Saturday, January 7, 2012

Confirmation, the 1st appt, and the scare

Considering that I had found out our big news the week before Christmas, we knew that would be the perfect time to tell Brad's family.  I scheduled a confirmation appointment with my clinic for Friday, December 23rd.  I went in and took the urine test, the whole time afraid that they would come in and tell me I wasn't, in fact, pregnant (that's what reading infertility message boards will do for you - make you worry needlessly).  After my test they took my blood pressure, where the nurse informed me that, if I WAS pregnant, that my blood pressure was much too high.  I wasn't worried about it; I knew it was much more related to nerves than having high BP!  After what felt like a long wait, the PA walked in the room and sat down.
"Now, did you have a positive pregnancy test at home?" He asks me, and I swear I can see concern written all over his face.
At this point, my heart sinks and I think, my worst fears have come true.  But I tell him yes, and he perks up. "Well, that's great, cause we have one too!"
Yeah, I pretty much wanted to kick him in the face at that moment.  He told me my EDD (estimated due date) based on my LMP (last monthly period -- all these abbreviations!) would be August 24th.  He then proceeded to measure my belly, which basically involved him pressing around on my lower abdomen, making a mark and then pronouncing me at about 5 weeks along.  I was so impressed, I had no idea you could even tell on my stomach that I was pregnant yet.  I later found out by my OB...you can't :)  (In her words, "He didn't know what he was talking about."  Ha!)
The next night we told Brad's family, which there isn't a really big story to that because we knew they would figure out something was up when I wasn't drinking.  We were all sitting around the table (his 7 brothers & sisters, their spouses and Brad's parents) and Leanne (Brad's mom) offered me a drink.  I kind of glanced at Brad cause it was the 2nd or 3rd time she had offered me one that night and I knew I couldn't get away with it for long.  Brad jumped on the opportunity and said, "Well, since everyone's here - " and that was as far as he could get before his sister and Mom jumped up, eyes as big as pies, and looked at me like, "Is it true???" and I just nodded, and they all started yelling and everyone came over and hugged us and congratulated us....it was a very memorable moment.


That following Wednesday I had my first appointment with my OB.  I was pretty prepared for what to expect since I had talked to a couple friends at what those appointments entailed, so I felt better going in.  (I hate going to the doctor with an extreme passion).  I went in and gave a urine sample (they do them at every appointment) and then got to meet my OB, Dr. D (shortened for privacy).  It was only her 2nd day working at the clinic, but I knew I would love her.  She was young, very knowledgeable yet funny, very cute...I immediately felt at ease with her.  We went over the million questions they ask you, and then she told me to "suit up" for the Pap smear.  We did the Pap, breast exam, and internal exam, and after that they took a big panel of blood tests to test for HIV, Hep B, Rh factor, etc.  All in all, it took 2 hours and I left feeling more informed and excited for my pregnancy.


Then came Friday.  I had been working at home that week and that evening was expecting my stepdad and sister for a visit from IL.  We had been waiting to tell them about the pregnancy until we saw them.  However, that afternoon I went to the bathroom for one of the million times that day and my blood froze when I saw a fair amount of red blood - the kind they say you shouldn't have - on the toilet paper.  (This will maybe get TMI, so don't read if you have a sensitive stomach).  I kept wiping and it was still coming up red.  At that point, my heart was pounding and I was certain something was very wrong, despite the fact that I hadn't had any noticeably strong cramps.  I immediately called the clinic, where they asked a few questions to determine if I should come in or not.  The nurse checked with Dr.D who said if I wanted to come in she would see me.  I did, and headed in right away.


I drove to the hospital, praying the whole way that the big M was not happening...but also that I would just be in God's will, no matter what.  They got me in right away, where Dr.D decided to do an internal exam to check my cervix.  In the event of a miscarriage the cervix begins to open, probably much the way it does when you're on your menstrual cycle.  Thankfully mine was closed, but she wanted to have me go for an ultrasound anyway.  She also decided to check my HCG level, which would tell her if the pregnancy hormones were high in my body or not.  At this point I called Brad and asked him to come meet me, and I went to wait for my ultrasound.  I finally got in there - Brad showed up right as I was going on and considering it would be a transvaginal u/s, I decided to go in on my own - and laid down on the table, and I remember feeling SO nervous.  I was so afraid that they would tell me there wasn't anything there, that my uterus was empty.  I tried to breathe as the tech put the goo on my belly and started to move the doppler (? not sure what it's called) around.  She was silent the whole time, just watching the screen.  She finished up and told me we would need to do a transvaginal u/s as well, so I disrobed and watched her come at me with the giant transponder...it was a little intimidating, ha.  However, it wasn't painful at all, and she told me before she started, "If there's anything I can show you, I will."  But she never showed me anything, so at that point I began to feel pretty low.


When she was done I went out and met Brad, who was definitely being very sensitive to me and my emotions, but also stayed positive the whole while and wouldn't let me get too worked up until we talked with the doctor.  We headed back over to my clinic and waited for Dr.D to come in.  She walked in the room and sat down and said, "Well, everything looks good!" and I interrupted her and said, "It does?" - I seriously couldn't believe it.  She nodded and said all was well, that they were able to see the gestational sac and the yolk sac, and that I was measuring at 5 weeks and 2 days - which was 4 days behind where I thought I was (but I wasn't surprised as I ovulated late).  She said my HCG was at 31,000, which was actually a really great number (the average around that time is about 7000).  Because it was so high she felt she didn't need to have me come back to confirm that the numbers were doubling (which for most people is the true test of the fetus developing - the numbers should double every 48 hours).  Then she told me the reason for the bleeding - a subchorionic hemorrhage, otherwise known as an SCH.  They're basically a little sac of blood that develops on the uterus and can cause bleeding.  She said they're very common and with most women, their bodies will reabsorb them with no problems.  She did caution that they can cause an increased risk in miscarriages, which I hated hearing, but overall, it was a great appointment that confirmed that, for the most part, things were progressing very nicely!

No comments:

Post a Comment