Got To Add A Little Extra Spice

You know we can never just be boring and average when it comes to having babies. I seem to always have to spice things up a bit. As if having a baby isn't spicy enough! :)

I have been asked lots of questions over the last 2+ years about the HELLP syndrome I had with Grant and whether it would prevent us from having any more kids. The honest answer is we couldn't even think about it for about 2 years. But time does have a way of blurring the memory....at least a little. Or maybe enough time just passed that we got comfortable with trying again even if it meant I might get sick. I do have a 25% chance of having the HELLP syndrome again but odds are good that it wouldn't occur until I was well into 30-something weeks pregnant. I will obviously be watched like a hawk. They have already run some preliminary "risk marker" tests on me and there are more to come.

But even that isn't enough spice for us. We found out a few weeks ago that I carry a very rare antibody (like my doctor has never seen this in his almost 30 years of practice!) that my doctor believes came from one of the blood transfusions I had to have a few days after Grant was born. It is an M Antigen antibody and it does not hurt me but could be potentially dangerous for the baby because Jason carries M Antigen in his blood and could have passed it on to the baby. We had our first visit with a perinatologist this week and he was very encouraging. There isn't really any treatment for this antibody although they can do an in-untero transfusion if the baby gets into trouble and it's too early to just deliver. But the odds seem good that if this antibody is going to cause a problem I'll be far enough along that they can just deliver the baby. We'll have very frequent and regular visits with the perinatologist to monitor that situation.

So that's where we are....lots and lots of monitoring. And given what we know now, Jason and I are prepared for the distinct possibility that I won't make it to a January delivery but then you never know. It's all in God's hands....always has been. This is His show. :)

I will say we have felt very grateful to live in a large metropolitan area where we have access to excellent specialists and even more grateful for our faith in the Great Physician. I'd be lying if I said there were not some stressful, anxious, and disappointing moments in learning about all of this in the last few weeks and there is a lot we still don't know until more tests are run. With this antibody, various factors can change at any time so we'll have to take this week by week and day by day. I think we are in for a BIG lesson in faith....no matter what happens! :) You definitely wouldn't waste a prayer on us over the coming months!

We will be sure to post updates as we know more. Right now things are just fine with me and the baby. Everybody looks healthy and I'm doing all I can to help things stay that way. :) We are praying that neither one of these risks becomes an issue and there's certainly a good chance that could happen. Thanks for caring about us!