Another Bump in the Road

I had another conversation with the cycle coordinator at the clinic today. She pointed out that my records indicate my blood type is Rh negative, and that none of R’s records show his blood type.

She says that when the beta comes back positive (she’s ever the optimist) I'll have to get "another" RhoGAM shot, because we’ll need to assume that R is Rh positive. The shot would prevent my blood from developing antibodies.

This is important, because once you have the antibodies, you can’t get rid of them. And when you have them, it can cause very, very bad things if you become pregnant with an Rh positive baby. Things like anemia in the baby, which can lead to brain swelling, liver enlargement and a whole host of other horrible and possibly life-ending problems for the baby.

The good news is, all of this is easily preventable with the shot.

The bad news is, if I get pregnant with this cycle, I won’t be getting “another” RhoGAM shot, because I never had one when I was pregnant.

I’m dumbfounded. The clinic we were going to when I got pregnant KNEW about my blood type before I ever crossed their doorstep for the first time. They KNEW about my pregnancy when it happened six months later. They did two ob ultrasounds on me. They confirmed the miscarriage via bloodwork they did in their office.

Since at least 90 percent of the population is RH positive, they should have assumed DH was positive. They should have insisted I have the shot, because it can't hurt to have the shot even if DH did happen to be Rh negative. But at no time did any of the nurses (at least three) or REs (two, including mine) I saw or spoke to mention ANYTHING about needing this shot.

Yet everything I've read on the internet says that even if you don't get the shot as soon as pregnancy is detected, you absolutely should get it if you miscarry, regardless of how far along you are. But I did not. Nobody ever even mentioned that the shot existed, much less told me I needed it. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that.

We checked with MIL, and it turns out DH is Rh positive.

Chances are, the pregnancy ended too early for it to be an issue. And maybe that is why no one at the clinic mentioned it. But still, why take the chance? Why? Especially when the whole point of my being there at the clinic is To. Get. PREGNANT.

I go back in next week for more blood work - this time to check for Rh antibodies. Stay tuned.