<3

Yesterday I heard Mystery Baby's heartbeat after an uncomfortable amount of time searching. It is so exciting hearing that little racing heart, I love it! Oliver was in the room, too, so he was able to hear it as well:)

At my last appointment the blood lab found a foreign antibody in my blood. The antibody is called Anti-E and is usually a product of Rh disease (one parent is positive, one is negative, that is what the little + or- next to your blood type is for) Most people are positive, some are negative. What is strange, though, is that both Shane and I are Rh + which means that the cause of this Anti-E was through a virus or bacteria I had that sensitized my blood. This happens to 2-3% of the population. Now this all means that my blood is not compatible with my baby's and that my blood likes to attack Mystery Baby's blood. The good news, though, is that I have the antibody in such small levels that it shouldn't really become a problem. The other good news is that Anti-E just makes a baby jaundice (instead of anemic or other hemolitic diseases that would cause the baby to be born early) so even if the levels do get high enough (which the doc at Dartmouth laughed and said there is not way they would) it would not mean a very increased risk. So every other month I have to have blood drawn to make sure the antibody levels stay in check. I also have to carry a special card saying that I have this antibody...and I just thought of this, but I probably can't give blood anymore either...
Anyway, one last thing about my appointment, we set the ultrasound date! April 2 is when we find out if Mystery Baby is a Mr. Mystery or Ms. Mystery! It can't come soon enough! We're very impatient people:)