We had our Fetal Blood Sampling today and it really didn't turn out the way we had hoped and prayed it would. We got to Johns Hopkins at 8:40am, checked in, got my IV started and blood taken. We then had an ultrasound to check Baby Girl's position and size. She was 5 pounds 8 ounces and they said she was in an awesome position for the procedure. Lots of nurses and doctors came in to introduce themselves and I signed a bunch of consent forms. We had to wait a bit for the blood bank to get the platelets and blood ready just in case... so by the time I headed back to the OR, it was around 11:15am. They began to walk me back and told Aaron he had to go to the recovery room to wait for me. I started to freak out and told them we were told he could be in there with me. The nurses said they would check on it and let me know. My eyes instantly welled up with tears as I walked away from him. I needed him to be there. I needed him.
Once we got into the OR, they started to cover me, strap my arms and ultrasound my belly again. The anesthesiologist could see me starting to panic which also showed with my heartbeat, because Aaron wasn't there yet. She was SO sweet, held my hand and tried to distract me as tears rolled down my face. I asked Dr. Blakemore if Aaron was coming and she reassured me he was and was just getting dressed in his scrubs. Finally he came in... And I could breathe again. The doctors and sonographer were upset because of course Baby Girl moved into a not so optimal position. They took a bit to figure out where to place the needle and as they did I began to get Betadine painted on my belly and a privacy sheet was going up between my face and belly. I got a dose of anti-anxiety meds and they began to numb me. Once I was numb, they started and I was terrified.
I couldn't see but Aaron could and he said when the needle entered my stomach he could see it come in on the sonogram. It was super uncomfortable, and borderline painful. Every time the needle would come though my uterus I would have a contraction and the needle would even start to bend due to the pressure of each contraction. I also started having back labor, which is the worst pain ever and I couldn't move--which was so hard for me! The anesthesiologist had given me the most pain medicine she could and it felt like she gave me nothing. It took an extra hour longer than expected and I was starting to freak out toward the end. I wanted so badly to move to relieve the pain and I started getting hot, wanting all of the blankets off of me. Aaron was my lifesaver, reassuring me that it was almost over, asking questions for me and just holding my hand and telling me how amazing I was doing. Positioning had to be perfect to get a sample for the baby and Aaron could see the difficulty they were having to get all the moving parts in place. Once they did they were able to take samples but the highest platelet sample they took was only 21,000 and some of the other samples were as low as 5,000. To give you some perspective, they were expecting them to be around 100,000-200,000. When we heard that, I broke down. They had to give Baby Girl a platelet transfusion and then pulled a last sample that showed she had a count of 207,000-- but no one knows for how long.
Once they gave me the go ahead to move, I sat up and tried to relieve my back labor pains and just cried. The looks on the doctor's faces were clear, even through their masks. They were shocked and you could see they felt for us. Aaron hugged me tight and told me how proud he was of me. I just continued to cry. The IVIG didn't do what it was supposed to... But my doctor said it kept her from having a bleed, or dying-- so it was still worth it. Apparently in this super rare disorder, I'm in that bottom 5% that is considered an anomaly... They don't know why it didn't work as well as it should have.
We came to recovery, I still couldn't stop crying. They told me I had to stay and be monitored because I was still having contractions. The doctors and nurses all told me how amazing I did and kept saying I was a "trooper" and they've never seen contractions so strong or long during the procedure. The doctors then gave me 2 options... Have the baby the next day while we know her platelet counts are up, or wait 10 days, have the procedure again (and most likely another platelet infusion for Baby Girl) and deliver at 36 weeks. We are still at the hospital because my contractions are still coming. We are still weighing our options and still trying to decide what would be best for Momma and Baby. Please keep us in your prayers. ❤️
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