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antibodies in pregnancy?

paigenicole23paigenicole23 member
in High-Risk Pregnancy
hi! i am 18w along today with my first little one, and routine bloodwork found antibodies (called cw or anti-cw) in my blood. I am getting an amnio to test the baby to see if baby has the antigen in which case i will be officially high-risk and monitored. but my dr couldnt tell me anymore than that, because he has never seen this particular antibody. neither has my hospital, which scares me. has anyone had this or heard of this? will they treat this like any other antibody in pregnancy? and how do they normally treat antibodies in pregnancy? just curious so anything helps! thanks for reading!
 


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Re: antibodies in pregnancy?

  • yinyang124yinyang124 member

    Hi! I have c and e antibodies from a blood transfusion when I was 12. My antibody levels were monitored throughout my pregnancy, but they never got to a level of concern. My doctor had discussed doing  intrauterine blood transfusions if my levels got higher. They checked my babies's red blood cell counts when they were born, and they were both severely anemic. Basically, my antibodies had been attacking their red blood cells even though it appeared that they were not through blood work. D had a transfusion the day before being discharged from the NICU, and J had one after being discharged. They are both still anemic, but they are fine. J has a benign heart murmur because of it.

    Is this your first pregnancy? I was advised not to have any more pregnancies because antibodies can get "smarter" and stronger with each subsequent pregnancy. I could be putting my next baby at greater risk if we decide to try for another.

    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers
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  • paigenicole23paigenicole23 member
    awe im sorry to hear that! but at least they made it into the world and you still have beautiful children! yes its my first, but they say because my antibody is so rare that the chances of my partner/babys daddy having them is less than half of a percent, and the only time the baby is at risk is if dad has the specific antigen too meaning baby would. I argued with my dr about the amnio, hoping we could just moniter the titer levels through my blood and regular ultrasounds to make sure baby was anemic, but he says that all comes after confirmation of baby having them thru amnio :(
     


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  • yinyang124yinyang124 member

    imagepaigenicole23:
    awe im sorry to hear that! but at least they made it into the world and you still have beautiful children! yes its my first, but they say because my antibody is so rare that the chances of my partner/babys daddy having them is less than half of a percent, and the only time the baby is at risk is if dad has the specific antigen too meaning baby would. I argued with my dr about the amnio, hoping we could just moniter the titer levels through my blood and regular ultrasounds to make sure baby was anemic, but he says that all comes after confirmation of baby having them thru amnio :(

    You absolutely have the right to refuse any medical procedure, so you do not have to do the amnio if you don't want to. I refused one, we monitored my titres, and while my babies were born anemic, they are fine. They never showed any signs of stress in utero or out. You should do what you feel is best, mama.

    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers
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  • paigenicole23paigenicole23 member
    yinyang124, with the babies being born anemic, does that stay with them all their lives? Its such a low chance that the father has this antigen, I feel like when they found this antibody to begin with they should have monitored my titer levels and done additional ultrasound that have no risk to the baby rather than wait until i am this far along and then tell me i need an amnio. my dr is very judgey (i turned down the 1st/2nd trimester screenings for diseases and such) and he has expressed his disconten with my choice. he has made it clear this is the only way to find out if the baby is at risk, so i am hoping the specialist i have been refered to will be able to explain why they need to do an amnio vs monitor me...
     


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  • april.backousapril.backous member
    I agree you have the right to deny the amnio. Not to scare you but it does carry the risk of miscarriage which is why I planned to say no to getting one if my peri dr. said I needed one. Luckily she doesn't like the risk of them and said I didn't have to have one. I'm 29 wks with third child and blood work showed Anti-kell Antibodies. I've never had a blood transfusion. Waiting on hubbies blood test to come back. Will have ultrasound/MCA scans done every two weeks to monitor babies blood for anemia and well as growth. As well as delivering between 34-39 wks.
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  • april.backousapril.backous member
    Just realized that this discussion was back in 2012...oops
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