Hey Lynn,

I am not exactly sure what these antibodies are but my OB told me briefly on the phone when he rang with the results that they attack the bodies own cells and in my case being the placenta which caused the placenta to come away from the uterine wall and apparently these antibodies are more likely to cause early miscarriage but in some cases cause mid-late term loss (please someone correct me if I am wrong cause this is just what I understand). I am not exactly sure how or why all of this happens or even how these antibodies build up in your system but from what I understand they are just something in your body make up, just like I have blue eyes its just part of me. I really do want to find out more but I think I will have to wait until 14 Feb when I see OB, I will let you know more when I get the info. He also told me that if the antibodies kick in during third trimester like they did in my case the babies generally start to drop off some weight beforehand. In my case it would explain why Nicholas dropped weight somewhere in the 2 weeks prior to passing away, so he suspects that the antibodies didn't kick in until around 34-35 weeks. Apparently it can be treated with low dose Aspirin and maybe something else as well but I am not too sure what, he said we would discuss it further when I came in to see him. He said with this treatment I have an excellent chance of delivering a healthy baby but without it I have medium to high risk of the same thing happening to my next baby (boy am I happy I switched OB's!)

I am not sure about the weight thing, your OB may be right and I wouldn't like to suggest otherwise cause obviously I am no expert. Nicholas was as you said 5lb9oz which is the equivalent to approx. 2.5kgs and my new OB checked this chart he had and said that he should have been 2.8kgs at 36 weeks gestation. The percentile is the percentage of babies who are born with that weight, height or so on. So at the 34 week scan he was in the 50th which is pretty much spot on average, and in the last scan he was in the 25th which means he was then below average. I don't know if that makes sense but basically if you have three lines and the one in the middle is average, on one side you have below average and the other side you have above average - Nicholas at 34 weeks was on the middle line and at birth was half way between the 1st and middle lines making him in the 25th percentile for gestation. Aaaaah sorry I have probably just confused you even more, maybe someone else here will kindly explain it in better terms than I have. I have to admit that I did believe he was a good size simply because I know some full term babies are born at 5lb something, so needless to say I was quite shocked when the OB said "so he was on the small side then?". You are right that they bulk up in the last few weeks thought, I was told that the last few weeks of gestation literally are just fattening up. Again, I could be wrong it is just what I have heard.

Sorry I can't give you any more info, I am dying for some myself. I have tried to do research on the internet but I had to stop because I came away thinking oh my god I have lupus, oh my god I have this, oh my god I have that. I found one article that said it has been linked to cancer, so all of a sudden I am dying! lol, I don't really believe that obviously but that is why I stopped looking and thought maybe I should just wait to see the OB before I start self diagnosing.

Good luck tomorrow with your OB appointment, don't stress too much about the weight thing cause I am sure every doctor has their own opinions and who is to say who is right and wrong. Be sure to let us know how you get on

Take care,

Mel

P.S. I don't think any of what I have written makes sense reading over it so if I am wrong I apologise in advance