Renee O Negative

Who I'd like to meet:

I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM ALL PEOPLE OF THE WORLD TO SPREAD THIS WORD. I STARTED THIS MYPACE TO WARN PREGNANT WOMEN WITH NEGATIVE BLOODTYPES ABOUT THE DANGERS THAT CAN HAPPEN IF THEIR PARTNER HAS A POSITIVE BLOODTYPE. BELOW, I WILL TRY MY BEST TO EXPAIN THE PRECAUTIONS AND OPTIONS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE. I WOULD APPRECIATE INFORMATION FROM ANYONE WHO WISHES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS SUBJECT, AND ALSO ANY CORRECTIONS TO ANY INFORMATION THAT I AM NOT CORRECT ON. I AM BY NO MEANS A DOCTOR OR EVEN AN EXPERT, JUST A MOTHER WHO HAS GONE THROUGH IT. I NOW BELIEVE THAT WITH MY THIRD CHILD THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS WERE NOT TAKEN AND I DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ANOTHER MOTHER WITH NEGATIVE BLOOD.*** MANY DOCTORS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE POOR AND GOING TO A CLINIC, DON'T EVEN CHECK YOU AND YOUR PARTNERS BLOOD TYPES WHEN YOU ARE PREGANANT! YES, EVEN IN THIS DAY OF "MODERN MEDICINE" THIS IS ONE THING THAT MANY DOCTORS CAN OVERLOOK!!! AND IT SOMETIMES IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH FOR YOUR CHILD. IT'S TIME FOR ALL PREGNANT WOMEN TO TAKE ACTION ON THEIR OWN AND BE AWARE OF THEIR BLOODTYPE AND THEIR PARTNERS. BE AWARE OF YOUR BODY AND WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH IT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. IF I CAN HELP EVEN ONE BABY, THIS WILL BE WELL WORTH IT.GET CHECKED IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR BLOODTYPE. I WILL LIST SOME OF THE REASONS YOU HAVE GOT TO KNOW YOUR BLOODTYPE,AND NEED TO KNOW YOUR PARTNERS BLOODTYPE BEFORE(YES, BEFORE), BECOMING PREGNANT. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH! BLOODTYPE SHOULD BE CHECKED AT YOUR FIRST PRENATAL VISIT, AND YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW YOUR PARTNERS, IN CASE THERE IS A CONFLICT. THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY. ****WHAT DOES YOUR BLOODTYPE MEAN? Blood type is based on particular molecules (called antigens) that sit on the surface of red blood cells. People either have A antigens (type A blood), B antigens (type B), both (type AB) or neither (type O) on their red blood cells. When it comes to Rh factor, some people have the antigen (Rh-positive) and some people don't (Rh-negative.) Your blood type identifies which antigens you have from each group. You can have A, B, AB, or O and if you don't have the Rh factor antigen, you have negative blood. You can be A negative, B negative, AB negative or O negative, and there are also some other rare types of negatives. No one knows where negative blood originated, it is not connected to anything on earth. SO, YOU FIND OUT THAT YOU HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD AND YOUR PARTNER HAS POSITIVE BLOOD, NOW WHAT? MAKE SURE TO INFORM YOUR DOCTOR, BOTH PARTNERS GET YOUR BLOOD TYPES RE-TESTED TO MAKE SURE. WHAT BLOOD TYPE IS THE BABY? AFTER THAT, YOUR DOCTOR SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE IT FROM THERE, BUT SOME DON'T...SO IT'S UP TO YOU TO BE FORCEFUL AND MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS DONE PROPERLY. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY A DOCTOR,THEY ARE NOT GOD, THEY CAN BE WRONG! YOUR CHILD'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON THIS! IS YOUR CHILD OR THE DOCTOR MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU? THE CHILD OF COURSE. THE PROBLEM WOULD OCCUR IF THE BABY'S BLOODTYPE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE MOTHER'S AND MOST BABIES HAVE THE FATHER'S BLOODTYPE AND RH FACTOR. THE STRANGE PART OF ALL THIS IS WHEN THE MOTHER HAS NEGATIVE BLOOD TYPE, AND THE BABY IS POSITIVE THE MOTHER'S BODY BEGINS TO TRY TO FIGHT OFF THE PREGNANCY. AN RH NEGATIVE MOTHER WILL DEVELOP ANTIBODIES AGAINST RH POSITIVE BLOOD CELLS (become sensitized)IF FETAL BLOOD CROSSES THE PLACENTA AND ENTERS HER BLOODSTREAM. HER IMMUNE SYSTEM THEN "SEES" THESE CELLS, IDENTIFIES THEM AS FOREIGN. IT MOUNTS AN IMMUNE RESPONSE, AS IT DOES WITH A VIRUS,THEREFORE, TRYING TO DESTROY THE INFANT! AN INJECTION OF RH IMMUNOGLOBULIN,(RHOGAM),BLOCKS THE MOTHER'S IMMUNE SYSTEM FROM SEEING THE FETAL CELLS, IF THEY DO HAPPEN TO GET INTO HER BLOODSTREAM, SO SHE WILL NOT BECOME SENSITIZED AND MAKE ANTIBODIES. AT LEAST THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE WAY IT WORKS.(see more on Rhogam below).THESE ANTIBODIES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CROSS THE PLACENTA AND ATTACK THE FETUS' RED BLOOD CELLS, WHICH IN TURN CAN CAUSE LOW BLOOD COUNT (anemia). IF THE FETUS IS FOUND TO BE ANEMIC DURING PREGNANCY, A TRANSFUSION TO THE FETUS THROUGH THE UMBILICAL CORD IS POSSIBLE. OFTEN, EARLY DELIVERY IS REQUIRED. A SPECIAL TYPE OF BLOOD TRANSFUSION CALLED AN EXCHANGE TRANSFUSION MAY BE PERFORMED SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH IF DESTRUCTION OF THE BABY'S BLOOD CELLS CONTINUES TO BE A PROBLEM. SUCH COMPLEX TREATMENTS ARE RARELY NEEDED. OTHER CONCERNS FOR THE BABY INCLUDE CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE AND EVEN FETAL DEATH. THE RHOGAM SHOT IS TO PREVENT ALL THIS FROM HAPPENING. AT THIS POINT, I WOULD LIKE TO STRESS MANY PEOPLE HAVE SO MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS AS TO THE APPROACH THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN DURING A NEGATIVE WOMAN'S PREGNANCY CONCERNING RHOGAM. SOME BELIEVE THAT IF THE BABY'S BLOODTYPE IS THE SAME AS THE MOTHER'S, THERE IS NO REASON FOR A RHOGAM SHOT AT ALL. SOME BELIEVE THAT IF MOTHER AND CHILD BOTH HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD, THEN ONLY AFTER THE BABY IS BORN SHOULD A RHOGAM SHOT BE GIVEN(FOR FUTURE PREGNANCIES), AND SOME BELIEVE THAT IF THE BLOODTYPE OF THE BABY IS UNKNOWN, ALL PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN. THERE ARE MIXED OPINIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE WITH NEGATIVE BLOOD, SOME WOMEN SAY THEY HAVE HAD BAD REACTIONS TO THE RHOGAM SHOT, SOME SAY THAT RHOGAM WEARS OFF, SOME SAY IT DOESN'T WORK AT ALL. THESE ARE THE ISSUES YOU WILL HAVE TO RESEARCH AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.*** YOUR DOCTOR WILL PROBABLY RECOMMEND A RHOGAM SHOT DURING THE PREGNANCY AND AFTER THE PREGNANCY TO PROTECT FUTURE BIRTHS. MAKE YOURSELF INFORMED, MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS.*****HERE IS A LINK TO AN ARGUMENT AS TO WHY YOU SHOULD GET A RHOGAM SHOT. I, PERSONALLY FEEL THAT IF YOU AND YOUR BABY BOTH HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO GET THE SHOT DURING THE PREGNANCY, BUT TO PROTECT FUTURE PREGNANCIES IT IS DEFINITELY NECESSARY AFTER THE BABYS BIRTH. ***CHECK THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE FOR MORE INFORMATION (THERE ARE 3 PAGES TO IT): http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Genetic-clash-doubles-schizophrenia-risk-6254-3/ Rhogam: Rh0 immunoglobulin, also called anti-Rh or anti-D immunoglobulin. An injectable blood product used to protect an Rh-positive fetus from antibodies by its Rh-negative mother. The idea underlying Rhogam is if anti-Rh antibody is given soon after delivery, it blocks the sensitization of the mother and prevents Rh disease from occurring in the woman's next Rh-positive child. Rhogam is now given routinely to Rh-negative women after pregnancies in which they carried Rh-positive fetuses to prevent the mother's immune system from reacting to the Rh-positive blood of any subsequent fetus. Rhogam was developed in the 1960s by Dr. Vincent J. Freda (1927-2003), professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University.*** Typically, doctors have women who have tested Rh-negative receive an injection of RhoGAM during week 28 of their pregnancy. (Like I said, if your BABY tests negative, I feel this is unnecessary...DURING THE PREGNANCY!) This substance will protect you from becoming sensitized should your baby's blood (IF IT'S A DIFFERENT BLOODTYPE THAN YOURS) mix with yours during pregnancy. This one injection will actually provide protection through the end of your pregnancy up until delivery. (Even if your partner is negative, and the baby you just had was negative, you should get this shot after the birth just in case your next pregnancy is by a different man.) Usually the baby has the father's bloodtype and RH factor. EVEN IF YOU HAVE A MISCARRIAGE OR ABORTION YOU NEED TO GET A RHOGAM SHOT TO PROTECT YOUR NEXT PREGNANCY. The baby's egg obviously burst during the miscarriage or abortion and could have gotten mixed in with your blood. .*** Rhogam is usually given at times during the pregnancy when there is some likelihood of Rh-positive fetal blood getting into the mother's bloodstream. This includes: Amniocentesis** Miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy** Elective termination of pregnancy** Around 28 weeks of pregnancy (which protects through late pregnancy)** After delivery** The baby's blood type SHOULD BE checked at birth, using blood obtained from the umbilical cord. SOME DOCTORS BELIEVE THAT Rh sensitization usually doesn't hurt the baby in the first pregnancy, because the mom can't make enough antibodies to cause severe problems. But the next pregnancy, and any that follow, can become very complicated if that fetus is Rh positive. If possible, women who become Rh sensitized should get their prenatal care from a high-risk obstetrical specialist (PERINATOLOGIST.)Of course, if you're poor you can't have this leisure and need to be more aware of what you are given and when to protect your child! ***MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MOTHERS WHO HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD, PLEASE READ ON! IS YOUR BABY YELLOW? EVEN IF HE ISN'T, IF YOU HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD, IT IS MY OPINION YOU SHOULD RUN,NOT WALK TO THE DOCTOR OR EMERGENCY ROOM. HAVE THIS BABY'S BILIRUBIN COUNT CHECKED BEFORE LEAVING THE HOSPITAL, EVEN IF HE IS NOT YELLOW! THEN HAVE IT CHECKED ONCE AGAIN WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS....BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. REMEMBER, MY 3RD SON DID NOT LOOK JAUNDICED.*** JAUNDICE** About 60% of newborn infants in the United States are jaundiced, that is they look yellow. Jaundice is the yellow coloring of the skin and other tissues. Jaundice can often be seen well in the sclera, the "whites" of the eyes, which look yellow. Many many babies look jaundiced (60%), but they are not deeply jaundiced, not jaundiced below the abdomen, and they act OK - they nurse, they aren't too sleepy, they have normal muscle tone, their cry is normal, they don't arch their backs. IF YOU HAVE NEGATIVE BLOOD, GO HAVE YOUR BABY CHECKED, IT CAN'T HURT, LIKE I SAID RUN DO NOT WALK TO HAVE HIM CHECKED FOR A HIGH BILIRUBIN COUNT, EVEN IF HE IS NOT YELLOW LOOKING!!! Babies with high bilirubin levels can be effectively treated. Phototherapy (treatment with light) is usually very effective. It is the blue color of the light that alters the bilirubin from a toxic form to a water soluble, non-toxic form that can be eliminated. At higher, more dangerous levels of bilirubin, or in certain situations where the bilirubin is expected to rise very rapidly, such as Rh or other hemolytic diseases of the newborn, a more extreme treatment may be used, exchange transfusion, to rapidly remove toxic bilirubin from the blood.Excessive jaundice in newborn infants may cause brain damage. Jaundice is caused by a high level of bilirubin in the blood (hyperbilirubinemia) and tissues. When bilirubin gets too high it can be treated. Norms exist for bilirubin in term and nearly term babies based on the age in hours after birth. Other factors, such as prematurity, BLOOD GROUP INCOMPATABILITIES BETWEEN THE MOTHER AND CHILD, INCLUDING RH AND ABO BLOOD TYPES, and bruising, especially cephalohematomas and caputs, can increase bilirubin production and lead to excessive jaundice.**** When infants have signs of brain dysfunction from bilirubin toxicity, immediate treatment is needed to minimize permanent brain damage. The signs of acute bilirubin toxicity are: 1) abnormalities of tone, including increased tone (hypertonia), decreased tone (hypotonia), or a variation in tone from hypertonia to hypotonia, 2) lethargy, difficulty in arousing the baby, 3) a high-pitched cry, 4) arching the back and spine (retrocollis or opisthotonus), and 5) fever. Feeding or nursing is decreased, which makes matters worse not only because of dehydration, but because bilirubin is eliminated via the stool, and decreased feeding prevents bilirubin from being eliminated from the body. Expert neonatologists say that the most common cause of bilirubin levels rising high enough after discharge from the hospital to require readmission is inadequate feeding. ***I HAVE 3 CHILDREN, ALL ARE RH POSITIVE AND I AM NEGATIVE. MY SECOND SON HAD TO BE PUT INTO A PHOTOTHERAPY MACHINE TO GET RID OF HIS HIGH BILIRUBIN COUNT THAT WAS CAUSING HIS JAUNDICE. IF I HAD NOT NOTICED HIS YELLOW SKIN, THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED:*** KERNICTERUS*** Kernicterus: Brain Damage due to Excessive Jaundice*** Kernicterus is the name given to the severe form of brain damage that is caused by excessive jaundice in newborn infants. Kernicterus is from the Greek "kern" or kernal plus "icterus" or yellow. Kernicterus refers to the yellow staining of the deep nuclei (i.e., the kernal) of the brain namely, the basal ganglia. Kernicterus involves a specific part of the basal ganglia, the globus pallidus. It also includes lesions of brainstem nuclei in auditory (hearing), oculomotor (eye movement), vestibular (balance) systems and the cerebellum (coordination). Today, abnormalities of the globus pallidus can be seen on MRI scans of infants with kernicterus.*** Kernicterus is a form of brain damage caused by excessive jaundice. The substance which causes jaundice, bilirubin, is so high that it can move out of the blood into brain tissue. When babies begin to be affected by excessive jaundice, when they begin to have brain damage, they become excessively lethargic. They are too sleepy, and they are difficult to arouse - either they don't wake up from sleep easily like a normal baby, or they don't wake up fully, or they can't be kept awake. They have a high-pitched cry, and decreased muscle tone, becoming hypotonic or floppy) with episodes of increased muscle tone (hypertonic) and arching of the head and back backwards. As the damage continues, they may develop fever, may arch their heads back into a very contorted position known as opisthotonus or retrocollis.*** The Jaundiced Baby with Signs of Acute Kernicterus: A Medical Emergency*** When signs of acute kernicterus occur in a jaundiced baby, permanent brain damage is occurring. Immediate treatment should be done to prevent further damage, and because perhaps some of the damage is reversible. Treatment should be immediate triple-bank phototherapy lights put as close as possible to the baby, a stat measurement of blood bilirubin should be sent, but the phototherapy should be started before the bilirubin results come back. The baby should be hydrated with fluids and probably be tube fed an elemental infant formula. The baby should be blood typed for a possible exchange transfusion which should be done as soon as possible unless there is a large drop in the bilirubin and the baby improves before the blood is ready for an exchange transfusion. The Jaundiced Baby with a high Bilirubin and NO Signs of Acute Kernicterus The bilirubin should be plotted on a nomogram such as the Bhutani and Johnson nomogram to see what percentile it is in. The cause of the jaundice should be determined. Measures to increase feeding and hydration, e.g. lactation couseling and increased breast feeding and/or temporary supplementation should be considered. Home phototherapy with a phototherapy blanket ("biliblanket") might be prescribed, but levels must be closely followed since the amount of phototherapy delivered by home systems is relatively small. Experts have proposed a clinical scale called the BIND scale, for Bilirubin-Induced Neurologic Dysfunction. Babies are scored from 0-3 on each of three characteristics, tone, cry and mental status, with 0 being normal, and 9 the worst score. Degrees of severity of mental status, for example, would include with a normal awake baby or a sleeping baby who is easily roused, a lethargic baby who is difficult to rouse and falls back to sleep, a comatose baby responsive to only deep painful stimuli, and a comatose unresponsive baby. In any event, jaundice with any of abnormal signs such as lethargy, abnormal tone, arching, high-pitched cry, or fever, is a cause for immediate concern, and an urgent visit to a physician or hospital emergency room is required. Although damage may have occurred, when the infant is jaundiced and signs are occurring, damage is continuing to occur. The sooner the bilirubin is reduced, the better, the less permanent brain damage will occur. THIS IS A TRUE MEDICAL EMERGENCY! Delay will make the damage worse. With an excessively high bilirubin level, and with signs of acute kernicterus, arrangements should immediately be made for a double volume exchange transfusion. This may take a few hours, even in the best of medical centers. In the meantime, the baby should be given double or triple phototherapy with the lights as close as possible to the baby with maximal surface area exposed (and the eyes covered), and the baby should be fed orally or by gavage tube with Nutramigen or another elemental formula, to eliminate bilirubin via the gut. Dehydration may be corrected by intravenous infusion, but gastrointestional feeding should not be ignored unless the baby is seizing.*** THIS IS WHEN YOU ESPECIALLY NEED TO STAY CALM AND EXPECT YOUR DOCTOR TO DO THE FOLLOWING, IF HE DOES NOT DO THESE PROCEDURES: BE AGGRESSIVE AND DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD! PROVE YOU ARE A STRONG WOMAN!!! When bilirubin is very high, do not make or let your child's physicians make any of the following mistakes in caring for them, common mistakes are:*** 1)Not believing the bilirubin level from the lab, and delaying treatment while it is repeated. There is no problem in repeating the test, but don't delay treatment for an instant while waiting for the repeat - you have nothing to lose by treating with a huge dose of phototherapy, gavage feeding, hydrating, ordering a type and cross match and blood. If the bilirubin drops rapidly to a relatively safe level, and the child is aysmptomatic, the exchange transfusion can be cancelled.*** 2)Delaying treatment or interrupting phototherapy for diagnostic testing to determine the risk of an exchange. If a sepsis workup or LP is needed, or an echocardiogram etc., do it under the lights. If it's not possible, keep the lights on every possible minute. If the baby needs to go for a test out of the unit, the lights go with him or her. *** 3)Not examing the baby for signs of acute kernicterus Using the indirect bilirubin instead of the total serum bilirubin. Although it is true that the direct (conjugated) bilirubin is non-toxic, it binds to the same serum albumin site as toxic bilirubin, displacing it into brain tissue. Use the total bilirubin. *** 4)Allowing the bilirubin to reach potentially dangerous levels. Visual inspection by experienced personnel, transcutaneous bilirubins, blood bilirubin are all easy to do. It's much easier to prevent bilirubin from rising too high than to treat it when it does.*** 5)Measuring the bilirubin and not comparing it to hour-specific norms. This is very important. A bilirubin level in a one-day-old may be normal or dangerously high depending on whether the baby is 24 or 47 hours old. A level of 8.5 would be in a high-risk zone (95th percentile) in a 24h old baby, and in a low risk zone (40th percentile) in a 47h old baby.*** Clinically, classic kernicterus involves: 1) specific movement disorder, 2) hearing loss or deafness, 3) impairment of eye movements especially upward gaze, and 4) abnormal staining of the enamel of baby teeth.*** An "athetoid" form of cerebral palsy is classic in kernicterus. Athetosis refers to the slow, writhing involuntary movements that occur. Dystonia, or abnormal muscle tone and position, also occurs.*** Some are deaf, some have normal hearing, and some with or without deafness have an auditory processing problem now called auditory neuropathy or auditory dys-synchrony. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing (also known as BAEP or BAER) is often abnormal, whereas other "hearing" tests, such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) and cochlear microphonic responses are normal.Kernicterus is fortunately a very rare occurence.*** Other forms of bilirubin-induced neurological damage may exist, including cognitive problems and auditory processing problems, one form of which is called auditory neuropathy or auditory dys-synchrony.*** STAY INFORMED, STAY AWARE AND YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY CHILD! I WOULD LIKE TO THANK DR.STEVEN SHAPIRO http://www.kernicterus.org/ ****** FOR MORE INFOMATION ON ANY OF THESE TOPICS, GOOGLE THEM OR ELSE CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES:*** ***http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rh-factor/AN00566 ***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type ***http://rhnegativeblood.ning.com/ ***http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rhnegativeblood/ ***http://www.myspace.com/rh_negative_blood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rho(D)_immune_globulin ***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhogam ***http://www.whale.to/a/rh1.html ***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernicterus ***http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/kernicterus/ker_parent.htm ***http://www.pickonline.org/ ***http://www.kernicteruslaw.com/index.html ******http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Genetic-clash-doubles-schizophrenia-risk-6254-1/ @>~~~~>~~~~>~~~~