Yesterday was the day for my friendly, 28 week rhogam shot. If you know much about me, you know I don't like, REALLY DON'T LIKE, needles. Unless I'm sewing, then that's a whole 'nother story. But I have to tell you that Rhogam is my friend. And because I love it and am so thankful for it, I am willing to put up with a needle to get it.
If you don't know what Rhogam is, it helps any woman with Rh- blood not build up antibodies to +blood that the baby she is carrying may have. Because I have O- blood and married a man with B+ blood we have an incompatibility there. If the baby we conceive should have +blood, my body would see that as an invasion and start making antibodies to fight it off. Then, any following children would be attacked by my antibodies and need to have transfusions and there is the possibility of fetal death. It's not a nice thing, and until the last few decades, there was no way to stop it. Then some smart person developed Rhogam, which prevents those antibodies from being made. It's a medical miracle and because of it I have the large family that I have.
When I got to the lab yesterday, they couldn't find my injection. I was dreading the thought of having to have the blood drawn again and the wait to have the injection, but thankfully, they were able to locate it in a different part of the hospital. Whew!!
Now, considering that you get to have one of these at 28 weeks with every pregnancy, after every birth of a +blood-type child and after every miscarriage....you can calculate that I've had a few of these. I have a stack of cards in my purse that tells the tale.
But.....every last needle stick is worth it! My undying gratitude goes out to whoever it was that figured out what the problem was and how to fix it. My DH and I, and all of our almost 8 kids are so thankful!!
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