At my very first doctor's appointment Dr. S suggested that I see a high-risk pregnancy specialist, Dr. T. Dr. T is one of only a few high-risk pregnancy specialists in my area so it took some time for me to schedule an appointment with him. Dr. T's office is in a hospital and he is often pulled away from his regular appointments. Since my appointment was the last of the day, I ended up waiting in the lobby for four and a half hours! I was warned by Dr. S and by Dr. T's staff that I may bee waiting for a long long time but this was crazy. Josh was also out of town so I was by myself. I thought I would bee fine waiting alone but all of the other women waiting were with their husbands and I felt very very alone.
Anyway, I finally got in to see Dr. T, I told him my situation and we basically started from scratch, as if I hadn't seen any other doctor. Dr. T wanted to try to remove the IUD so he conducted an ultrasound but, as I had predicted from three other ultrasounds, he couldn't clearly figure out where the strings were. Then he started a pelvic exam where he attempted to find the strings just by using his naked eye. No luck.
I got dressed and went into his office to discuss my situation in further detail. Dr. T basically said that his biggest concern was infection. I'm not really sure how an IUD would cause an infection but maybe I'll ask about that in my next appointment. If the IUD causes an infection in my uterus then the baby would also have an infection. Because the baby is so vulnerable it would not bee able to fight off the infection. And just like any infection, if it became serious enough, I could become severely ill or even die. What that all means is that if I get an infection, the pregnancy would bee terminated and I would bee treated with antibiotics.
To add to the misfortune, the risk of infection will bee present throughout my pregnancy and the most likely time to become infected is mid-pregnancy, during the second trimester. The other aspect of this situation is the possibility of getting infected after 24 weeks, or 6 months. In the state of California it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks. This is because in most cases a baby can survive outside of the womb after 24 weeks. So, the question becomes, what happens if I get an infection after 24 weeks?
I will mention here that I did not get an official answer from Dr. T for this question but here is my guess as to what would happen...I would need to give birth, most likely by cesarean. The baby would also bee infected at this point and still unable to fight it off. Depending on the severity of the infection I suppose that the baby could bee stillborn. If the baby is not stillborn, the likelihood of it surviving pre-term labor AND an infection is quite low. This situation would obviously bee very traumatic.
One of my big questions was how do I recognize an infection of an internal organ? Dr. T said similarly to all infections, I would eventually get a fever. With a visible infection, someone wouldn't usually go long enough without treatment for them to get a fever but I probably won't bee able to tell that I have an infection until I get a fever. So, at the first sign of a fever, I need to go to the doctor right away.
There isn't anything that I can do to prevent an infection and the risk of infection certainly makes this pregnancy even more "unwanted". As time progresses and Josh and I become more accepting and welcoming of becoming parents, we'll need to bee careful so as not to get too attached. The more we love this baby, the more we put at risk, emotionally.
To end this post on a "happy" note... I will say that the possibility of getting an infection is lower than the possibility of having a normal pregnancy. I wish I had more defined numbers, like 40/60 or 30/70, but the important thing here is that the odds are in our favor.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The Emergency Room
One week after finding out that I was pregnant, we had our first scare. During this week we had been bombarded with information about the possible outcomes of our situation of having a copper IUD in my uterus with the baby. We were overwhelmed and with this being my first pregnancy, I had no idea of what bodily changes to expect but was on high alert should anything go wrong.
Anyway, I was putting away some clean laundry and out of nowhere felt a bit of fluid begin to come out of me, similarly to menstruation. I hurried over to the bathroom and saw a dark wet spot in my underwear as a bit more dribbled into the toilet. It ended quickly but I saw blood in the toilet.
At this early stage in my pregnancy and despite my numerous doctors visits, I hadn't yet asked any questions or done any research about what a miscarriage would bee like so I thought this was it. There wasn't a lot of blood and I wasn't in any pain but this really didn't seem to bee ok. It was 10pm on a Sunday and I hadn't really established a regular doctor yet so we decided that the Emergency Room was the best place to go.
We headed to the ER. The bleeding had stopped and I still didn't feel any pain but we checked in, and began the long long long wait for information. I gave a urine sample, laid in a hospital bed, finally got both a regular and vaginal ultrasound, which all determined that everything was fine with me and the baby. The ER doctor said that he was unsure of why I had bled but suspected that it was from the placenta attaching to my uterus. As it "suctioned" to my uterus, it expelled some blood.
I was in the Emergency Room for four hours. I also needed to see a regular OB/GYN right away so that they too could tell me everything was fine. In the ER I was told that because my blood type was negative, I needed Rhogam. I refused the Rhogam from the ER because I didn't trust the doctor very much, mostly because of his beside manner, and also thought that Rhogam would cost a lot more at the ER than from a regular doctor. They also did a very poor job of explaining what Rhogam was. I decided to talk to a regular OB/GYN the next morning before getting Rhogam. I left the ER and went to bed. I was glad that nothing terrible was happening but I certainly was not looking forward to receiving the bill.
The next day at the regular office, Dr. S was not available so I stopped in to see Dr. C. He was very quick with me and interrupted me frequently but ultimately provided the information I needed. He couldn't identify why I had bled but said that a miscarriage would bee similar to a regular period, in regards to how much blood there would bee, and that I would have severe cramping. He also said that if I did have a miscarriage, I wouldn't necessarily need to see a doctor right away.
Dr. C also explained Rhogam. Now, I'm not even proficient in the science of genetics but I'll do my best to explain it. Because my blood type is negative, it is possible for the baby's blood type to bee positive, depending on the father's. If the baby's blood type is positive and myself and the baby's blood were to come in contact, they would fight each other as if it were an infection. A shot of Rhogam would prevent the fight so that both me and the baby would remain healthy. So, I got one shot of Rhogam and was on my way.
I had scheduled to see a high-risk pregnancy specialist the following week, so I waited for, of course, more information.
Anyway, I was putting away some clean laundry and out of nowhere felt a bit of fluid begin to come out of me, similarly to menstruation. I hurried over to the bathroom and saw a dark wet spot in my underwear as a bit more dribbled into the toilet. It ended quickly but I saw blood in the toilet.
At this early stage in my pregnancy and despite my numerous doctors visits, I hadn't yet asked any questions or done any research about what a miscarriage would bee like so I thought this was it. There wasn't a lot of blood and I wasn't in any pain but this really didn't seem to bee ok. It was 10pm on a Sunday and I hadn't really established a regular doctor yet so we decided that the Emergency Room was the best place to go.
We headed to the ER. The bleeding had stopped and I still didn't feel any pain but we checked in, and began the long long long wait for information. I gave a urine sample, laid in a hospital bed, finally got both a regular and vaginal ultrasound, which all determined that everything was fine with me and the baby. The ER doctor said that he was unsure of why I had bled but suspected that it was from the placenta attaching to my uterus. As it "suctioned" to my uterus, it expelled some blood.
I was in the Emergency Room for four hours. I also needed to see a regular OB/GYN right away so that they too could tell me everything was fine. In the ER I was told that because my blood type was negative, I needed Rhogam. I refused the Rhogam from the ER because I didn't trust the doctor very much, mostly because of his beside manner, and also thought that Rhogam would cost a lot more at the ER than from a regular doctor. They also did a very poor job of explaining what Rhogam was. I decided to talk to a regular OB/GYN the next morning before getting Rhogam. I left the ER and went to bed. I was glad that nothing terrible was happening but I certainly was not looking forward to receiving the bill.
The next day at the regular office, Dr. S was not available so I stopped in to see Dr. C. He was very quick with me and interrupted me frequently but ultimately provided the information I needed. He couldn't identify why I had bled but said that a miscarriage would bee similar to a regular period, in regards to how much blood there would bee, and that I would have severe cramping. He also said that if I did have a miscarriage, I wouldn't necessarily need to see a doctor right away.
Dr. C also explained Rhogam. Now, I'm not even proficient in the science of genetics but I'll do my best to explain it. Because my blood type is negative, it is possible for the baby's blood type to bee positive, depending on the father's. If the baby's blood type is positive and myself and the baby's blood were to come in contact, they would fight each other as if it were an infection. A shot of Rhogam would prevent the fight so that both me and the baby would remain healthy. So, I got one shot of Rhogam and was on my way.
I had scheduled to see a high-risk pregnancy specialist the following week, so I waited for, of course, more information.
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