The Rogam Shot

When I mentioned the Rogam shot in a previous post many of you said that you were curious to hear how that turned out, so I thought that I'd share :) The Rogam shot was really no big deal. I went in a couple of weeks ago before work and had to have bloodwork done before I could get the shot. I am not really sure why they had to draw blood, but when they did it was just one tube. The tube had some kind of clear liquid in it and they said they needed to see if my blood reacted with this liquid before they gave me the shot. Again, I didn't really ask questions as to why, but maybe I should have. After getting my bloodwork done, I headed with the nurse into a room. I was already taking my cardigan off so she could give the shot to me in my arm, but she said, "Oh no honey, this goes in your bottom!" This is about the point where I felt my blood pressure rise. I didn't mention that I am scared of needles and shots and everything that goes along with them. I do pretty well when I can actually see the needle coming and can brace myself, but this needle I couldn't see, so I was starting to freak out. I was trying to put my big girl panties on and just deal with it, so I started talking to her about the derby since it was just the day before. I could hear my voice cracking a little bit as I could see her coming at me out of the corner of my eye, but I swear that needle was so small I didn't even feel it. We were just talking away, well I was basically just saying, "Uh huh..." when she said something because I was halfway freaking out, and then she said, "Ok you're good to go!" I was thinking, "That's it?! I freaked out over that?!"

After the shot the nurse gave me a little paper saying that I had been given the shot and she said I needed to keep in my purse. I agreed but had no idea why I needed to have that with me. I immediately left the office and called my mom who is a nurse and asked her what the card was for. She actually had to research a little bit to find the answer, but incase I am ever in a wreck and need blood, I can be given different types and my body will accept it because of the shot. Good to know...

I also did a little bit of research as to why I actually needed to have the shot. Basically here is what my mother-on-law's textbooks say about Rogam: The shot does not have anything to do with Addison. When we got pregnant with her, my body did not fight off Mike's blood type. If we have another child without having the shot, my body would think that Mike's blood type is an anti-body and try to fight it off. If this happens, we still might get pregnant, but the baby might not get enough blood flow and could lead to not getting enough oxygen, which could lead to a mental disability. If you have the shot, your body does not fight off the different blood type and the baby is not at risk.

So if you ever have the shot when you are pregnant, no big deal! It's not too bad!