The New Baby!!!

Yes, that is Izzie with my pregnancy test.  She was so excited just because Mommy and Daddy were excited!

When we found out we were pregnant, we were so excited!!! But with that excitement came the feelings of anxiety and fear.  We had unsuccessfully been searching for a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor who specialized in NAIT.  Most of the doctors we spoke to had no idea what the heck we were talking about and ended up asking us more questions than we asked them.  Forget about the nurses and staff members in the offices and how could I blame them?  Our condition is extremely rare and treatment is often considered experimental.  No one really knew anything and that was unnerving, because we didn't really know anything either! 

After hours of searching online, calling, looking for support groups and being disappointed... I finally found a tiny little line that specified NAIT as a specialty on the Johns Hopkins website.  With the help of my wonderful friend, Bethani, I was able to find out that Dr. Blakemore was a doctor who had seen, treated and done research about NAIT.  We made an appointment and she was incredibly informative, sweet and reassuring that we could and WOULD have a healthy baby.  She has had a very successful track record and she gave us something we had been searching for, hope and reassurance. 

Dr. Blakemore outlined our treatment plan which will include weekly IVIG infusions for me, regular check-ups and sonograms to check for brain and belly bleeds in the baby.  Toward the end of the pregnancy they will check the baby's platelets to ensure they are high enough to avoid a C-section if possible.  The IVIG treatments are an infusion of immunoglobulin that will hopefully protect the baby's platelets from the antibodies I will be producing while he/she is in my belly. These infusions are about 8 hours long because the immunoglobulin has to be pushed through my IV very slowly.  I will be receiving the first few treatments at Johns Hopkins and then hopefully I will be a good candidate for home care treatments. 

Much of the initial anxiety we were feeling has subsided with the answers and treatment plan we were given.  Now the fear is that it won't work or we will have complications.  These treatments have been largely successful and we are hopeful that they will be successful for us as well.  However there is still a chance for the baby to suffer a brain or belly bleed, retinal bleeds or pass away. 

For now, we are going to take this pregnancy one day at a time, praying for health and wishing for the best outcomes possible.  We are so grateful to our family and friends for being so supportive and we will keep you updated!