November 10, 2007

So when I "delivered" Jay the doctor ran every test he could to try to find out what had happened. Well because I had to go see him a few days ago I got my test results back and I asked for a copy of them, and I'm so glad I asked for it. He didn't really go over the tests with me just said that all but one came back negative and the one that did come back pos was for antibodies not a current infection so chances are it had nothing to do with what happened. I couldn't remember for the life of me what he said it was even after a few minutes. Well after going over my test result when I got home I found what it was, and last night I was reading/skimming this book I found at the library called "Avoiding Miscarriage" that was put out this year. So as I'm going through the book it has a list of illnesses that will hurt the baby, and the one I tested pos for was one of them. My doctor had told me that having antibodies for it was no big deal because most people have had it at some point in their life, well its called Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and it turns out it's part of the herpes family, which means once you have it you always have it, it just goes dormant and then you can have outbreaks. Oh and it will cause "fetal demise" if passed to the "fetus" (I hate that word) So Chas and I looked it up online and sure enough everything we found on a medical site says the same thing. If you have an outbreak it will kill the baby. So I spent all of last night crying again because not only did we lose Jay, but now I have lost the next baby that I have been dreaming about, the one thing that has made it easier to breath- knowing we could try again and it probably wouldn't happen again. After reading all of that stuff it hit me that I probably got this last year after Christmas when I was so sick for weeks (all my symptoms match and even though I went to the doctor he didn't run any tests just said to try this and see if it works, it didn't work just made life easier) I just kept thinking I can't have another baby that I will probably lose. I have cold sores and canker sores, all of which are a part of the same family, and I hardly ever go for 9 months with out an outbreak so there is no way I won't have one when pregnant, That was it, I could never have another baby. So this morning I wanted to know more and went to Google to see what I could find, and found a link to BabyCenter talking about CMV in pregnancy. Well the BabyCenter article is from over 2 years ago, but it says something very different from the book and medical websites. It says that while you have it forever, you only get an outbreak if you have a weaken immune response to something. It also says that it doesn't cause "fetal death" just hearing problems and mental problems. And to top it off you have next to no chance of passing it to the baby if you have a recurrent CMV infection. I don't know what to believe! Is it safe for me to get pregnant again or not?? Will *I* hurt my baby again on accident?? I just want to scream!!! Ok I have to include this study I found to go over later- Maternal antibodies against cytomegalovirus in pregnancy and the risk of fetal death and low birth weight Authors: Eskild, Anne; Jenum, Pål A.1; Bruu, Anne-Lise1 Source: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Volume 84, Number 11, November 2005 , pp. 1035-1041(7) Abstract: Background. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of maternal cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody status in pregnancy on the risk of fetal death and of low birth weight. Methods. The study of fetal death risk was a nested case–control study. Cases were all women within a cohort of 35 940 pregnant women in Norway 1992–94, who experienced fetal death after 16th week of gestation (n = 281). Controls were 957 randomly selected women with live born children. Both groups were identified through linkage to the Norwegian Medical Birth Registry. The risk of low birth weight was studied in the live born children Results. Seventy-two percent (203/281) of the cases and 69% (662/957) of the controls had CMV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the first trimester (P = 0.3). 0.4% (1/281) of the cases and 0.7% (7/957) had CMV IgM antibodies in the first trimester (P = 0.7). Among 322 initially CMV antibody-negative women, 11% (6/55) of the cases and 9% (24/267) of the controls had occurrence of CMV IgG and/or IgM antibodies (P = 0.7) during pregnancy. Also, after control for maternal age, parity, and follow-up time, no association between CMV antibodies and fetal death was found. CMV antibody status was not associated with low birth weight. Conclusions. This study does not support a causal relation between CMV infection in pregnancy and fetal death or low birth weight. So this isn’t the whole story just the basics of it, the whole story isn’t available, but it is something at least. Here is another one to go over. CMV Tests for You and Your Baby CMV testing during pregnancy Although it is not currently recommended that all pregnant women be routinely tested, a blood test can help you know if you have ever been infected with CMV. This test shows if your body has developed antibodies against CMV by testing for a type of antibody called "IgG antibodies." If you are pregnant and test positive (have CMV IgG antibodies), your chance of passing the virus to your unborn baby is small unless your CMV infection occurred in the past few months. Other CMV tests (IgM or IgG avidity) can help determine whether your infection is recent, but these tests are not perfect and may not be commercially available. If you are pregnant and test negative (have no CMV antibodies), your unborn baby has a high risk of getting CMV if you get infected during pregnancy. For more information about risk of CMV during pregnancy, please visit the CMV and pregnancy page. If you are pregnant and test negative, you should take extra care to use good hygiene (see the CDC Ounce of Prevention site) when you are around young children since they often (10%-40% of the time) have CMV in their urine and saliva. If your doctor determines that you had a new CMV infection during your pregnancy, this does not mean that your unborn baby is infected. In many cases, you can be infected with CMV but it will not spread to your unborn baby. You would need to do more invasive tests, such as amniocentesis, to find out if your unborn baby is infected. In most cases, babies born with CMV would develop normally. For these reasons, routine CMV testing during pregnancy is not recommended. Consult your doctor about CMV testing if you are concerned that you became infected with CMV during your pregnancy. CMV testing if you are planning a pregnancy If you are planning to become pregnant, a CMV blood test can help you know how careful you must be to prevent CMV infection. If you test positive, you will know that there is little chance that your baby will be harmed by CMV. If you test negative, carefully follow the recommendations for preventing CMV infection (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cmv/pregnancy.htm) before and during your pregnancy. Either way, it is always a good idea to follow the prevention guidelines because they will also help you avoid other infections. CMV testing of your newborn If you find out that you became infected with CMV for the first time during your pregnancy, you should make sure your baby is tested for CMV as soon as he/she is born. If you are concerned about congenital CMV for any other reason, you should also talk to your doctor about having your baby tested. This will let you know whether you should think about treating your baby for CMV infection. If your baby tests positive, you should also have his or her hearing and vision tested regularly. Most CMV-infected babies grow up with normal health, but if your child has delayed hearing or vision problems, early detection can help his or her development. Date: February 6, 2006 Content source: National Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Again it is something.