Anyone else RH negative? And how did I not know this? (AW)

[juneroses]

Ladies, is anyone else out there Rh negative?  I saw my blood type test pop up on the online test results platform my RE uses, and clicked out of curiousity...and it turns out I have a negative blood type.  All I could think about was Anne Boleynn (too lazy to spell, sorry).  I get that it is really only a problem after your first pregnancy, and there are shots to prevent antibodies from developing...but it was quite the schock. 

Of course, DH is Rh positive. 

Anyone else out there RH negative?    

[purpledaisy923]

I'm O- blood type. Found out at the beginning of my pregnancy. My DH is Rh+. My MFM told me that I will need the Rhogam shot at 28 weeks and then again after I give birth. He said that I would have to do this process for every pregnancy in the future. With the shots, everything should be fine.

[juneroses]

Thank you! I knew you ladies could put this in perspective. It seems like something someone would have mentioned, but after 3 kids I don't think my mom really kept up on the details. : )

[snarkysparklefart]

I am also RH-, H is positive. With DD1 I had to get the shot a few times, because I had some episodes of bleeding. This time I only had to have it at 28 weeks, because I haven't had bleeding issues (thankfully!) it's otherwise been NBD for me, DD1 had some jaundice at birth and does have a + type as well, but they weren't sure if her jaundice was from a difference in blood type or another cause, possibly GD medications.

GL!

[daydreamernyc]

I'm RH negative as well and it's really no anything to worry about so long as you get them rhogam shot. That will prevent your body from developing antibodies.

The truth is, RH is just 1 factor and there are lots of other proteins people came build antibodies against. Like I said, I'm RH negative and im not "sensitized" (term used for when you do build antibodies against, in this case, RH) but I do have antibodies for another protein unrelated to RH. I'm happy to answer any questions about it but the short story is that even with antibodies, you can still have successful pregnancies.

So I would not spend time or energy worrying.

[juneroses]

That's a great call out, @buttmonkey!

[SweetieShellie]

I'm not Rh negative, but I do work in blood bank, so I give out this shot all the time to Rh nagative mom's all the time. As long as you get the shot when you are supposed to, you will be fine. Also, when LO is born, we test the baby to see if they are positive. If they are, we do a special stain on your blood to see if there are fetal red cells in it (babies hemoglobin is different then adults so it shows differently). We can calculate based on how many (if any) are floating around in your system, how much extra rhogam shots you need. Most likely it would only be more in the event of a traumatic delivery.

Edit to clarify: if baby is +, you still get a shot after birth no matter what, but you only need extra shots if we see more then a couple of fetal cells in your system. I can't think of the ratio off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure it has to be more then 2 fetal cells per 1000 adult red cells. 

[mrswillie]

I'm also Rh-. The funny thing is my hospital card when I was born says Rh+, so I was like what?? when I was tested TTC DS1. I've had the shot numerous times between multiple losses, DS1 and now this pregnancy with DS2. DS1 was also negative and I did not need the shot after having him. I hope DS2 is also negative when he arrives. I've been retested a bunch of times and have not been sensitized.

[ProfessorChaos]

Another Rh- person here--I definitely agree with @buttmonkey that you should always report spotting to your doctor and remind them that you're Rh- when it happens. No one told me that, and I got it from Dr. Google, too. Scary stuff!

SweetieShellie, thanks for that info!