Sunday, May 2, 2010

Baby scare

Okay, so, the other day, Azilyn randomly throws up her dinner. So I throw her in the tub and when she gets out, her legs and bum are covered with this weird, hive-like, rash. Some looked blistery. So, I'm thinking, maybe she had an allergic reaction to something? So we call the doctor and they say, just keep an eye on it, give her some Benedryl and call if it gets worse. So, I gave her some Benedryl and sent her to bed, checking up on her often to assess the progress of the rash, breathing, etc. The rash was gone within an hour or so.
The next day, she woke up from her nap and her face had a similar rash, and her cheeks were bright red and puffy, obvious swelling. This really worried me, so we got right into the doctor. He said it could be an allergy. Try Benedryl again. If it helps - allergy. If not - it may be fifths disease, which is just a viral infection. The issue would be that if it is fifths, it could affect the baby, even cause a miscarriage/stillbirth. Great! And, the doc said his wife lost a baby from this and she was 8 months along! I was shocked, and a little nervous. He said it's something they can catch with an ultrasound and to call my OB if we rule out the allergy.
So, I go home and look up fifths and find out that the "lace-like" rash can take on a blister-like appearance and it can come and go, with heat, sunlight, and stress being triggers. Well, she gets the rash again after a hot bath and this time I don't do the Benedryl and the rash dissipates as her body cools down from the bath and she chills out to get ready for bed.
So, along with some other symptoms, I'm thinking, okay, not an allergy. It must be fifths. So, I call my OB and he says, you'll have to wait 'til Monday for blood work. And I'm thinking, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? This is a threat to my unborn child and you're telling me to sit on it!? Not to mention it may take a week to get lab results back. So, I ask him about it and he says the baby wouldn't show signs of infection within the next week. I'm still kinda freaking out, but trying to stay calm, cuz really, we dont know for sure if the baby's been affected and I can't do anything about it anyway, right? Well, what about the ultrasound? Doc says baby probably wont show signs yet. I'm doubting, remembering reading that there's a long incubation time ( up to a month) between having the virus and presenting the classic rashy symptoms. So, how do you know the baby wouldn't present symptoms?? It seemed illogical to me, but I wearily took his word and hung up the phone.
In the mean time, Danny is super worried and sends out a dire sounding text message to family and friends, requesting their faith and prayers. Not that I'm complaining, but a little warning would have been nice as worried calls and return texts begin to pour in! It was just slightly unexpected.
So to sum up a long story, we're worried. The unknown is always the most scary thing, though we hope and have faith that all will be well with the baby. As I have read more about this human parvovirus, I have become more confident that this is all just a scare and nothing more. There is a 50% chance I have had previous exposure to it, and thus am immune, passing that immunity onto the baby as well. There's another 33% chance the baby wont even be affected, even if I'm not immune. It looks better and better because I am in the later half of pregnancy. And, there seems to be lesser problems, such as fetal anemia, that would come on before the baby died anyway. All in all, I think it narrows it down to the 5% range that we would loose the baby. And while there are all those odds in our favor, the unknown is still the most prominent thing that gnaws at the back of my conscience and makes me very tired.
So, I will keep everyone updated. I am very thankful to all of your fasting and prayers in our behalf. I have felt lightened and uplifted as the day has gone on, and I know it is because of all of your faith. The Lord is watching over us and I know we are very blessed. We love you all!

3 comments:

Becky R. said...

Whoa! We will be thinking and praying for you too! Call me if you need to chat.

Christy said...

Yikes! I hope everything is ok. Is Azilyn doing ok?

Bonnie said...

Hope Azilyn is feeling better. Sorry to hear about your scare, hopefully the fasting and prayers helped. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!