Liz Brewer
Bellbrook, Ohio, USA
After almost 3 years of marriage, my husband, Andrew, and I decided to start a family. After a few months we were pregnant, but the joy was short lived as the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at about 10 weeks, in October 2010. Heartbroken, we picked up the pieces and tried again after losing baby Alex.
After several months we knew we just had to try again, and we again were pregnant within a few months. When we went to the doctor we were assured that while they didn’t have an exact diagnosis for Ben’s condition, that it was most likely a fluke genetic issue that wouldn’t arise again but they would keep an extra close eye on the baby this time. The first 20 weeks went by event free and when it came time for our 20 week ultrasound, my doctor offered for us to go to a hi-risk specialist to have an extra thorough ultrasound done and we jumped on the chance. At our appointment we learned we were having a girl, Emma Anne, and that everything looked great. One of the hi-risk doctors came in to consult and said that based on what he knew of our history with Ben, we might have something called Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia and that we should be tested right away as it could affect subsequent pregnancies. My husband and I were tested and after less than a week we found out that we did have NAIT and we were in the 100% group. We set up an appointment to be under the care of the hi-risk practice and started treating NAIT a few days later. I was treated with IVIG for 13 weeks, at 2g/kg and prednisone for about 6 weeks at 35g a day.