9.10.2012

Countdown is on

I've got my first appointment with the shrink this afternoon.  I've been feeling better about things since the spotting stopped again on Friday, but I know I'm still just a TAD unstable so I'm looking forward to going this afternoon.  Two more days until the ultrasound...

Today I'm 8 weeks 1 day pregnant.  It feels like a milestone.  Not to get morbid, but last time my miscarriage was confirmed at 8 weeks exactly, and this time things seem to be going okay at this point.  I've been getting more and more nauseous, which is not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.  Apparently throwing up/trying not to throw up always sucks.  But it does help me feel more secure so I'll take it. 

As optimistic as I'm feeling today, I'm still dreading the ultrasound on Wednesday.  I really, really, really don't want to get bad news, or unclear news, or anything other than positively good news.  Even with great news I know I'll still find some reason to feel anxious.  Well, at least I know what I'll be talking to the shrink about today.  I would love to get to a point where I can start feeling excited and thinking beyond the next few days, or at least beyond the next trip to the bathroom.  Hopefully she will help me out with some of that today.

9.06.2012

Eh, can't think of an appropriate title

I am really bad at this whole "Calming the F down" business.  I mean, as long as everything goes smoothly and there are no surprises, I'm golden.  But as soon as I hit a bump in the road I lose my shit.  I told my NP this at my appointment yesterday and she was soooo understanding.  That's one nice thing about my OB's office, they seem to actually care about my mental health.  Well, except for the one midwife who scared the shit out of me last week.  (Oh PS, they said they were happy with my 2nd beta, so not to worry.  Haha.  Okay I'll get right on that.)  But moving forward...

So I don't have an infection anymore, score!  But I started spotting again.  DRAT.  I went five days with no sight of blood and then yesterday there was some pinkness.  KNOCK ON WOOD it seems to be lighter today, so hopefully it's just doing some kind of annoying coming and going thing that doesn't mean imminent disaster.  Doc says take it easy and keep them posted if it gets heavy.  Gagginess continues, as does tiredness, although I've managed not to take a nap for a few days in a row.  I have just 6 more days to wait until my ultrasound, and hopefully I'll feel marginally better when I hear a heartbeat.  Did you see that?  I said WHEN.  I'm practicing being more positive.

Meantime, I am going to call a therapist.  I'd been on antidepressants for several months before finding out I was pregnant, at which point I immediately stopped, and I'm obviously feeling the effects now.  It's funny, Wellbutrin is such a mellow drug that I hardly even knew I was taking it, but now that I'm off it I remember what a basket case I am when I'm unmedicated.  Though I'm sure the hormones aren't helping matters.  I also miss my Xanax.  So I figure the next best thing is to talk to a shrink.  I will be calling the therapist my OB referred me to tomorrow, before my appointment for a relaxing facial, courtesy of my awesome SIL L.

Okay that's it for now.  Please keep your fingers crossed for 1. A live baby in my ute that stays alive for many, many years to come (though not in my ute that whole time), and 2. That regardless of the outcome I find a way to hold myself together for the foreseeable future.

9.02.2012

This post brought to you by the letter F

You know what's hard?  Calming the F down when your doctor's office is F-ing with you!! 

So I was having a late lunch with my friend T on Friday, happily chatting away when my phone rings at about 3:30.  A different midwife from the one I spoke with on Wednesday is on the line and tells me she was looking at my beta.  She says, "It's not terrible, but it's more indicative of someone who is at 5 weeks.  You should be somewhere in the hundreds of thousands now.  I'd feel better if I saw them double, and I'm a little concerned that you're still spotting."  And sent me for another blood draw.

AHEM!!!!!!!  Excuse me, but 1. Why am I getting conflicting info from 2 midwives?  2. Why, when I asked the first midwife if the numbers should be doubling did she tell me no, and this one is telling me they should be?  and 3. WHY THE F is she calling me on FRIDAY at 3:30, before a 3 day weekend, telling me to get another draw when I specifically asked the other midwife two days before if I should do another draw and she told me no???  Oh yeah, and 4. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS at 6.5 weeks???  REALLY???  Doesn't that seem a tad unreasonably high???

Okay so it gets worse.  I BOOKED IT over to the hospital immediately, freaking out of course, hoping the lab could get my results to the doc on time for me to get the numbers before they closed at 5:00.  My mom met me there, spoke to the lab folks, and got them to agree to have the results ready in 45 minutes, 20 minutes before the Dr's office closed.  Right after the draw I called and spoke to the same midwife and asked if someone would be there until 5:00 to call me because the lab said they'd have the results ready before then.  She sort of hemmed and hawed but eventually said she would call me if the results came in on time.

I'll give you two guesses as to what happened next.  Yeah.  NO CALL by 5:00.  My phone was dying and after doing a little "get my mind off it" shopping with my mom, I got home right at 5, plugged in my phone and called the doc's office.  Naturally, they'd already switched the phones over to the operator, and when she called the back office line to see if anyone was still there, there was no answer.  Grrr...  Hubs wanted to call and yell at the on-call doctor, but luckily my mom has friends in high places.  She got a doctor friend of hers to get the results for me.  (Apparently the system was down until around 6:30 which is probably why my Dr's office never called, but DAMN!  They knew I was freaking out!  They couldn't at least call and say the system was down?)

So the numbers didn't double, the second result was 24,176 (the first was 3 days before and was 13,754).  According to this website and everywhere else I've looked online, this is still within normal range, and at this point the numbers usually double within 96 hours, not necessarily 2-3 days.  Who the F knows?  Knock on wood the spotting seems to have stopped as of yesterday.  But I'm still having a hard time thinking positive.  Ugh why does this have to suck so much???

I've been telling myself whether this works out or not, it's all good.  It's fine.  We weren't trying for this, we were happy before this happened and we'll be happy again.  And god dammit I'm going to Hawaii if no baby comes out of this, and I really want to go to Hawaii.  I already figured out what islands we'll go to (the big island to see waterfalls and volcanoes, then Oahu for Pearl Harbor and general relaxing) and to be honest I kind of have my hopes up for a second honeymoon.  Of course I am hoping for the other result more, but either way I figure I win.  (Remind me I said that if this whole pregnancy goes south, okay?  Actually on second thought, for your own safety you might not want to remind me.)

Back to the waiting game.  But I'm going to demand to talk to an actual DOCTOR on Tuesday, not one of these asshat midwives.