If you follow me on Facebook you'll probably know that I've had some health issues going on as of late and if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know what they are. If you don't follow me on either and are completely out of the loop and would like to be included, this post is for you. And as much as this post is for all of you, this post is also for me because sometimes you just need to talk about things a little bit to feel better.
About a month ago I found out I was pregnant. Cue the cheers and nervous excitement. I found out completely by accident to be honest. After having two miscarriages (one natural and one ectopic) I decided I needed to take things into my own hands a bit and really get to know my cycle. Do I ovulate? How long are the different phases of my cycle? All of this I've learned through temping, charting and most recently taking ovulation prediction kits (opks). So without getting into too many TMI details, I learned that opks can indeed be used as pregnancy tests, but are only accurate after they would have already turned a regular pregnancy test positive as well.
A week later I started having some pretty intense cramping, mostly just on the left side. Since I only have my left fallopian tube remaining after a previous ectopic on the right ruptured, I was quite concerned. My mom took me to the emergency room and they ran a bunch of tests - blood work, ultrasound, pelvic, the whole shebang. They weren't able to find a pregnancy in my uterus, but they weren't able to find evidence of a pregnancy anywhere else either. My hormone levels were positive for pregnancy, although low, so it was there somewhere, just too small to be seen yet.
I was kept in the hospital for two nights for observation. They couldn't rule out an ectopic so they wanted me near by in case it was and it ruptured. I am not very fond of hospitals. They make me anxious, as my blood pressure showed (150/90!), and I'd really just like to avoid them if possible. After a bunch more tests - more blood work, another ultrasound, still more pelvic exams - my hormone level had a significant drop and the doctor felt that I could just be miscarrying naturally. I was released Memorial Day weekend (also hubby's birthday) with orders to follow up with the amazing ob/gyn who took care of me while I was there mid-week.
I had blood drawn (yes, again!) the morning of my appointment so the doctor would have the latest hormone levels and be able to do the follow up appointment. Before she even got into the exam room, I heard her outside the door ask her nurse "They went up?!" I hoped she was talking about another patient, but no such luck. She was talking about me. My hormone levels had gone back up again, higher than the first time they had been drawn nearly a week before. Cue another ultrasound!
They still weren't able to find the pregnancy anywhere - uterus, tube, nowhere. However, there was now a little bit of fluid in my abdomen which was concerning. I really cannot say enough about how amazing this doctor is. She admitted that she didn't know what was wrong or what was going on, but she was going to find out and fix it. I have dealt with a lot of doctors over the years and the best ones are the ones who are honest. They admit when they're wrong, the admit when they don't know something and they're willing to look for answers.
At nearly 5pm, she decided I needed to have surgery the very next morning. She would go in laparoscopically to have a look around and also do a D&C. She would be able to assess where the fluid was coming from and then also scrape my uterus to remove any pregnancy tissue that was there but couldn't be seen. At this point we already knew the pregnancy, wherever it was, was not viable and would not progress to a healthy baby. The key now was to figure out exactly what was going on and fix it.
Bright and early the next morning I showed up at the hospital for surgery. By some intervening miracle, my surgery prep nurse was an old family friend and she promised she would come see me in the recovery room. This really helped me be a little calmer. All of the doctors and nurses who helped me during the whole ordeal were really amazing - I still need to send a thank you card to the maternity floor nurses.
When I woke up in the recovery room, I hurt. I hurt so bad I could have cried. The first three things I asked for were ice chips, pain meds and my family friend nurse. I got all three relatively quickly and ended up needed a total of 4 doses of pain meds to calm things down.
So what did the doctor find? First, she found that she wasn't going to be able to do the procedure laparoscopically and would need to open me up c-section style - hence all of the pain I was in when I woke up. She also found that the pregnancy had been hiding in my fallopian tube. Thankfully she was able to save my tube. She cut the tube, removed the pregnancy and stitched my tube back up. For this I am thankful because it means I still have hope of getting pregnant again on my own and IVF can stay on the back burner for a while longer. There were also two massive fibroids on my uterus. She wasn't able to take care of the fibroids during the surgery because she had too many other things she needed to address more immediately. I'm ok with that.
She would like for me to have a dye ultrasound test done in a few months when I've healed to see if my tube is still open (it was open when she closed me up) and to see if the fibroids are affecting my uterus. After that she'll know how to address the fibroids and what our options are for future pregnancies.
Today I am two weeks post-op and healing quite well. I still have some pain and discomfort but overall I'm doing ok. I'm getting around much better and able to do more each day. I am thankful for the love and support I've gotten from my friends and family. Without them, I wouldn't be doing so well today. They have helped me with everything from taking showers to getting a glass of water.
So what does this mean for my Etsy, blog, Facebook, etc? It means things will be a little slower until I'm back at 100%. Blog posts will be more sporadic and I don't know what the content will be. I haven't been able to craft anything for over a month. I haven't been able to really cook anything for the last two weeks. I had to spend the money I'd set aside for Junkin' for Gems on medicine and unexpected doctor expenses. Hopefully when I feel a bit more back to normal, all of the rest of things will also fall back into a more normal rhythm. Until then, thank you for your patience.
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