Genetics anyone?

Yesterday I had my second appointment with my midwife.  During that appointment I found out that Chris' blood is not compatible with mine.  Nice.  I guess I have been lucky it hasn't come up before!  But I have begun to develop antibodies to a specific blood antigen.  (I have learned a WHOLE lot about blood in less than 24 hrs)  So I have anti-E (or anti-e... I am really not sure yet... but statistically speaking I think it is "big E" not "little e")

Ready to get all sciencey up in here?  This is your warning!

So apparently the Rh factor of everyone's blood is made up of  3 antigens C/c, D/d, E/e.  You can have any combination of big and little letters.  Antigen D is the one most people are familiar with and is the factor that (more or less) decides whether you have + or - blood.  (just remember that I am not a doctor and only sorta know what I am talking about)  Now...  this may be where it gets a little more complicated, mainly from my poor wording... I am sure!  Each person has 2 sets of the antigens.   So you can be homozygous or heterozygous for each of the antigens.  I am apparently homozygous.... since my immune system has started to produce antibodies.   The midwife told me it was the E (or e) antigen I was fighting.  I know that 98% of the population produces little e.  So odds are high for my blood to be e/e (therefor I am anti-E...I didn't know to ask yesterday, so I sent an e-mail today to ask)  30% of the population produces E antigens. So only about 2% of the population is E/E... which is why I think I am e/e.  And, statistically speaking, Chris is probably E/e, which would also be why we haven't had any complications with previous pregnancies.  If I am e/e and Chris is E/e, we only have a 50% chance of having a baby that my immune system doesn't like.  So Kiah, Eli, and Annalise probably all have my same blood make-up.

We think the twin I lost was not my blood type.  It could have been Annalise, but my numbers were so low, we think it was the twin.... since my body reabsorbed it, which might have caused my exposure.


SOOOOO.... what does this all mean?  Well, it means my pregnancy is now considered high-risk, but it is  mild high risk.  Meaning, of the Rh factor incompatibilities out there.... this is the best one to have because complication occurrences are low.  The complications that can arise are Jaundice in the baby either prenatally or after birth.  I guess it is a serious jaundice with potentially long hospital stays.  More serious complication is Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn or in other words  for the baby to develop anemia in utero.  This would happen because my antibodies would begin to attack the babies blood.  Like I said... this is not common for this particular set of antigens (meaning E).  If that were to happen, there are things that can be done to amend the situation.  Of course, this is only an issue if the baby has the opposite antigen of me.  Which, remember, I think is only a 50% chance.

My blood will have to be drawn each appointment to continue to check my titers (blood levels).  Right now (or when my blood was tested at 5 wks) I am 1:2.  If I get to 1:16 I will then have a specialized ultrasound that checks the bloodflow in the babies brain to look for signs of HDN.  But that is rare with anti-E.  At some point I may need to see a maternal fetal specialist, but we will see.  At this point my levels don't warrant it.

I am so thankful to my midwife for telling me about this possibility.  The doctor I had seen... who drew the blood and saw me after the results were in (I know because he talked to me about a much more insignificant result.... like the fact that I am positive for the virus that makes cold sores... even though I have never had a cold sore in my life!  and the fact that I might need antivirals at 37 wks.... which you don't with that virus.  Anyway)  He never mentioned this problem.   But my midwife did take note of it and we talked about it.  She drew my blood, and so we will see if the titer is up... which doesn't garuntee we have a problem.  I am also so thankful to live in a time when they can run tests and have treatments for problems.  It wasn't that long ago that when serious complications arose there was nothing they could do but pray.  Now the survival rate is more that 90%....And that is from MAJOR complications.  I just want to reiterate that the odds of complications are VERY low for both Ant-E and anti-e... which ever one I have.