Monday, I was 7 weeks 2 days when I noticed that I was spotting. It wasn't a bright red or pink type of spotting, but more of a clear brownish tint. Put it this way, it was enough to shock the hell out of me and send me to the emergency room at 9pm because I'm completely level-headed that way.
While in triage, the nurse who was taking my vitals asked me all of the common "how far along are you?" "are you cramping?" "are you bleeding heavy enough to soak a pad?" questions, and I started to feel silly and embarrassed for being there because my only answer to all of those questions was "Ummm, no. I'm just tinting this tan/light brown/clearish color.."
Since it wasn't a true emergency, and after having my blood taken and a urine sample was given, I was sent back out into the waiting room so that others who were there with TRUE emergencies could have the bed that I would have been in. No problem... DH and I sat in the children's are because Mary Poppins was playing on their TV, and since the area was empty, we made ourselves comfortable for the next hour. I was thankful for that because I knew what was coming next.... the ultrasound.
I just knew that I was about to miscarry. Why else would I have been spotting? All of my other miscarriages started out that way... I would spot... the spotting would eventually get heavier... then it would all be over and I'd leave the hospital un-pregnant. So waiting for the ultrasound tech to call my name was excruciating. So, thank you Mary Poppins, you annoying freak, for helping me get through that. A spoon full of sugar, indeed.
Tech on MUTE
Ok, so I get the whole "I'm not a dr., just a tech, so I can't tell you anything I'm seeing on the ultrasound screen" thing... but OMG! It was bad enough waiting for the tech to call me, but to call me and then not say anything to me other than "Disrobe from the waist down" and "Can you please insert this probe?" and "Don't ask any questions. The dr. will go over all of your results later." and then proceed to probe my personal area was BEYOND awkward. But that's exactly what happened. I just wanted her to tell me that she saw the baby's heartbeat, but the fact that she sat there stone-faced the entire time led me to believe that my gut feeling was accurate, and I had lost the baby.
After another hour of waiting in the waiting room, we were finally called back to a bed where the dr. was going to give me the bad news, tell me how sorry he was, and give me my options. But that didn't happen...
Dr. I Dunno
A rather young, tall, thin man with wire-rimmed glasses introduced himself as the Dr. and pulled a chair up next to me prepared to give me the results from all of my tests, including the ultrasound report.
"Well, I'm not sure why you're spotting, but the baby looks great and has a gorgeous little heartbeat.."
I couldn't believe he was telling me this. I was waiting for him to tell me he was reading someone else's results, but nope, those results were for me!
"My baby is ok?" I asked.
"Sure. Why wouldn't it be?" he responded.
"Because I'm spotting... ?" was all I could come up with.
"Spotting is very normal in the first trimester. Your hormones are doing what they're supposed to be doing, and sometimes you will spot for no reason whatsoever. Now, if you were bleeding and cramping, then we would have something to be concerned about. But your levels look great, your baby looks great, you're not running a fever... so I'm sending you home with orders to rest until the spotting subsides and come back if things start to get worse. Ok?"
So, I got to leave the hospital "still pregnant" and with good news. I wasn't sure why I was spotting, either, but I knew that the baby was ok, and that's all I cared about.
Sharing the BLAHHHH'S
A couple of days after the spotting scare, I was feeling very good and secure knowing that my little munkee was safe and sound inside of me. Then "inside of me" declared war on my entire body. I couldn't keep ANYTHING in.. not even water. I panicked. Oh, that's nothing. You should have seen how freaked out I was when I took my temp and it was 102.3 degrees. I just KNEW that my baby inside of me was getting boiled alive... so I went back to the hospital. :0/
This time, it really was an emergency. A pregnant woman should never let her temperature go above 101 degrees because it CAN be potentially harmful to the baby, and I wasn't embarrassed to be there and was ready for my bed because I was about to recreate a scene from Bridesmaids in the waiting room. (You know which scene I'm referring to...)
Again, the fear of damaging my little baby from running such a high fever, coupled with severe dehydration were worse than any symptoms I was feeling at that moment. I couldn't care less how sick I was... I just wanted my baby to be ok.
This time I had a different ultrasound tech. Even though she didn't share what it was she was seeing on the screen, she did reassure me by talking about the baby as though it was still alive, which was code for "Your baby is fine" to me, and I was so grateful.
After two bags of fluids to rehydrate me, medicine to calm the nausea, and confirmation that the baby was still alive and kicking... I left the hospital, once again... still pregnant.
Today's follow-up
Because of the crazy and eventful week, I kind of cheated on my RE and went to my OBGYN before being "officially released" for my follow-up. I have an appointment next week for my official release, so I'll go ahead and keep that... I just wanted to follow up with my ob just to get that ball rolling. I was able to finally see the baby on ultrasound, and nothing was kept from me.
Wanna see my baby? She's a cutie little gummy bear measuring 8 weeks, 2 days (a whole 2 days ahead of schedule!). She was even moving around a little inside of me. The most precious sight I've seen in such a long time...
.JPG)
Ok, she has an alien head, but OMG... I totally love her alien head. And why do I keep referring to the baby as a her? I dunno... I guess I've changed my mind and am convinced this baby is a she... so until proven otherwise, little munkee is a girl.
4 minutes until tomorrow... and I'm ready to stick a fork in it. Until next week...
No comments:
Post a Comment