Today was my 26 week check up and pre-op appointment. I had prepared myself for bad news at today’s ultrasound. Nora’s movements have noticeably decreased over the past few days. I do a kick count every day to monitor her movements. It usually takes her about nine or ten minutes to get ten kicks in, but lately it has been taking her around thirty minutes. I became more and more anxious every day leading up to the appointment and was expecting the doctors to see some hydrops and possibly heart damage from the anemia. I kept replaying the ultrasound we had a week after Lucy’s transfusion where they told us the hydrops had spread, her MCA scan was 2.7 and her heart was now damaged. It’s amazing how fear can grow into a giant, dark presence that overtakes your life if you let it. Well, Nora looked great today on the ultrasound. Her MCA scan was 1.2! She showed no signs of fetal hydrops and oh my goodness, how she has grown! Two weeks ago she weighed one pound nine ounces and today she weighed two pounds seven ounces😳 The ultrasound technician said she was around the 75% for size for a baby at this gestation. Dr. Moise later said she is in the 93rd% for a 26 weeker. He asked how big my last son was and I told him Asher was over ten pounds. He said Nora is right on track to be as big as her brother, which makes me extremely happy since she’ll be born early. I wonder if her space in the womb is getting more cramped and that’s why her movements seem to be slowing down?
Dr. Moise said ideally my last IUT will be around 35 weeks and then I might be able to wait until 38 weeks to deliver. 38 weeks! I can’t even imagine how wonderful that would be. He also said if I can make it that far Nora will only spend a few days in the NICU (probably.) Babies at 35 weeks are still developing and their livers are not completely mature so it’s harder for them to handle the anemia after they’re born. If Nora was born at 38 weeks she could get rid of the anemia more efficiently and go home sooner.
After all of my fear and worry, the appointment went so well and I left feeling hopeful. Nora still needs all of your prayers, especially tomorrow. She will have her second intrauterine blood transfusion at 11:30 tomorrow. Dr. Moise reminded me that sometimes the baby’s heart rate will drop when he puts the needle in her vein. If they can’t get her heart rate back up they will have to put me completely under and deliver her by c-section immediately. I asked if he could get her out in time and he said he could get her out in 30 seconds! I don’t even want to imagine what he would need to do to my body to get her out that quickly. The whole neonatal team will be there ready for Nora if she has to be delivered. Please pray that April 28th is not Nora’s birthday. I do not want my August baby to be born in April. I would also love for you to pray that I would have peace and courage tomorrow (it is very scary for me.) Thank you all for your sweet comments, your prayers and your constant support. I will try to update the blog tomorrow night after her blood transfusion.
Losing Lucy and Finding Hope 
This is such good news! Praying for Nora and for a peaceful night’s sleep and courage for you tomorrow.
So glad to hear that you had a good appointment!
Great news so far! Best wishes that all go well tomorrow.
Thinking of you and Nora as always. 💗
Thank you so much for creating and updating this beautiful blog.My daughter-in-law just found out she has the Kell antibody. She is expecting her 4th baby. Your information is the most thorough and complete out there! I told her and my son I would research like crazy so they could enjoy their vacation. The first step is having him tested. If he is Kell negative then all should be well right? She had a blood transfusion when her 6 year old twin boys were born. There is also a healthy 4 year old daughter. No pregnancy complications with any of them. If my son is positive, is the next step finding out if the baby is positive? Thank you so much again for sharing your story. I’m confident our awesome God will be working in all of the lives involved in this for His glory!
PS I will absolutely be praying for you and Nora tomorrow!!
Hi Linda,
I’m sorry your daughter in law has to deal with anti-kell antibodies. It is really stressful to have a high risk pregnancy. Do you know what her titer is? Her husband does need to get tested for the kell antigen (NOT kell antibodies, sometimes doctors accidentally test the husband for the antibodies.) If your son is kell positive your daughter in law needs to be referred to a maternal fetal medicine specialist to be monitored closely. Your son then needs to have more blood work done to find out if he is homozygous or heterozygous for kell, which will tell if the baby has a 50% or 100% chance of being kell positive. When I first read your story I thought she must have been sensitized when she had the blood transfusion with the twins. If that is true then there is a 91% chance your son is kell negative and the baby is not at risk. BUT then I saw that she had another baby (the four year old) after the twins and she didn’t have the antibodies then, right? If she got the antibodies from the transfusion they would have been there with her next pregnancy but they weren’t. That makes me think the four year old is kell positive and that is when your daughter in law became sensitized. That would make sense then, that this is the first pregnancy with the antibodies. If that’s true then your son would be kell positive and this baby (more than likely) will have a fifty fifty chance of being kell positive. Does that make sense?
Oh wow. You are amazing. Yes that makes perfect sense and that is what I was thinking about as I prayed last night. I know you have a big day today but whenever you have a moment if you could answer how often you had to go in for the IUT? And to make sure I have this right…if my son is positive, they will check the baby next to see if he/she is positive correct? If the baby is negative I assume all is well? My daughter-in-law hasn’t had her titer checked yet. I am trying to do this research for them so they can enjoy their vacation. 🙂 I truly believe it is a miracle and complete blessing that your site is here. I thank you SO much. And I will be praying all day for you and Nora!
Well, before testing the baby they will test your son to see if he’s homozygous or heterozygous for kell. If he’s homozygous then you will know the baby is kell positive without testing the baby because each baby has a 100% chance of having Daddy’s blood type. If he’s heterozygous then baby has a 50% chance. Only after your son has the genotype blood test (I think that’s what it’s called) will the doctors discuss testing the baby. The only way to test the baby is to do an amniocentesis and the earliest they can do that is 16 weeks, then you have to wait for the results to come back. If baby is negative it will be a normal pregnancy. About the IUTs, it’s pretty unlikely that your daughter in law will need one. Usually the first sensitized pregnancy is the least dangerous and most women have a much lower titer than me. If her titer is lower than 8 then baby should be safe, even if the baby is kell positive. If her titer is several hundred or in the thousands then she might need an IUT. I get IUTs every two weeks and soon will be getting them every three weeks. If your daughter in law’s titer is over 8 then she needs to be getting regular MCA scans starting at 18 weeks. Thanks for praying for Nora today!
I breathe a sigh of relief with ever update. I am grateful baby Nora looks good. Prayers for you all.
Praying for you and Nora! Praying she is healthy and able to hold on until August! You’ve been in my thoughts everyday since I’ve heard your story! Wishing you lots and lots of hope and success 🙂
Praying for you!!
I am praying for sweet little Nora and you all right now. Love you Bethany.
That is such amazing news. I’m soo happy for everyone. Sending you all my love!!!
Praying!!!