July 17th - 33 wks

Yesterday was 33 wks and today was my weekly MFM appointment. I was anxiously hoping we might have the rest of the amnio results back, meaning we would FINALLY know this baby's blood type and whether he shares Andy's blood type (Duffy positive) or my blood type (Duffy negative). The results were in, and although we were hoping and speculating that the baby would be negative, he is in fact Duffy positive. This was a little bit of a shock and disappointment because it means that he is definitely at risk for being affected by the antibody (meaning an attack on his blood by my blood, causing any varying degree of anemia). However, with all of that being said, there are definitely some positives in our favor. Firstly, the antibody that I have is Duffy, and because it is so rare we have very little statistical information on it - but, with what little info we have, it tends to be one of the less agressive antibodies. Secondly, this is my 1st affected pregnancy, and 1st affected pregnancies tend to be more mildly affected than subsequent pregnancies. Lastly, we have already taken a measurement of the bilirubin in the amniotic fluid and that result was absolutely ZERO, meaning he is not showing any signs of anemia so far, which is great news considering we now know he is at risk! And today's doppler reading on ultrasound was within the normal range giving us a PSV of 59 and an MoM of 1.26. So all of these things keep us optimistic that he will not need any extra medical attention either before or after delivery. We will continue to have to take it one week at a time and see what each week brings us with ultrasound and possibly more amnio results. Again, we are so appreciative of all of your support and prayers and ask you to keep them coming! :-)