Please don't skip this because it's long...
Hi everyone.
Andrew and I found out that we were expecting in late September. I had my first ultrasound on October 22nd, at which point they told me that I was only 5 weeks along. I was concerned because the timing and positive pregnancy test disagreed with that estimate. I saw my OB for the first time on Oct. 30th. All of my tests were normal and she determined that I was 8-9 weeks along. That also made me worry because that meant my 8-9 week baby was only as formed as one who was 5 weeks along. It was right after I got home from that appointment that I started having a little bit of brown bleeding and cramping. When it continued to the next day I called the nurse - she told me not to worry and that a lot of women bleed after an exam. It continued until Friday and was about half brown, half red. I called again and she told me that there was really nothing they could do to give me any information at that time, that I should have an internal ultrasound the upcoming Wednesday, and that the pain and blood should subside.
Throughout the weekend the pain got more intense and the bleeding got heavier. It was no longer brown at all, but instead as red as fresh blood. By Sunday evening there was gray in it, which is a huge sign that something is very wrong. Yesterday there was some tissue and I called again - they had me come in. They did a blood test to determine the level of pregnancy hormones I was producing. They told me that a normal range was between 400 and 100,000 and that the count itself wouldn't tell them much. I was scheduled to go in again on Thursday to see if the numbers would have dropped (meaning a miscarriage) or risen (meaning that the pregnancy was fine and there had to be another cause for the problems).
My ultrasound today determined that there's still a gestational sac (The placenta, essentially. It's the bubble the baby is in inside the uterus) but there isn't a baby anymore. My hormone count was only 88, well below the minimum of what it should be. After consulting with a doctor, they confirmed that it was definitely a miscarriage.
I talked with a doctor, my mom and Andrew about what to do next. Since I hadn't gotten rid of the gestational sac already, I probably wasn't going to on my own. I decided to try a medication called misoprostol that should help my body get rid of it (It essentially induces labor). There's a 90% chance that it will work, and it should work within the next day. If it doesn't then I'm scheduled to have it surgically removed on Friday.
In the mean time I'm to expect "labor-like pains", heavy bleeding, and a lot of emotional stress. My doctor gave me vicodin to help with the pain but she expects that I may need to move up to percocet.
I'm telling everyone for two reasons. The first is that I'm very close to nearly everyone on my friends list. I think that you deserve to know, and I feel that to keep it from you would be to distance myself from you and that's the last thing I want.
The other reason is that it's very emotionally painful and I really need the support. It probably sounds silly to someone who isn't in my shoes, but I really feel like it's somehow my fault and that I'm less of a woman for it. Maybe I should have been more careful to take my vitamin every day, or tried to distance myself from constant stresses more or any number of other things. I'm also worried about future miscarriages, and I'm afraid that it was caused by a genetic disorder that Andrew and I could both be carrying (his aunt and uncle have had several miscarriages and infant deaths due to spinal muscular atrophy) or that there's a problem with my uterus.
I don't really know what else to say, so I think I'm going to go eat so I can take my pain medication and then start the treatment.
I'd like to hang out with someone(s) every day for the next few days, so if anyone is free please let me know.
(edit. Making this not friends only because it's resolved enough that I can do that)
Andrew and I found out that we were expecting in late September. I had my first ultrasound on October 22nd, at which point they told me that I was only 5 weeks along. I was concerned because the timing and positive pregnancy test disagreed with that estimate. I saw my OB for the first time on Oct. 30th. All of my tests were normal and she determined that I was 8-9 weeks along. That also made me worry because that meant my 8-9 week baby was only as formed as one who was 5 weeks along. It was right after I got home from that appointment that I started having a little bit of brown bleeding and cramping. When it continued to the next day I called the nurse - she told me not to worry and that a lot of women bleed after an exam. It continued until Friday and was about half brown, half red. I called again and she told me that there was really nothing they could do to give me any information at that time, that I should have an internal ultrasound the upcoming Wednesday, and that the pain and blood should subside.
Throughout the weekend the pain got more intense and the bleeding got heavier. It was no longer brown at all, but instead as red as fresh blood. By Sunday evening there was gray in it, which is a huge sign that something is very wrong. Yesterday there was some tissue and I called again - they had me come in. They did a blood test to determine the level of pregnancy hormones I was producing. They told me that a normal range was between 400 and 100,000 and that the count itself wouldn't tell them much. I was scheduled to go in again on Thursday to see if the numbers would have dropped (meaning a miscarriage) or risen (meaning that the pregnancy was fine and there had to be another cause for the problems).
My ultrasound today determined that there's still a gestational sac (The placenta, essentially. It's the bubble the baby is in inside the uterus) but there isn't a baby anymore. My hormone count was only 88, well below the minimum of what it should be. After consulting with a doctor, they confirmed that it was definitely a miscarriage.
I talked with a doctor, my mom and Andrew about what to do next. Since I hadn't gotten rid of the gestational sac already, I probably wasn't going to on my own. I decided to try a medication called misoprostol that should help my body get rid of it (It essentially induces labor). There's a 90% chance that it will work, and it should work within the next day. If it doesn't then I'm scheduled to have it surgically removed on Friday.
In the mean time I'm to expect "labor-like pains", heavy bleeding, and a lot of emotional stress. My doctor gave me vicodin to help with the pain but she expects that I may need to move up to percocet.
I'm telling everyone for two reasons. The first is that I'm very close to nearly everyone on my friends list. I think that you deserve to know, and I feel that to keep it from you would be to distance myself from you and that's the last thing I want.
The other reason is that it's very emotionally painful and I really need the support. It probably sounds silly to someone who isn't in my shoes, but I really feel like it's somehow my fault and that I'm less of a woman for it. Maybe I should have been more careful to take my vitamin every day, or tried to distance myself from constant stresses more or any number of other things. I'm also worried about future miscarriages, and I'm afraid that it was caused by a genetic disorder that Andrew and I could both be carrying (his aunt and uncle have had several miscarriages and infant deaths due to spinal muscular atrophy) or that there's a problem with my uterus.
I don't really know what else to say, so I think I'm going to go eat so I can take my pain medication and then start the treatment.
I'd like to hang out with someone(s) every day for the next few days, so if anyone is free please let me know.
(edit. Making this not friends only because it's resolved enough that I can do that)