And the treatment begins....

Well, I had a doctors appt with Dr. Atkinson, my high risk doctor here in town, this morning at 8:00am. As I stated previously, I am producing platelet antibodies which means that I am most likely transferring these to my baby, this distroys her platelets...not good as you can imagine. You can read more about NAIT by clicking on this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonatal_alloimmune_thrombocytopenia



David gave his blood yesterday so we can figure out what antigens he has. Hopefully this will come back soon. Regardless, we are going to start my treatment today (its 2:00am now). I go to Joe Arrington Cancer Center today to receive IVIG via IV. I have also started steriods which help the IVIG work better. The treatment takes about 4 hours and I will go weekly until she is born. This treatment plan has about a 70% chance of working (from what I've read), so we're praying we're in the 70%. Basically, the IVIG is supposed to coat my antibodies so they're not transferred to the baby as readily.



Dr. Magee, the high risk doctor in Dallas I have seen, and Dr. Atkinson have both stated that we will do an amniocentesis around 36-37 weeks to make sure her lungs are mature (I'll have steriods to help speed up the process) and then they'll preform a C-section. They want to get her out as soon as they can and get her into a better environment.



Its sad to say that while I'm nuturing her life and helping her grow, I'm also hurting her. Its crazy that we have this. It seems so rare. At least Dr. Atkinson has never actively treated anyone during pregnancy and Dr. Magee has treated a few.



There is still a chance that David is heterozygous and she only has a 50% chance of having NAIT. We'll find this out when we get David's blood results back. Regardless, we will continue treatment. It won't hurt the baby and we won't know the full platelet count until birth. Better to be safe than sorry.



Scary times. We are so blessed that we have found this out before she was born. Of course with Ethan, we didn't know until birth. His platelet count dropped to 12,000-not good...the average platelet count at birth is 150,000 to 400,000. We're hoping by going through with this treatment plan she will be born with a higher platelet count. (But number one prayer is that she doesn't have it at all and we're just being pro-active).



I couldn't do this alone, my husband and family have been so supportive. The doctors that I have seen are so gentle and doing everything they can to get us the treatment we need. Also, my rock is God. I am giving it all to him. He is bigger than this and I'm not alone. Yes, I am scared and I have my moments where I break down and cry. I try not to dwell on what bad can happen, but I pray for a healthy little girl.



We are SO BLESSED that Ethan is okay now, and I pray that she will be too.



Okay, now I'm crying so I'll switch topics.

We're trying to come up with a name. I really like Ellisyn Lynn. Even, Ellisyn Drew.



I think Eth & Ellie sounds so cute together! :)