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Help Us Bring Baby Sky Home

APAS Baby Sky
Photo courtesy of  Baby Sky’s Facebook Page

What does it take to have an APAS baby? 

A leap of faith and one too many treatments while you protect your baby from your own antibodies that can possibly harm him/her.

Lately, I have been hearing so many inquiries from friends and acquaintances regarding this condition; some reached out through this blog while some would find solace in our Facebook Group>>. Apparently, there are already so many women silently suffering from not having a body that is viable for a successful pregnancy.

Having a repro-immuno disorder (APAS or Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome is just one of the five categories but is the term most people know) is devastating>>; mostly because it is the hindrance to you not being able to conceive or carry out a successful pregnancy without some form of treatment.

Imagine wanting a baby so much but you can’t because your body fights its growth. Pregnant women with this condition have to undergo a thousand pricks and needles (literally) to curb their immune system and stop it from harming the APAS baby they carry. It is the worst feeling that every yearning couple has to go through.

When I was carrying Santi, each day started and ended with fear. I had to inject my tummy with medicine twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.

APAS baby Santi inside my tummy
APAS baby Santi inside my bruised tummy

There’s always that gloom that ebbed in our hearts despite wanting to be optimistic. Would he turn out okay despite the dozens of medicine I was taking? These questions were never answered until the day we finally held him. 

We were lucky. 

But sometimes, things happen beyond our control and the turn of events are not on our favor. Like having our precious APAS babies fight our battle as well.Like Baby Sky, who is currently in NICU, battling her clotting problems (among other complications).

As parents to an APAS baby, I know in my heart that all APAS parents would give everything and anything just for their APAS babies to not experience any kind of pain or suffering. On another note, I think it is true for most (if not all) parents, with or without an APAS condition.

It is a tug in my heart to live vicariously in the heartache that my APAS sister Joanne and his husband are feeling right now not having Baby Sky in their arms.

Born on November 1, 2016, at 34 weeks 5 days, weighing 1.76kg, Sky is currently at the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Metro Manila. She was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect which necessitates immediate care and rigorous medical attention. According to the doctors, this condition can only be corrected through surgery.

Sky is the first one to be born alive to her mother after three unsuccessful pregnancies in the span of 10 years of marriage. It was on the third pregnancy that Sky’s mother was diagnosed with Anti-Phospolipid Antibody Syndrome (APAS), with high levels of natural killer cells , and Leukocyte antibody negative crossmatch.

The entire duration of pregnancy was a challenging journey for Sky and her mother, who had to undergo several treatments and therapies to sustain her and keep her alive in the womb. Her parents practically spent a fortune just to ensure her safety, with much anticipation that they would soon behold their much awaited child.

Way ahead of schedule, the mother was admitted to the High Risk Pregnancy Unit of SLMC-GC to have an emergency C-section because the baby showed poor heartbeat and the mother has preeclampsia and APAS complications threatening her life and the baby’s. By the grace of God, Sky was born.

While Sky’s condition has stabilized, she still needs continuous medical attention and proper care to address prematurity and gastric bleeding caused by very low platelet count & clotting abnormalities.

As of this writing, her hospital bill has mounted. The family is in dire need financially because they have exhausted their resources during the course of pregnancy and they did not expect that Sky would have this condition.

From Baby Sky’s Facebook Page

I appeal to your kind hearts to be a miracle to Baby Sky. Her family needs your prayers and financial support. A little goes a long way. Let us help bring Sky home and make this Christmas the happiest for her parents. Be her little miracle and prayer warrior today.

Update: If you would want to join Color Manila Run in January, hope you can pre-register at Sky’s Facebook or IG page.

P.S. If you want to donate, you can visit Sky’s page for more details>

Please share, loves!

Love lots,

Balot Sign

Update: Baby Sky has already joined our Creator. Please continue praying for Baby Sky and her family.

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