Bleary-Eyed Post

Fair warning: Today’s blog post may be a little “off,” as Husbeast and I drove Lil Man to visit a friend not far outside Boston last night, and didn’t get home till 1:00 this morning.

I got to leave work early yesterday, to attend my first official, scheduled OB visit yesterday. Unfortunately Husbeast wasn’t able to come – I hadn’t given him enough notice for him to be able to request the afternoon off. But we agreed that I’d schedule appointments several months out, so he can go to the rest of them.

I’ll call the doctor I met yesterday, “Dr. Sweet.” This is not to imply that she’s anything less than highly professional and knowledgeable; but she was very reassuring and very compassionate, and that was the first thing that struck me. Don’t get me wrong; all of the doctors in OB at The Big Hospital are wonderful, but since I don’t use real names, I have to distinguish them somehow.

Anyway, Dr. Sweet went through my pregnancy history, asked about my spotting and said she’d check the size of my uterus. She mentioned that minor chorionic hemorrhage is not uncommon, and that as long as my uterus was still growing appropriately for gestational age, she wouldn’t worry overmuch. We talked about exercise, diet and appropriate weight gain for pregnancy, and she did a basic physical  and pelvic exam.

As it turns out, my uterus is about the size of a grapefruit – appropriate size for being ten weeks along – and my “What to Expect” app says that the Baby is about the size of a prune. We also discussed prenatal screenings for abnormalities (because of my age), and scheduled the blood work for it. I also have an ultrasound in two weeks, to check for development and nuchal translucency.

On my way out to the waiting room, I got a chance to chat with my friend, the Kickass Nerd, who works at the desk in OB. She's always so much fun, and so supportive and encouraging. I was also completely flattered to learn that she's read this blog! Whee! 

As I finished scheduling my appointments, I heard someone call my name. I turned around to find my friend BAMF, who’s due to have her baby in a couple weeks, standing right behind me! She’s an adorable, badass little preggosaur, who I’m confident will power through labor and delivery like a machine!

Roller Coaster Ride

What a rubbish, panicky month it’s been. No joke: It's been a total roller coaster, guys and dolls.

Not even two days after my last post, I started bleeding. Well, spotting really, as it turns out: but I panicked. I called the doctor and they said to lie down and rest, avoid lifting anything heavy and don’t overdo it. Of course, anyone who knows me knows I’m rubbish at sitting still for long, but I did as I was told.

The bleeding STILL hasn’t stopped (I'm nine weeks along); and I went to and from the emergency room and doctor’s appointments and been stuck in bed during the last two weeks (excluding this week.) I’ve had another ultrasound confirming Baby’s heartbeat which was good and strong, so that’s an upshot. We also confirmed that yes, my due date is exactly what I had calculated: February 15, 2017.

I cannot tell you what a horrid feeling it is to find yourself producing bright red blood when you’re not supposed to. The doctors have reassured me that as long as I’m not meeting a significant threshold, then it’s probably fine, and that plenty of women spot during their pregnancies. The problem is that I have NEVER, EVER spotted. I had a single scare with the last baby I birthed, but it resolved itself and that was the last of it.

I have an appointment on the 20^th with one of the younger OBs at the Big Hospital whom I have yet to meet in my various pregnancy adventures. I hope things slow up by then and I’m able to have a normal rest-of-my-pregnancy.

Husbeast and I have also decided that, given all these scares, we’re not going to try for a home birth after all. I’m sure that the midwives would tell me that this is not out of the normal range and that I’m still a good candidate, but I’ll feel much more at ease in the hospital, I think. Thankfully, hospitals here are much less intervention-happy than other states. They try to stick to a laboring woman’s birth plan as closely as they can; they don’t push drugs, and elective cesarean sections are absolutely out of the question.

More after my doctor’s appointment.