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.

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