It’s been a few weeks since I updated the blog. Our baby boy is still doing really well and holding his own against the antibodies week by week. I am now 23 weeks and 4 days pregnant which means that the baby is technically viable. The survival rates for a baby born at 23-24 weeks are not great, but survival is a possibility, which is reassuring. Hopefully he has many more weeks on the inside though!
Below you can see his MoMs for the past few weeks (1.5 means he is anemic enough to need a blood transfusion.) I’ll include Callum and Nora’s numbers for comparison.
Here are Callum’s, Nora’s and Baby’s MoMs:
A few weeks ago we noticed that my titer had gone up from 128 to 512 and baby’s MoM was higher so Dr. Trevett decided that we should repeat the three rounds of plasmapheresis.
After the plasmapheresis treatments I had a double loading dose of IVIG. This seemed to lower baby’s MoMs and my titer went back down to 128. The goal is to help the baby fight off the antibodies and avoid fetal anemia for as long as possible. The later we start IUTs the better since those come with some serious risks and must be repeated every 2-3 weeks until delivery. After the extra plasmapheresis treatments we finally decided it was time to remove my permacath which had been causing problems almost from the start. The permacath is the bulky, double lumen catheter that is used for plasmapheresis treatments. It kept getting clotted and the adhesive on the dressing caused allergic skin reactions. Since the baby is now viable and IUTs are a little bit safer there is no need for any more plasmapheresis treatments, so we knew I wouldn’t be needing the permacath again. It was such a relief to get that thing out of my jugular! I finally was allowed to shower/swim for the first time in 9 weeks and I can pick Callum up without worrying about snagging or pulling on the permacath. I now just have the regular port under my skin that we use every week for my IVIG infusions. That will be surgically removed once we finish IVIG treatments (whenever the first IUT is needed.) Here’s a picture of the permacath before and after removal.
Our baby is still measuring big, usually about 2 weeks ahead, so that is a comfort knowing he will have to be born early. Dr. Trevett’s goal is to do the last IUT at 34-35 weeks and deliver 2-3 weeks after that. But we know realistically that the baby might have to be born anytime between now and 37 weeks. Please pray that the baby will not be born until August (when I’m 34+ weeks.) Here are some pictures of my gigantic belly and our sweet boy. Thanks as always for your amazing support, prayers and encouragement as we navigate this stressful pregnancy.
Losing Lucy and Finding Hope 