I've always been curious about my family history and the stories that have been passed down through generations. Over the years, I've spent many hours researching my family tree, putting together scrapbooks and connecting with relatives. Sometimes a random thought sparks a whole new area of curiosity. Recently, I was thinking about my own blood type, I found myself wondering where a particular trait in our family began. I turned to some of my cousins on Facebook to see what I could learn. What I discovered brought back some memories from many years ago that I thought I'd share.
I am Rh-negative.
Being Rh-negative during pregnancy requires special attention if the fetus is Rh-positive.
My mother was and my sister is Rh-negative also. My mother came from a large family with ten children. From that I assumed that both my grandparents may have been negative also and that could be the reason they had ten healthy children. Maybe this is a false assumption, but a negative mother with positive children can be dangerous. Without medical care for my grandmother's pregnancies, it would be really lucky to not have some problems. In the years she had children, 1909 to 1929, there was very little prenatal care. Many of my cousins said they were positive, but I only know of one of my mom's sisters being negative. I don't know about the other siblings and I probably never will.
For those who don't know, our blood has a type like A, B, AB, O and a Rh system which is positive or negative. It also has a protein on the red blood cells. A positive blood has that protein, but negative blood does not. It's more complicated than that, but that is the gist of it. If a baby inherits the Rh protein from a Rh-positive father, then the baby will be Rh-positive. For some reason if the Rh-positive baby's blood mixes with the mother's Rh-negative blood, the mother's immune system will treat the protein as a foreign invader and makes antibodies against it.
The first pregnancy is usually alright because the mothers body has not built up enough antibodies to be harmful. It is in the future pregnancies that the antibodies can cross the placenta and attack the baby's red blood cells causing complications. The formation of these antibodies can be prevented by giving the mother a shot called RhIg or the RhoGAM injection. This was invented in 1968. If the baby of a Rh-negative mom is Rh-positive the shot is given within 72 hours or after an event such as miscarriage.
That is where my story begins. I didn't know I was Rh-negative when I was twenty two years old. In the fall of 1970 I had a miscarriage. I had some complications and was in the hospital for a few days. I did not receive the RhoGAM shot. I had never heard of it. Apparently since it was a fairly new drug, my older country doctor who was a general practitioner didn't know either. If he did, too much time might have passed since the shot must be given in 72 hours.
The next year I became pregnant again. I learned very quickly that my blood contained those antibodies I mentioned before and that I was Rh-negative. Most women loved being pregnant. I did not, I worried the whole time. Thank goodness there wasn't google or I would have been really nervous. Rh disease can cause a baby's skin to appear blue due to severe anemia and low oxygen levels, a condition called "blue baby disease." I had heard the term blue baby, many times during that time. I had to have my blood tested a lot during the pregnancy especially in the last few weeks. After delivery my baby was Rh-positive and thank goodness she was fine. Since I didn't have the shot for the first pregnancy, I couldn't have it for the 2nd.
3 1/2 years later, I did it again. I worried again for the whole pregnancy but I wanted two children. Everything went fine and that time I delivered a 9 pound baby girl. I did panic a little after she was born. I looked over and saw her feet were blue. I said "she's turning blue". They calmly told me it was just the ink for taking her footprints. It is funny now, but I still remember the panic feeling.
Fortunately I believe the Rh-negative legacy has ended with me. My daughters and their children are all Rh-positive. I have heard of people who have a recessive negative gene, but I don't know how that works. My only side effects is that I have to carry a card stating that I have those antibodies in my blood. If I need a blood transfusion, this information is needed.
I still have ancestral questions about where it started. I guess I will never know. I wish I could ask my parents. When we are young it never occurs to ask all those family questions. I have done a lot of genealogy research but some of the questions could only be answered by my parents or grandparents. It didn't occur to them either. We just lived our lives.
I know every single person in the world has their own story and has traumatic things that weren't perfect. To live this long, I am actually one of the lucky ones, but knowing my stories may help my descendants understand me as a person or explain why they are the way they are.
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