Baby Stime, 8 week check up, and a scare

Yesterday was a crazy Kaiser centered day, that went even into the night.  

If you are pregnant and have Kaiser, they make you go to a 2 hour prenatal class where they go over all the info a first time mom would want to know, the screenings you can have done, what to expect, etc.  You also have to fill out all the paperwork for your blood tests for genetic screening, HIV, RH, etc.   Well I have had to sign up for this "class" now 4 times in the past 4 years.  After the 2nd time, I had asked the teacher if it was okay to just fill out the paperwork and leave and she was fine with this ;)   Yesterday however, I was scheduled for this class 9-11 and in Fremont at the Fertility center at 11:40.   I got all the paperwork done and was waiting for a chance to ask her about leaving early but this lady didn't even take a breath to get a word in.  Eventually, I was able to go and we had to rush over to the Fremont Kaiser.

Last week, although we saw the heartbeat, it was still fairly fuzzy on the screen and they weren't satisfied with what they saw and asked me to come back this week to see if letting the baby grow for a week would allow them a better view.   After about 10 minutes, our doctor could still not find the sac or the baby that we had seen the week before.  I started to worry, because during the exam in the ER of our 3rd miscarriage they also couldn't find anything and it was like a bad flashback.   Our doctor said that the actual Fremont Kaiser hospital across the street would have a better ultrasound machine in their radiology department.  Our appointment wasn't for an hour so we had some time to sit and worry.

When it was time for our appointment, I forgot that in radiology, the ultrasounds are done by technicians, not doctors or nurse.  This means they can't interpret or diagnose what they are seeing.  They also don't allow anyone else in the room, or even the patient to see what they are seeing.   So I'm sitting there worried as heck, and my rock of support has to sit outside in the waiting room, and even after the exam, she can't tell me what she sees either, so I have no idea how the baby is doing.   The exam included both an internal and external ultrasound, and because she was having a hard time, at first , seeing anything, she was pressing down kind of hard on my hip, which is still sore today.

So we head back to the fertility center to get the results of the ultrasound from across the street.  I think at this point we are both sitting on pins and needles, and I could feel Josh grab my shaking hand.   "So it looks like everything is great!"  the doctor told us.  He continued on to tell us that I had a fibroid (which is common and nothing to worry about), but that it was blocking the view of the baby.   Although the ultrasound pictures had not had time to be loaded yet for us to see them, the doctor at the other Kaiser had interpreted the ultrasounds and diagnosed that the baby was positioned well in the left side of my uterus, (for those of you who don't know, I have a bicornute uterus, which is more heart shaped instead of triangular-so there are "false walls" that the baby can attach to that can end in miscarriage) and that the left side is the bigger side, so the baby will have room to grow.   Everything looked fine and the size of the baby is fine.  

We left Fremont in high hopes, one of the few times I've left an ultrasound appointment in good thoughts.  However later last night, after returning home, I woke up to use the bathroom and saw an uncomfortable amount of spotting :(  My stomach and back were also sore.  Not a good sign.   So I call the Kaiser 24 hour triage nurse and she suggests staying off my feet for the next 24 hours and watching the amount of spotting-if it were to increase to go to ER or call in for an appointment in the morning.
The amount of praying I have done in the past 30+ hours...
Today, thank God, the spotting has been steadily decreasing and most of the pain is gone.  I can only hope that the spotting and pain was related to the number and length of internal exams I had yesterday, which is normal, but still very scary to see.  
So for now, I feel better and think everything is okay.  I will be keeping an eye on myself and hopefully won't have any more scares like last night.  Now that we have been released back to the normal ob/gyn back here in Modesto, we will have to wait until at least week 10 or so (supposedly when most people get their 1st ultrasound) for our next appointment.   However if something happens in the meantime, I will definitely be calling in before that for an appointment.   Unfortunately, I don't have an ultrasound to show all of you, because I didn't even get to see it, but we will get a copy of it at our next appointment and hopefully will be able to give you a glimpse of baby Stime.

Thank you for all the kind thoughts, and especially you GKE people who have been making sure I'm okay :)     I hope to have more good news to share in the coming weeks!

baby 4 and our week 7 visit

So at the end of July I went in for UTI test and asked that they add a pregnancy test to the lab slip.  I knew that if I was prescribed antibiotics that the most common type prescribed is not safe for pregnancy.   Due to my past experiences with the spotting, monthly pregnancy tests had become a commonplace in my life...just to make sure.  For those of you who know me well, I usually experience pain comparable to post miscarriage pains during PMS and without a test could never be sure if it was "normal" or indeed another miscarriage.  

Anyway, back to the test.   I received my results a day or so later, accompanied with a letter from my doctor, that yes I had the UTI, but that I was also pregnant!   After trying for 2 years after our last loss, it was a pleasant surprise.   But unlike many couples who find out they are pregnant, our joy was immediately followed with worry and concern.  All those old questions started running through my brain again...Will we lose this one too?  Will he/she be okay?   And even though I know that most of what I do will not cause a miscarriage, I have become too aware (and cautious) of my every move.  For example, waking up to find I'm sleeping on my stomach, accidentally eating blue cheese (not advised for those who are pregnant).   We have had a few VERY slight spotting "incidences"  but nothing to be worried about (ha!)

After we found out we were pregnant, I remembered that the fertility doctor in Fremont we had talked to in 2010 told us to contact them if we became pregnant so that tests could be run from the start.   As a result of these tests,  I found that I had a low level of progesterone.  My levels went from 9.3 to 10.4 and they should of been at least at a 12.  I was immediately put on doses of progesterone and my level went up to a 12.6.  Good news :)   A side effect of this drug...spotting.  Great!  I know that what I've been seeing so far isn't what I saw with the first 3, which is a good sign, (and the doctor also was convinced after a scan that it was either normal or from the drug).   So hopefully with my thyroid and progesterone in check this baby has a chance.  

The Fremont doctors also wanted ultrasounds ASAP and didn't want me to wait till the 9 or 10th week like most normal pregnancies.  Even though we couldn't see anything on 8.7.12, we had our first ultrasound at 5 weeks.  Today we went in for the 7 week ultrasound and we saw....A HEARTBEAT!!!!  After worrying about so many things and bracing myself for the worst, we saw the sac, and a little flicker that was our baby's heartbeat :)   I was so happy to see that little tiny flicker.   I know that we aren't out the "danger zone" yet, but I felt so much better.   We get to go again next week during week 8 because the view was still a little fuzzy and they wanted a clearer picture.  So stay tuned for more updates :)  

I do have to say that I am being watched like a hawk by my doctors this time, which is great, but did it take the loss of 3 little lives to make that happen?  3 miscarriages apparently puts you in the high risk pregnancy category, but still...

The cutest part of today, was a quote from the N.P. when measuring the baby, "Your baby is about 1/2 an inch long, like a little Jelly Belly Jelly bean".  

Now...we wait :)