Halfway there!

I haven't posted in about a month so there is a lot to say.  I just recently finished my 10th treatment!! My home treatments are going well and I've moved them to Sundays so that I can still go out on Saturdays and do fun Fall things with family and friends.  So every Saturday night I set up all of my medicines and supplies for the nurse and drink water until I feel I'll explode and every Sunday morning I wake up at 7am and wait for my nurse to arrive, start my IV of fluids and immunoglobulin and I try to sleep.  When Aaron and Izzie wake up, we watch football and go for walks (with my portable IV pump).  I have been receiving visitors during my treatments which is always really nice and comforting.  It really helps to break up the day and gives me something else to focus my attention on.  

 
 
 

 
The IVIG really takes a lot out of me and usually makes me feel extremely groggy and gives me body aches as well.  So when treatment is over I try to rest as much as I can so that I'm not a zombie at work the next day.  My small headaches, body aches and general exhaustion usually last through Monday and Tuesday.  Aaron is in NYC on Mondays and comes back on Tuesday mornings and that has exacerbated my exhaustion as well.  Izzie is quite the handful and really only likes to be put to bed by Daddy... so yeah, that's super fun on Monday nights, lol.  Treatments have become my normal and being exhausted has as well.  Some days are better than others but in general I think we are all adjusting to this life and doing pretty well.   I have also started a count down... only 16 more treatments to go.  Too soon? Oh well, it makes me feel a little bit better :)

As you all know, we are having another baby GIRL and we are so excited about it!! At our anatomy scan, the doctor reassured us that baby girl is doing very well, has no bleeds and has all the parts she should!  From now on, we will be getting a sonogram every 2 weeks to check for belly and brain bleeds. The sonographer will check baby girl's middle cerebral artery in her brain and do a Doppler on the blood flowing in that artery.  I was told the Doppler should show the same blood flow as the heart and should be a similar rate to her heartbeat.  If it is slower or faster than her heartbeat, they will have to do a full body scan and perhaps other tests if needed to determine if she has a bleed in her belly or somewhere else in her brain. If she does have a brain or belly bleed, they would try a platelet infusion while in utero to avoid having to deliver because she is not developed enough to thrive outside of the womb.  So every other Thursday, I will be a wreck until I get the all clear that baby girl is free of bleeds!!  We have had 2 brain scans on baby girl and so far the IVIG is working, so we are hopeful that it will continue to do its job.  Prayers are sent up every day and night that our little girl will be healthy and continue to fight off Mommy's antibodies.

We had a new NAIT knowledgeable doctor at our appointment, Dr. Althaus.  She also talked to us about my delivery and the procedure I will be having done 1-2 weeks prior to delivery. I will be induced 3 weeks early, so my due date has changed from February 24th to February 3rd (my mom's birthday).  Izzie was also born at 37 weeks, so I'm not too worried about delivering early.  They said they want to get her out as soon as she is considered early term because the longer she's in my womb, the more likely she is to have a bleed and towards the end of the pregnancy my womb is becoming increasingly more hostile.  It makes me sad to hear someone refer to my womb as an unsafe place for my baby.  I'm supposed to protect her and provide a safe place for her to grow, but instead my body attacks her and it's scary and dangerous.  I know I can't control it, but that doesn't make it suck less or make me feel any less guilty. 

About 1-2 weeks before I deliver I will be having a procedure to check on baby girl's platelet count.  I will receive an epidural, and they will use a sonogram to check on the baby's position.  Once she's in the optimal position, they will insert a super large needle through my belly, through the placenta and into baby girl's liver to retrieve a blood sample.  Then they will immediately test her platelet count.  If she has a normal platelet count, the procedure is over and we will be induced on schedule.  If the platelet count is below normal, they will have to use the same type of procedure to infuse negative platelets (the same as mine), so that my antibodies will leave them alone and the new platelets can thrive in her blood.  I asked as many questions as I could, such as risk factors and how long it takes, but I was so scared and nervous about everything they had just told us and I needed time to process it.  I'm sure as it gets closer, I will have more questions and concerns... but as of now I just don't really want to think about it.  I keep telling myself I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  I don't have the energy to worry about that on top of everything else. 

For now, we are taking things one day at a time and I am trying to enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can.  I am loving knowing that she is a girl and feeling her kick and move around inside of me.  I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband and daughter who put up with me on my bad days, make me smile when I feel like crying and love me through it all. Thank you for reading and for your continued support.  We so appreciate the prayers, kind thoughts and love.