultrasounds are high tech enough with Doppler to watch Baby 2's blood flow. By monitoring the blood flow we'll be able to determine if Baby 2 becomes anemic whoh means we'll need to do the blood transfusion.

Now, I understand we have a lot to find out and determine before I freak out. But honestly, I've been doing my best to not stress about anything (work, food, bills, the house not being done, etc) as I know I already am on the verge of stressing about this pregnancy. And since I'm already paranoid about every little thing, this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I didn't need anything more than focusing my energy on keeping Baby 2 healthy and safe inside me through to 36 weeks. And all this antibody business and what it can lead to completely overwhelmed me today.

Thankfully, I have Ryan, who stands next I me and does his best to remain and calm and strong and hopeful through everything. Even making me laugh by pointing out how much white hair (not just grey...) he'll have by the time we have this kid. I also have my OB who takes the time to over things twice with me just to make sure I understand everything and is readily available to me despite her busy schedule. And I'm thankful for the family and friends I have who I can lean on for prayers, positive energy and anything else they think to send our way. It's all needed to get through this without going completely white-haired myself.

We just want to have Baby 2 and take Baby 2 home, because despite the stress of it all we got a lotta love to give.