Foggy Brain

So much has happened since we discovered our pregnancy shocker, my brain is on overdrive but still can't seem to keep up. Apparently it is still in stage 1: SHOCK AND AWE, and hasn't been able to fully move on to stages 2,3,4,5,6,and 7 which include analyzing repeated doctor visits, scrutinizing lab tests, inquiring about prescriptions, organizing insurance paperwork, and all the rest.

After the home pregnancy test on Saturday 5/15, I called my OB, Dr. Garcia (who I absolutely adore) at my earliest opportunity which was that Monday. He wanted me to come in immediately, so I went that afternoon. He did some bloodwork, which came back showing my progesterone at 35.12 and HcG at 701. So we were happy with those results. The following Friday night 5/21, I began spotting of course. Never fails, I've done this 4 times now! And it always seems to happen on a weekend, when I have no way of getting in to the doctor. The panic set in full-throttle and I laid low all weekend, tried to stay off my feet, and started the internal pep talk where I attempt to convince myself not to worry.

By Monday 5/24 I was back in Dr. Garcia's office for an ultrasound. I was 5w5d along at that time. They could see a gestational sac and a yolk sac, but no embryo. They could also see blood, but couldn't determine where it was coming from or what was causing it. He basically told me it was 50/50, could go either way ... either I had ovulated a little late in my cycle, making it a few days too early to see an embryo, or the pregnancy was not viable and was doomed to miscarry. I tried to stay positive but found that to be difficult, particularly because we had seen Jamin's heartbeat via ultrasound at that same gestational age. He did more bloodwork, and the results came back on Tuesday showing progesterone at 42.4 and HcG at 10,526 ... a very encouraging sign.

Wednesday I saw my GI Specialist, Dr. Manocha, who has been trying to help me manage some problems since February. I was given an endoscopy in March and found to have gastritis, an H.Pylori infection, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I've been on multiple medications to help alleviate the pain and symptoms .... all of which I had to stop taking cold turkey the day I found out I was pregnant. Unfortunately there is pretty much nothing he can give me now that I am preggo, so with sympathy in his eyes he told me to call him next year after I've delivered and stopped breastfeeding. In the meantime I guess I will have to grin and bare it, and pray it doesn't get too unbearable. I have days where I have almost no symptoms and I feel fine, and then a flare-up will come and I'll be miserable for several straight days. There seems to be no reason or pattern behind it, though we do know that hormones and stress tend to aggravate it.

Thursday I was back at Dr. Garcia's office to repeat the bloodwork. Those results came on Friday and showed progesterone at 37.3 and HcG at 20,878! In a healthy pregnancy, HcG is supposed to double every 48 hours, so this was a reassuring result for us since it was roughly twice the level that was measured on Monday afternoon. Based on the bloodwork alone, we are now feeling confident that the pregnancy is viable. The nausea and EXTREME fatigue I've started feeling over the last three days are just icing on the cake. Annoying to deal with, but good sign of a healthy pregnancy .... so I'll take it.

I go back Wednesday at 1:00 for another ultrasound and exam with Dr. Garcia. I will be 7w0d so we fully expect to see an embryo and a strong heartbeat!