Week 27 - Good News

Week 27 - Good News

Well we got through our doctors appointment yesterday and after 8 different tests of the babies anemia level we got the good news that it only went up to 1.31 which the doctor said was pretty much the same as two weeks ago and was good news. The even better news was that my doctor always takes the worst score and uses that, he likes to err on the side of caution and unlike most doctors doesn't average out the score from all 8 tests but takes the worst one. I actually like that about this doctor because I would rather know the worst result then have a false sense of security with an average. But because of this that means that 7 of the 8 results were lower than 1.3 which is great! If all 8 results would have been in the 1.3 range than that would indicate a truer level of anemia, but because only one result was 1.3 that is great! We have been bumped from high risk to extra high risk now though and will be getting ultrasounds and retests every two weeks to make sure the baby doesn't hit that ever dreaded 1.5 mark.

The coolest part of the exam yesterday was that the sonographer we got worked for 6 years at the University of Maryland and actually worked with the intrauterine blood transfusions. She proceeded to tell Paul and I that in the 6 years she worked there they NEVER lost a baby and only once did they have a complication where they had to do an emergency C-section but the pregnancy was at 36 weeks and the baby was born fine without any complications. That makes Paul and I feel a lot better about the possibility of having to go through that procedure.

We also asked TONS of questions and we also asked if Jacob had been given the same doppler exam when I was pregnant with him. The doctor looked up Jacob's records and told us some very interesting news. When I was 28 weeks pregnant with Jacob he was a 1.1 and the ultrasound that happened at 36 weeks 6 days (4 days before I gave birth to him) his level was 1.4!!!!! And he was born without any complications from anemia. He did have the bad jaundice and was in the ICU for 5 days but didn't need any sort of transfusion! So that just shows us that although his level wasn't as high as this babies it did get pretty high right before he was born. So hopefully this baby will continue to only increase by these teenie tiny amounts and not get past 1.4 before he is born.

I will keep everyone posted and our next appointment is June 12th. The baby is growing great and is in the 59th percentile! He is weighing an estimated 2.4 pounds and is kicking me regularly!

Thank you for all of your prayers and Paul and I ask that you keep them coming!

Nothing is ever easy!

Nothing is ever easy! (25 weeks 1 day)
May 20, 2009

Paul and I learned last week that nothing is ever easy, and pregnancy certainly follows this rule. Not that Paul and I have ever thought having a child was easy. We are the perfect examples of how NOT EASY it is. We tried for 6 years to have a baby with two miscarriages and failed fertility treatments. When we finally did get pregnant with Jacob because of a blood disorder that the doctors found out I have I was on aspirin throughout the pregnancy only to find out once Jacob was born that Paul and I also have a condition called "ABO Incompatibility". This is where the baby has a different blood type than me, resulting in my body creating antigens against the babies blood. Imagine if you went in for a blood transfusion and they gave you the wrong blood type....your body would treat it as a threat and try and rid itself of the foreign blood. Luckily the placenta stops most of my anitigens from getting to the baby and causing serious problems, but some antigens get through. Some problems that can arise from an "ABO Incompatibility" are mild to severe jaundice and mild anemia. 95% of the time these problems do not occur until after the birth of the child. However in very rare cases (less than 5%) the anemia can occur while the baby is still in utero. With Jacob we were lucky and he only suffered mild-medium jaundice and was in the NICU for 5 days.

This week we got a doppler test of the babies cerebral artery in its brain (I was told they use this artery because it is the largest, not because it is the brain itself). If the results of this doppler test are above 1.5 then that is an indication that the baby is becoming anemic in utero. Our baby came back with a score of 1.3. We were told that this is fine as long as it doesn't go above 1.5 and that we need to understand that the score although mathmatically very close to 1.5 will need to go through all of the increments (1.31, 1.32, 1.33, etc...) before it gets to 1.5 so we will probably be OK since I am at 25 weeks. If the baby gets to the 1.5 level at or after 34 weeks the baby will just be delivered early and if a transfusion is needed then it will be given then. If the 1.5 is achieved before 34 weeks then an intrauterine transfusion will need to take place and we will have to travel to the University of Maryland to have this procedure done.

So needless to say I have EVERYONE I know praying that this will not happen and that the baby will stay well below the 1.5 score. We go back again on the 29th for another scan. The doctor did say that if this score was going to rise that it will consistantly rise throughout the next 10 weeks so if the score is still a 1.3 on the 29th we don't have anything to worry about because it more than likely will not rise enough for concern before the baby would be full term and can be delivered.

So whether you know me or not, or are religious or not, please pray for the new baby and a safe and FULL TERM healthy pregnancy!! We have been through enough and are ready for an easy pregnancy.