Freaking out- Positive Antibody Screen *UPDATED*

whoberry

My nurse left a message saying I had a positive RH antibody screen.  She wanted to know when I had Rhogam last.  I am so upset.  I have known I was RH negative for years.  I have had a shot of Rhogam with every single one of my miscarriages, which should have prevented me from developing RH antibodies.  I called her back and left a message and even left one for my RE's office too.  I am freaking out.  

Everything I'm reading says that if you have already developed the antibodies it's too late to get the shot and you could have some serious pregnancy complications.  Of course there is a chance the baby is also negative so my fingers are crossed for that.  Unfortunately we don't know my husband's blood type. But if I already have the antibodies he must be RH positive, right?

Anyone with experience with this? Thanks.

UPDATE: False positive!  Even though I got Rhogam 6 months ago there was still a tiny bit in my system, not even enough to measure.  So that's why it looked like I had a positive antibody screen.  So I'm good, I don't have any antibodies. I don't need Rhogam until 28 weeks or if I start bleeding. Wish her message had not scared me so much but then again no matter what she said, even "call me" would have made me freak out!  DH and I are so relieved.  Oh and we confirmed he is A+, got the info from the blood bank he donated to awhile back.

tryingyetagain

I feel your pain! I just went though all of this, but it turned out mine was a false positive. Here's the story... I have a son who is 7, plus have had four losses. I've known I was Rh positive since the first pregnancy, and have gotten a zillion Rhogam shots over the years. With this pregnancy, I tested positive for anti-D at eight weeks, but I had had the Rhogam shot at six weeks due to early bleeding. So my positive was only due to the shot. They retested me this past Friday (16 weeks) and it was negative. Did you have a Rhogam shot at any point in the last six months? It's usually out of your system by 12 weeks, but can still be present as long as six months. If you do have the antibodies, they will monitor you and baby a ton and will stay in top of things to keep baby safe.

whoberry

Thanks so much for responding @tryingyetagain.  I had a rhogam shot in May of this year, so it should be out of my system by now.  Hopefully it's a false positive too!  That explains why the nurse asked when my last Rhogam shot was in the message she left.    I hate when they leave you messages causing a freak out, now if she would just all me back so I can get more info...

tryingyetagain

Oh, forgot to answer your question about YH. If all of your pregnancies were with him, and it is not a false positive, then he must have a positive blood type. If you and YH are both negative, the baby would have to be negative too, and you wouldn't have developed the antibodies. I asked my OB at last week's appointment if they would test DH. They did and he is A+, of course. Have you talked to your OB yet?

whoberry

Yes all pregnancies have been with DH so he must be positive.  Still waiting to hear from the OB but with Rhogam usually getting out of your system in 12 weeks I doubt this is a false positive.  

I am just really disappointed.  We were so anal about getting Rhogam with every miscarriage, and they were all early losses (9 weeks or less).  Even with my ectopic, as soon as he saw it on u/s we got the shot.  It wasn't until a week later that I had internal bleeding from the ectopic so I should have been covered by the shot.  I just don't understand how this could have happened.

Still waiting on a call back from the nurse.  She did tell us earlier this week that if DH donates blood they will tell him what his blood type is, so he was planning to do that.  But he just got a flu shot so I don't know if that will affect his ability to donate.  Hopefully my OB/GYNs office will just order labs on him. 

ETA: Fixed typo, added paragraphs

whoberry

Another question for anyone who has had genetic testing on their frozen embyros: can they tell you the blood type of the embryo?  In case this doesn't work out  (or it does and we go for #2)  we have 8 frosties left. Maybe we could just transfer Rh negative ones in the future to avoid this problem?  Thanks.

tryingyetagain

Ugh, I hope they call you back soon.  I did want to add that they can run a titer test to help determine your antibody level.  Then they can test again in two to four weeks and see if the levels are going up or going down.  If they go down, it will indicate it was from the Rhogam.  Going up will indicate that you are sensitized and making antibodies on your own.  That was what my OB's plan was but luckily I tested negative on the first one last week.  We needed to find out soon because I have an amnio on 11/22 and will get another Rhogam, which of course would have given me more false positives!

katekat8721

I'm so glad it turned out okay! Whew, what a relief!