Hello!
I am new to this site. I was so happy when I found it because i felt like there are finally people that understand. I am 27 weeks pregnant and it is my first pregnancy. Carrying Thalassemia has made this pregnancy challenging to say the least. I have already needed three blood transfusions because my hemoglobin keeps dropping. I have been reading old posts and i have noticed there are a lot of scared mothers to be out there. I know the feeling. Lucky for me my doctors have been great up until a certain point. I thought if i could share my own experiences it might help to ease the fears of other pregnant women out there or at least let you all know what to fight for.
Here is my story:
As I said I am 27 weeks pregnant. I have known my whole life that i have Thal minor because the trait was passed on to me during birth from my mother. I was also ahead of the game with my pregnancy because my mom needed two transfusions when she was pregnant with me. The interesting thing is that my mom had a perfectly normal pregnancy with my older sister and she didn't have any problems with her hemoglobin so it is possible to be pregnant with Thal minor and have no problems. I have not been so lucky. My first transfusion was very unexpected my levels dropped to 8.1 when i was only 12 weeks pregnant. I ended up passing out when i was walking to the pool! Luckily, my OB had already set me up with a hemo and she told the hospital to transfuse me. My mom was there though and she knew what I needed. Then again at 20 weeks i became really sick and when the hemo checked my levels they were 8.0. She ordered another transfusion because at this point in the pregnancy she said the baby could be negatively affected if I dropped below 8.0. So to all new moms out there I don't care if your doctors think it is no big deal to carry thalassemia if you drop below 8.0 it could affect your baby. My last transfusion was given to me yesterday. Being 27 weeks the baby is growing a lot bigger and my levels are only at 8.5 right now. However, they sent me to a high risk doctor after telling me that my levels are not low enough for me to be feeling this bad. As soon as I stepped into the room the high risk doctor was not interested in my levels based on my color she wanted to know my symptoms when i told her i have been short of breath and dizzy she understood and right away told me that she thought i should go right away for another transfusion regardless of the numbers. I felt so relieved finally someone was looking at me as an individual and not basing everything on numbers. I am writing this post to tell you all to fight for your babies and yourselves. If you don't feel well and your doctor is NOT listening then switch doctors. Being a Thalassemia minor can affect you and your baby. I have just read so many posts where people seem frustrated and not heard so I thought maybe this information would be helpful. Maybe there is a high risk group out there for you. I can tell you they GET it and we are not crazy the symptoms are real and scary, especially when your pregnant! I hope this helps some of you.