Okay so I left off at being scheduled to go to the hospital and having a D&C. As I said before, I was lucky my niece and nephew were there to visit. They helped take care of Carter while Bill and I went to the hospital. I was scheduled to have the surgery at 6pm so I had to show up at 4pm for paperwork and prep. Instead of being a 2 hour wait, it turned into almost 4 hours. It turns out that the OR was backed up, they had a patient not go as planned.
Anyway, it was finally my turn. I was wheeled into the OR and the last thing I remember is looking up at my doctor as she held my hand.
What felt like a blink of an eye later, I woke up in the recovery room. You could say I was a bit dazed and confused. That didn't last long though. The memory of why I was there came rushing back.
Shortly after I woke up, they wheeled me into another waiting room where Bill was able to come in and see me. I don't remember much of what happened. I do remember they said they had to remove a suspicious looking mole, one that I did not know I had. They also said that everything went well and that I would need to follow up with my doctor in a couple of weeks.
The day after the procedure I was off to Boise to take my niece and nephew home and to get a little rest.
During the day I was usually okay, but at night I was a mess. I had a hard time comprehending how and why this happened. I had been told the baby was whole and healthy and there would be a miracle in all of this. Where was my miracle?
Anyway, time went by and things started to get back to "normal". About five weeks after my D&C, I started having some bleeding and cramping. I thought it was my period starting because it fit within the time frame that they had given me. That night, August 20, I went to bed about 10pm. Around 1am, I woke up in excruciating pain. It felt like the worst cramps I had ever had. I got up and went to the bathroom. WARNING: GRAPHIC INFO! In 3 hours I had bled through a tampon. Not normal, but not abnormal for me either. I changed my tampon, put on a pad and took a percocet (again, worst cramps I had ever felt). I went back to bed and tried to fall asleep.
No such luck. I kept tossing and turning in bed, but the pain would not go away. Finally, after about 2 hours, I got up and went into the bathroom. Again I had bled through my tampon AND the pad. The percocet had done nothing for me, I was still in a lot of pain. I took an ibuprofen and a hot bath. Neither did anything for me. I was reeling in pain and every time I put pressure on my abdomen, blood would gush out. By this time, Bill was awake and very concerned. I was extremely fidgety and uncomfortable.
About 3:45am, I called my mom and told her what was going on. She said it sounded like I was in labor. I said there was no way because I was not pregnant. She suggested trying the hot bath, taking something, curling into the fetal position. All things I had already tried and did not work. Bill at this point suggested we go to the ER. I said "no". I did not want to be one of those people who went for a stupid reason, plus I was thinking about the cost of an ER visit.
Finally, around 4am, I decided I had to go to the ER. The pain was getting worse and I was not finding comfort from anything I was doing. Bill got dressed, grabbed Carter and I called my mom to let her know.
We arrived at the hospital (a different one than the original) a little before 4:30 am. Got checked in and taken right back.
Again this post is getting long so I will finish the story in another post at another time. Until next time...
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
It has been so long...
With much nudging from mom, I have decided I need to TRY and blog again. I never knew that a child could take up as much time as they do.
Anyway, it has almost been two years since I last wrote on this blog and it took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to sign in. A lot has happened in the last two years and I am not going to be able to cover it all, but I will try and document some of it.
I want to start by talking about the HARDEST thing I have ever had to go through in my life. I have never had anything affect me quite like this experience has.
About eight months ago (June 27, 2012), I was overjoyed to find out that I was pregnant. It was not planned, but I was ecstatic! I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't wait for Bill to get home so I could share the news with him. As the day dragged on, I got more and more excited. Bill finally got home and I just about blurted it out. Instead, I composed myself and asked him a simple math question. "When does 1+1=4?" He looked at me bewildered and I said, "when Carter is going to be a big brother". He still didn't get it and I had to show him the pregnancy test. He was still a little confused, but things finally clicked. As I said, it was not planned so his thinking was nowhere in the pregnancy atmosphere. Once it sank in, he was as happy as I was, or at least he said so.
Well the happiness would soon come crashing down. A week and a half later, our world would begin to change forever. It was a Saturday and I laid down to take a nap while Bill went car shopping. I'm not sure how long it had been, but Bill arrived at the house with a car to test drive. I was feeling fine, but by the time I reached the car I felt a gush of warmth. I felt my capris and when I looked at my hand, it was saturated in blood. I started to panic! I didn't know what to do, I had never gone through this before. We hadn't told anybody I was pregnant so I didn't know who to call. I finally called the on-call doctor from my Ob/Gyn's office and explained to him what was going on. He said it was likely a miscarriage, but they wouldn't know for sure until I got checked out. He said to call the office on Monday and get an ultrasound appointment. I then called my mom and broke the news to her. Not exactly the way I wanted her to find out. She didn't know what I was experiencing, but I needed to cry to somebody (sorry Bill, but men don't really understand).
That night, after a lot of crying, I finally asked Bill for a blessing. I knew I needed to find comfort somewhere and what better person, but my Heavenly Father. I was told in the blessing that everything would be fine and that the baby was whole and healthy. I was also told that there would be a miracle in all of this. Hearing the words of the blessing brought me some peace. As Bill and I went to bed that night, I began to cry. I told him that I knew the baby was whole and healthy, but we don't know if that was to be here on Earth or in Heaven. I had a feeling that something was not right. I couldn't explain it, but I just knew.
Come Monday, I made an appointment for an ultrasound for the next day. I still had bleeding, but not to the extent that had occured on Saturday. Tuesday, I went in and had an ultrasound done. They were able to find the baby and a heartbeat. The heartbeat was 101, which is low since it is usually 120-180. The tech said not to worry that sometimes it can be lower this early in the pregnancy. She "examined" my entire uterus, but was not able to determine the source of the bleeding. She also gave me an ultrasound picture of the baby. Here it is (the little white dot in the big black spot):
It is not much, but it was my baby. At the end of the appointment, I was scheduled for another ultrasound for the following week.
I went throughout the week as normal as can be, but was still spotting and still worried. Over the weekend, I picked up my niece and nephew to have them come visit. It was nice having them because it took my mind off of things.
On Wednesday, I went in for my follow up ultrasound. The ultrasound tech found the baby, did some measuring and then checked for the heartbeat. This time there wasn't one. I immediately began to cry. She then went to get a doctor and he confirmed her findings. According to her measurements, the baby had died within a day of the last ultrasound. I then had to wait until my doctor got to the office so we could discuss what to do next.
In the time that I waited, I called Bill and my mom to break the news to them. Bill left work and came to the doctor's office. I could tell by the look on his face, he was as devastated as I was about the loss. My doctor finally got there and we were given three options. 1. Let the baby pass naturally. 2. Use a pill that is supposed to help move things along. 3. Get a D&C (dialation & curettage). The first two options could result in having to get a D&C so we decided it was our best option. I was scheduled to go to the hospital that night.
Since this is a long post, I will continue the story in another post on another day. Till next time...
Anyway, it has almost been two years since I last wrote on this blog and it took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to sign in. A lot has happened in the last two years and I am not going to be able to cover it all, but I will try and document some of it.
I want to start by talking about the HARDEST thing I have ever had to go through in my life. I have never had anything affect me quite like this experience has.
About eight months ago (June 27, 2012), I was overjoyed to find out that I was pregnant. It was not planned, but I was ecstatic! I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't wait for Bill to get home so I could share the news with him. As the day dragged on, I got more and more excited. Bill finally got home and I just about blurted it out. Instead, I composed myself and asked him a simple math question. "When does 1+1=4?" He looked at me bewildered and I said, "when Carter is going to be a big brother". He still didn't get it and I had to show him the pregnancy test. He was still a little confused, but things finally clicked. As I said, it was not planned so his thinking was nowhere in the pregnancy atmosphere. Once it sank in, he was as happy as I was, or at least he said so.
Well the happiness would soon come crashing down. A week and a half later, our world would begin to change forever. It was a Saturday and I laid down to take a nap while Bill went car shopping. I'm not sure how long it had been, but Bill arrived at the house with a car to test drive. I was feeling fine, but by the time I reached the car I felt a gush of warmth. I felt my capris and when I looked at my hand, it was saturated in blood. I started to panic! I didn't know what to do, I had never gone through this before. We hadn't told anybody I was pregnant so I didn't know who to call. I finally called the on-call doctor from my Ob/Gyn's office and explained to him what was going on. He said it was likely a miscarriage, but they wouldn't know for sure until I got checked out. He said to call the office on Monday and get an ultrasound appointment. I then called my mom and broke the news to her. Not exactly the way I wanted her to find out. She didn't know what I was experiencing, but I needed to cry to somebody (sorry Bill, but men don't really understand).
That night, after a lot of crying, I finally asked Bill for a blessing. I knew I needed to find comfort somewhere and what better person, but my Heavenly Father. I was told in the blessing that everything would be fine and that the baby was whole and healthy. I was also told that there would be a miracle in all of this. Hearing the words of the blessing brought me some peace. As Bill and I went to bed that night, I began to cry. I told him that I knew the baby was whole and healthy, but we don't know if that was to be here on Earth or in Heaven. I had a feeling that something was not right. I couldn't explain it, but I just knew.
Come Monday, I made an appointment for an ultrasound for the next day. I still had bleeding, but not to the extent that had occured on Saturday. Tuesday, I went in and had an ultrasound done. They were able to find the baby and a heartbeat. The heartbeat was 101, which is low since it is usually 120-180. The tech said not to worry that sometimes it can be lower this early in the pregnancy. She "examined" my entire uterus, but was not able to determine the source of the bleeding. She also gave me an ultrasound picture of the baby. Here it is (the little white dot in the big black spot):
It is not much, but it was my baby. At the end of the appointment, I was scheduled for another ultrasound for the following week.
I went throughout the week as normal as can be, but was still spotting and still worried. Over the weekend, I picked up my niece and nephew to have them come visit. It was nice having them because it took my mind off of things.
On Wednesday, I went in for my follow up ultrasound. The ultrasound tech found the baby, did some measuring and then checked for the heartbeat. This time there wasn't one. I immediately began to cry. She then went to get a doctor and he confirmed her findings. According to her measurements, the baby had died within a day of the last ultrasound. I then had to wait until my doctor got to the office so we could discuss what to do next.
In the time that I waited, I called Bill and my mom to break the news to them. Bill left work and came to the doctor's office. I could tell by the look on his face, he was as devastated as I was about the loss. My doctor finally got there and we were given three options. 1. Let the baby pass naturally. 2. Use a pill that is supposed to help move things along. 3. Get a D&C (dialation & curettage). The first two options could result in having to get a D&C so we decided it was our best option. I was scheduled to go to the hospital that night.
Since this is a long post, I will continue the story in another post on another day. Till next time...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
4 MONTHS OLD!!!!
That's right, Carter is 4 months old now. He had his 4 month check-up last week and everything looks good. He was 14.6 lbs, 24.9 inches long and has a head circumference of 16.2 inches. That amounts to 50% for height and weight, 25% for head circumference. Carter is a growing boy for sure. The doctor said we could also start feeding Carter rice cereal. So far he has really liked it, but you wouldn't guess that with how much ends up on his face.
It has been so fun to see Carter grow and develop his own little personality. I just love to kiss his "little" cheeks and watch him discover new things. What a joy he has been to Bill and I. Until next time...
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