The Wright Family... The Wrong Platelets

This is a story all about how, our lives got flipped,
turned upside down.
So I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there...
I'll tell you how I became a NAIT mom to sweet Isabelle!

In St. Joseph's Hospital, she was born, not raised,
In the NICU is where she spent most of her days.
Chilling out with heat lamps, looking all bruised,
So tiny and hooked up to the IV tubes.

When a couple of docs said "It doesn't look good,
Her platelets aren't up as high as they should."
They said she's still gotta fight and her Momma was scared,
But felt comfort by her Daddy who would always be there!

They couldn't diagnose her, nothing was clear,
But when her count when up, there was a lot less fear.
One platelet infusion and the IVIG,
She was still a bit jaundice, but soon home to GB!

We pulled up to the NICU around seven or eight,
And they discharged our baby... Go home, see you later!
Looked at my family, I was feeling so blessed,
She's healthy, she's happy and she passed the test!




So obviously, that was a little bit silly, but if I have to tell the story of the hospital... I'll just cry.  It's something I'll feel guilty about for the rest of my life.  We actually left there with NO answers as to why Isabelle was born with such low platelets.  They told us the most likely scenario was NAIT and so they sent out blood off to Wisconsin the day after Isabelle was born.  We didn't get the results until over 2 weeks later and the results were that we were in the 100% group of NAIT. 

In the simplest terms I can think of, I have only negative antigens on my platelets (very rare), Aaron has only positive antigens on his platelets (very common) and when we passed it on to Isabelle she received a positive and a negative (one from each of us). Unfortunately, my negative platelets see ANYTHING except other negatives as a threat and began making antibodies to attack her throughout the pregnancy.  So for 9 months, I depleted her platelets to the point that when she was born she only had 10,000 platelets and the normal range is between 150,000 to 400,000 platelets.  We were extremely lucky and blessed that I delivered quickly, and that she had no brain or belly bleeds.  Sadly this is not the case for many NAIT babies and we thank God everyday that she is and has been so healthy. 

As rough as it was to watch our baby go through the platelet transfusion, IVIG, and numerous tests at the hospital, once the doctors got her platelet count up, it stayed up, and as she has grown the antibodies have left her body and her platelets will stay up for the rest of her life!  This was great news, and in addition to being a little miracle herself, Isabelle will be a guardian angel for all of her future siblings.  Since she was diagnosed with NAIT, our future pregnancies will need to be treated weekly in order to try to prevent a low platelet count and have the best chance at a healthy baby!  Aaron and I will be updating this blog as often as we can to keep anyone interested informed about our high risk, but hopefully high reward pregnancy!  Thanks for your support!