We got married in June 2008 and having been together for 6 years at that point, we knew we wanted to start a family pretty quickly. Later that year, in November, we had a positive pregnancy test. Had this confirmed at my GP's office, and then on Thanksgiving morning, I woke up knowing that it was time to head to the ER. Between the shock and the drugs of that day, that's about all I have to say about that one. I think I was somewhere around 5 weeks that time.
Fast forward 4 years (almost) and on our vacation in March, we decided to try again. On March 30, I woke up to POAS (Pee On A Stick to all of you who don't spend your time on boards of TTC (Trying to Conceive) and expectant women everywhere) and the result was quickly two, solid, dark lines - positive! I woke my husband up at 6:30 AM to share the news - BTW, don't go this route if you're expecting a big reaction! I called the doctor later and scheduled an appointment to have it all confirmed, even though these home tests are pretty darn accurate. On April 10, we drove to the doctors office, had the test confirmed, 5 tubes of blood drawn, and I had a pelvic exam. I shared with the CNP that I had experienced a miscarriage previously, and she assured me that one time does not put you at any higher risk, but just so I could feel better, she would have an ultrasound scheduled ASAP. The ultrasound was scheduled for the next day - I was so excited!
We go to another of the 6 or 7 offices this practice has the next day for the "photo shoot" extremely excited - I believed I had already made it past the point of the last miscarriage, so I was feeling pretty good about things. The tech spent alot of time looking at my ovaries and said that there was "something of concern going on near my right ovary" and she needed to have the practitioner on duty take a look. But before she did, she did also show me a gestational sac with a perfect little diamond ring right in the middle - the yolk sac and the cells of my developing baby! However, the CNP then comes in, introduces herself and tells us that they are concerned that I'm having an ectopic pregnancy and I will have to have another ultrasound next week. Wait - didn't we just see a yolk sac diamond ring looking thing right where it was supposed to be?? My next appointment was scheduled for May 9, so they got me scheduled for the following week for more blood tests and another ultrasound and cancelled that one. The next day, I had some spotting, which will always freak a pregnant woman out, but I just chalked it up to the pelvic exam the day before - they can be a little intrusive!
On April 17, we went for our first big "intake" appointment and ultrasound. We saw the most beautiful images of our little lizard that day (with the fetal pole, that's what they look like!) and his/her little heartbeat. We were also lucky enough to hear the heartbeat - 115 beats per minute. It was just about the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. So all the spotting, etc I had - a long gone worry and my husband got to say "I told you so!" The ultrasound tech said the area of concern on my right side appeared to be a hemorrhagic corpus letum cyst, and that it could cause some bleeding, so try not to worry, but call if I did have any bleeding. She said this cyst would actually produce the hormones needed to sustain the pregnancy until the placenta took over. The baby was measuring 6 weeks, 5 days - right where it should be. She gave us 2 photos which we promptly emailed to the family we had shared the news with. We then saw the doctor who asked if we had seen what we wanted to see that day, and he oddly reminded us that alot can happen between now and 10 weeks that neither he nor we could stop if it did. And that was about it - no big "intake" appointment which I had been told could take 1 - 2 hours. Hmmm... I later noticed that there was a note on the ultrasound report that said "the yolk sac is prominent in size." Keep that in mind for later. My next appointment was scheduled for May 14.
In the days following that appointment, knowing that we had heard the heartbeat, that everything was just as it should be, you would think a person could start enjoying all of this. Not this chick. I KNEW something was not right. I don't know how or why, but I knew. Then a few days later, I started spotting again. I called the nurse line, and they said unless it's bright red, you're filling a pad an hour, or you have "double over" cramping, don't worry about it. This went on for a week and a half - and no less than 5 phone calls from me to them with the same instructions. Finally, on Monday, April 30, I called again and said in no uncertain terms I need to come in, I'm spotting, I've had a backache, and I generally don't feel well about this. Finally, I was speaking to a sympathetic nurse who scheduled me to come in at 2:00 that day for an ultrasound.
On April 30, when I should have been 9 weeks and 4 days, my husband met me at the office and told me in the waiting room that he would, once again, be able to say "I told you so" once we saw that everything was fine. I wanted to believe that with every fiber of my being, but I knew. I freaking knew. The tech called us back, started the ultrasound, and said she just wanted to take a look at the cyst and my ovaries before moving onto baby. She said the cyst was shrinking, so this was good. I mentioned that the last tech had said it could cause some bleeding, and she said "cysts don't cause bleeding." Then she got to the uterus. It didn't look right at all. The gestational sac itself looked more like a teardrop than the perfectly round little bubble we had seen before. The baby looked bigger, but still and misshapen - no flicker where there should have been a heartbeat like we saw last time. She then said "I hate to have to tell you this, but the embryo hasn't grown and there is no heartbeat." I was devastated. The embryo hadn't grown at all since 6W5D - the last time we were there! What are the chances that we heard that sweet little 115 beats per minute and then it just stopped??? So we then sit for 45 minutes waiting for the doctor to tell us more of the same. and that we could wait for the miscarriage to happen and the "tissue" to pass naturally, or we could opt for a D&C. I told her I really just wanted to go home and take a nerve pill and think about it. So then, just for posterity, she told me what COULD happen if I miscarried naturally - lots of gore, pain, etc. - it would feel alot like labor. Keep in mind, I'd gone through this before, but in an ER with drugs. So by the time we left, I decided that I would opt for the D&C. More on that later.
Google is a pregnant woman's (or hypochondriac - which all preg women are!) worst nightmare. Google "yolk sac prominent in size" yourself and see what you find!
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