I wasn’t sure if I would ever put this out there for
everyone to read, but I felt like it was important to jot down everything I was
going through. Initially it helps to jot it down since I didn’t tell too many
people I was pregnant in the beginning, then I realized that maybe this baby
will read it one day and realize what a miracle they are and how much mommy
went through. Early in my pregnancy I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma,
there is so little known about hematomas and when I was diagnosed I just wanted
to read other people’s stories of what they had been through and what I might
need to expect, so I hope that my story will help with other people going
through a pregnancy with a hematoma. I will explain in the blog what this
condition is and what the implications are, if you want more information please
visit: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a27372249/sch_faq
I also wanted to create this blog separate from my other one
because I have some friends and family that may not want to hear every little
detail about my pregnancy. And there are
other people (like myself) who want to know every detail no matter how minute!
Be forewarned that I am not a modest person, also I am in the medical field so
talking about poop, blood and other things that are nasty to some are just
normal to me. I don’t go into full detail of these things, but I do mention
them when they come up. I’ve kept it the way I wrote it, which is kind of like
a journal with the date at the top and how far along I was.
So let’s back track a little shall we? Let’s start with how
I found out… First off I had only been in Germany reunited with my husband and
5 year old son for a few weeks and we decided to go on a castle hopping
adventure and to see LEGOland for the 4th of july. Well we barely
left because my stomach was acting up. I was having a lot of pain and bathroom
trips that were making it hard to depart on our adventure, I thought that my
gallbladder or appendix was exploding, but the pain and bathroom trips subsided
and we were able to leave.
Well my whole life I have a horrible stomach, but this pain
was new, so after a week or so after our adventure it had lessened, but was
still there, so I made an appt. in family practice. (on a side note during out
trip I thought I had my period, gross but important detail). During my appt a
week and a half later the Dr thought maybe gallbladder, unfortunately with
stomach pain it can be any number of things. Upon palpation of my upper abdomen
bringing tears to my eyes he decided to order various blood and urine tests to
help rule out liver and kidneys issues. He said we might do a sonogram
depending on the labs and that he would call me that day as the labs results
slowly started to trickle in.
About 2 hours later Dr. F. call and the first thing he asks
me is “Was you previous pregnancy normal?” “uuhhh yea”
“No complications at all?”
“uuumm, no”
“And when was the last time you were pregnant?”
“five years ago. Why? Did the test come back positive?”
“yes, and these are highly sensitive tests.”
I went on to ask him about the fact that I thought I was
currently getting over my period as we spoke, coupled with my abdominal pain he
seemed concerned, but told me to go to the emergency room if my pain got worst,
otherwise he was putting in an emergency referral to be seen downtown by an OB
and the referral should take 24 hours. Once I hung up the phone my first
thought was “oh shit!” My husband and I had not been using protection, however it took
nearly 2 years to get pregnant with my son due to my PCOS, we were initially
told we would have to use IVF and additionally I had only been reunited with my
husband for 3 flipping weeks! I went to my husband crying and just blurted out “I’m
F!@#ing pregnant” I was totally shocked and very concerned because bleeding is
never good with pregnancy, at least that’s what we are told. I thought for sure
and told hubby that I thought I was having a miscarriage. Then I went into the bathroom
and took a test I had. It was a faint line, but a line none the less. I don’t
know what it is with us ladies, but we need to see it to believe it I guess.
A couple hours later I got a call from a lady who identified
herself as the Liason officer. She had spoken with my nurse who had spoken with
my Dr and they were all concerned that I was having an ectopic pregnancy. So
they advised me to go to one of the OB ER’s. So we packed some stuff for our
son and got some food and off we went. The amazing thing about Germany is that
they have ER’s/clinics just for preggos, so it’s nice to not be with a bunch of
sick people. Once we got there they took my urine and decided to do an
ultrasound.
*Please remember I am quite blunt and I say it like it is,
so if you are grossed out easy, stick to my facebook page or e-mails!*
Of course this early the ultrasound is vaginal. The scan
didn’t show anything which wasn’t surprising because I was only 4 weeks, but
there was nothing to be seen in my tubes, which was good. The German Dr. was
very nice and didn’t seem concerned about the bleeding, he said it was very
minimal and that it is actually quite common early on. He said that once I got
my referral I could come see him in his office. He also ordered HCG (the
pregnancy hormone) levels to be done and said we would repeat them in a couple
days after getting my referral. At this point we hadn’t told my son anything
besides mommy is having tummy problems. Being the smart little boy he is when we were part
of the way through the visit he got really close to me face to face and asked
me in the most serious voice: “mommy do you have a baby in your belly?” I was
totally caught off guard, but being that we are so honest with him and he would
know if something was going on I told him that we didn’t really know and that’s
why were there.
After leaving I ended up doing a ton of research about
bleeding because I never had it with my son, I knew other women who had
experienced it, but I always heard it being lighter than a period and I had
what I thought was a normal period except no cramping. Apparently it is quite
common for women! Some women bleed around the time of their period their whole
pregnancy, and as it turns out there are several ladies I already knew who bled
when they were pregnant without any complications! But I was still very nervous.
While I waited for the referral I took a test each day looking for a darker line indicating rising HCG
The bleeding stopped shortly after my visit to the ER (9 days total)and my
referral ended up taking 3 days instead of 24 hours. So by the time I went back
to Dr. H’s office I was 5 weeks and 2days. He gave me my HCG level which was
326, which was normal for 4 weeks and we did another ultrasound. Luckily we got
to see a gestational sac, which measured 5 weeks and 3 days, and it was in the
uterus where it was supposed to be, so we are right on track! From the research
I did you can only see something on ultrasound once the HCG levels reach 2,000,
so they had risen quite a bit as they should. I was so relieved to see our
little baby dot! Dr. H said that things were developing just as they should and
I asked him if I could breathe now. He said yes, but next we need to see the
heartbeat (which I already knew). So we scheduled our next apt for 3 weeks
later (8weeks along) and we should be able to see the heartbeat and a little
peanut next time!
(I am 6 weeks and 1 day right now as I’m writing this {I
think the date was 7/23/12}) I absolutely cannot wait!! It’s like the next step
to relief… Dr. H said they will do and ultrasounds @ 8 weeks, then 10, then 12,
then 20, then 30. We have told our close family and my bff, but it is so hard
keeping it secret! I’m the worlds worst liar and I cannot keep my own secrets,
I suffer from diarrhea of the mouth. As
of now I have been feeling surprisingly well as far as the nausea goes. With my
son I had hyperemesis so I was already quite ill at this point. So far my
biggest symptoms have been exhaustion (so bad I don’t even wanna sew or do
anything), supersonic sniffer, and booboulders a.k.a. breast tenderness and
enlargement. I am hoping to continue on the path at this rate! I really don’t
want to experience the nasty nausea. A little bit is tolerable, which I’ve had,
but that is all I will allow!!
On a side note I have an ultrasound scheduled for what they
think is gallstones on July 31st, and an appt the day after to
review it with my doctor. We shall see what it says. I’ve also read that most
GI issues go away or subside during pregnancy (including IBS and gallbladder
issues). If it is gallstones we will wait until after the baby is born to
remove the gallbladder unless it becomes very bad. As of right now, the pain
has gone away and all I have had is a sensation of fullness in my upper right
abdomen in the mornings. I’m kind of hoping that they will take a look at the
baby during the abdominal ultrasound, but they probably wont. I just can’t wait
to see that little heartbeat!
No comments:
Post a Comment