Hi Henci,

I am just moving into my 32nd week of a so far healthy and easy pregnancy, my first. I really didn't have any sickness and have had a blast as my tummy is still pretty small and my body is coping well. However, a few weeks ago I mentioned to my OB that I am O neg and he immediately insisted I have the Rhogam shot and all that jazz, only to discover I already have antibodies present. GRRR! He sooo should have known my blood type as I had given them about eighteen vials of blood before this but anyway that's neither here nor there. He insisted as long as the levels stayed at 1-4 everything was jolly. Of course that didn't happen, they have risen and now I have to have NSTs twice a week. My question is, what are they looking for to happen during these NSTs and would any of it be true cause for concern? What would they do in the event something was going wrong?

Thanks,

Kate

A little update: saw the specialist today in the big city. She said at the moment the baby is fine but she really wants to take him early to get him out of that "hostile environment". That one made me cry. They've scheduled an amniocentesis in four weeks to check levels for something, not sure what she said I was too emotional. Oh, and while I was leaving that awful place she decided spur of the moment to give me a steroid shot! Emotional AND physical pain. Wonderful.

I am sorry you are embroiled in this difficult and anxious situation. The best you can do for yourself and your baby is try to get objective, complete, accurate information so that you can make informed decisions and, hopefully, to find care providers who respect your right to make those decisions--neither of those goals easy, as your posts make clear. This page on the Childbirth Connection website can help with the decision-making piece. For information on Rh negative tests and treatments in pregnancy, here is a page on the topic from the March of Dimes website. I found it by searching on "Rh negative pregnancy" on Medline Plus, the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health consumer medical information website. I hope this helps.

-- Henci