Everything You Never Wanted To Know...

...about my ute.

Since I'm in the midst of the 2ww (7DPO today), I figured this would be a good time to get you all up to speed on a somewhat relevant bit of my history. Plus, I know when I was wondering what was wrong with me it was helpful to hear others stories. Be warned there may be TMI for some.

First the back story:
In December 2007 I was working outside at my job. Woods in Virginia. On an Army base. Just me and 5 guys. It was my time of the month (no biggie, used to that in such situations). This day was different. The bleeding was so heavy I was going through a tampon AND a pad in about 10 minutes. Clots passing that were quarter to palm sized. The guys were asking if I was OK as I was pretty pale (in hindsight, I was probably anemic). Needless to say we did the bare minimum we needed to do that day and then baled. The rest of my period was fine. I figured it was some fluke thing.

Until June 2008. In mid June I started spotting mid-cycle. I was on BCP at the time and figured it was just time to change the type of pill. So we changed the type of pill. Still spotting. Changed pill type again. Still spotting daily, sometimes pretty heavily. In the meantime at each follow-up appointment I'm being screened for everything under the sun that could cause the bleeding. Syndromes. STDs. Cancers. Stuff that really gets the mind racing. Nothing like knowing something is definitely wrong...but not having anyone be able to tell you what that something is.

There was another incident of extremely heavy bleeding in late August 2008. I remember the exact date as it was at my best friends wedding. Awesome Timing. I spent half the event in the ladies room trying to keep up with the bleeding. I got back from my trip to the wedding and got in to see my doctor ASAP. Enough already.

My normal OB/GYN realizes she's in over her head as the issue isn't being resolved and refers me to a specialist. This was in Sept 2008. THREE MONTHS of constant spotting/bleeding later. This specialist, my first male OB/GYN, puts me on a different pill. This pill actually made a difference with the bleeding. Got it down to about 5 days of spotting in the 3 weeks of active pills. Doctor isn't satisfied with the results. Wants it down to 0 days. I get an unexpected uterine tissue sampling done in his office that afternoon. Cervix manually dilated and they scrape out some tissue. No anesthesia. Not Fun. Sample comes back negative for uterine cancer (woo hoo!). Since there are still no answers, its time to go in and take a look around.

The Resolution:
In January 2009 he performed a hysteroscopy and D&C. For those that aren't familiar with what those procedures are, I'll give you a quick description. In a hysteroscopy, they distend the uterus with either a liquid or gas (in my case, saline). They then insert a contraption called a hysteroscope to look inside. In my case he was looking for the source(s) of the bleeding.

(Image Credit: http://tinyurl.com/4fzpoqo)

Once he'd had a look around, and removed the two culprits, he performed a D&C. During a D&C (aka Dilation & Curettage) the cervix is dilated and then the contents of the uterus are removed. Though most commonly associated with miscarriages, D&Cs can also lessen heavy bleeding like I was having.

The Diagnosis:

Submucosal Uterine Fibroids. One of the least common of the types of uterine fibroids, accounting for 5% of all uterine fibroids*. These fibroids grow on the inner side of the uterus and I had two of the classic symptoms: Unusually heavy or prolonged menstrual periods and bleeding between periods.*

(Image Credit: http://tinyurl.com/4gtvw7h)

I want to note that uterine fibroids are very common and rarely cancerous. My doctor said roughly half of the women of childbearing age have them. Most of those women have no idea they are even present. My type was enough of a rarity that I got to be a case study for my doctor (Go Me!). Unfortunately, that meant he needed all the pictures of the inside of my ute (I know, I'm strange in thinking stuff like that is cool...but how often do you get a photo like that???) To my knowledge I have two fibroids in my uterus still. One was left during the D&C as they didn't have the tools to reach it. Its up at the top of my uterus. The other was found via ultrasound during my miscarriage, its on the sidewall. I've only had two minor bouts of spotting since the D&C. Nothing to worry about really. And honestly, just knowing they are there is more than half the battle. The worst part of the whole unexplained bleeding deal was not knowing what was wrong. Finding out was so empowering.

I've had about 5 different doctors swear up and down that my having fibroids should have no bearing on my ability to get and stay pregnant. Crossing my fingers they are right.

So, there ya have it...everything you never wanted to know about my ute.

Take care,



Reference:

* http://tinyurl.com/4fcr8dp

(To any of the Buds reading. Could one of you tell me the trick to get it to say photo credit where I have the links listed under the images? Thanks!)

Pepper's Here! I mean Olivia Clare!

Olivia Clare made her debut into this world on September 15, 2010 at 5:32 PM. She weighed 7lbs 8.5 oz 19 1/4th inches long. She has the cutest dimple and lots of hair! I can’t begin to tell you how lucky and blessed we are to have such a beautiful little girl. She is gorgeous. My birth story is very interesting and eye opening. I’m so lucky to have such a great doctor and little Miss Liv is also.

Last Maternity Photo 38 Weeks 3 Days

It all started on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. I had my 38 week doctor appointment with my awesome doctor. I had been on bedrest for the last couple of weeks and was dying to get off of bedrest. Let me tell you, what I would do to have that back =) Anyways, when we go in I get checked and he said I was 25-50% effaced and 1-1.5 cm dilated. I was actually excited about that progress. For the longest time I was no where and I was REALLY worried I wouldn’t dilate at all on my own because of previous cryotherapy. I wanted nothing more than to have a vaginal birth. My doctor let me know we were on the schedule for that night to have an induction and if I wanted it to go in at 10pm. I didn’t really know what to do to be honest. I went back and forth on it in the room with Mr. OB. Thinking how a failed induction = csection but I really wanted to meet our little girl and she was measuring on the bigger size and who knows if I could push out a 9lb baby. While we were talking it over my doctor let me know he was going to strip my membranes. Ouch. I swear I was going to pee on the guy. It wasn’t so bad painful just I swear he was stripping my bladder! He then told me how he didn’t do mine that much and sometimes he does it and breaks women’s waters and that he could have done more for me. We then decide to see what happens with this membrane stripping. I figured I would be having contractions frequently and by the end of the day ready to have her out and I would have made my decision. We told the receptionist I would call back with our decision.

We go home and we talk it over and I’m about 75% leaning towards the induction 25% leaning towards waiting on more week. Well little did I know my decision would be made for me. Mr. OB decides to go to the office and I realized I’m soaking up panty liners with blood. I knew I was suppose to bleed but there was alot of bleeding. I call into the doctors office and my doctor said why don’t you just go into labor and delivery and we can see what is going on. We then decide might as well start this induction early.

I call Mr. OB he comes home and I tell him we need to go get new phones. Yes before I went to the hospital I made sure I checked one more thing off my list. We went to Verizon to get new phones. See I have had a crappy go phone for the last 5 years. I have never upgraded. My phone can’t take pictures, get on the internet, etc and I felt like this was important. My bleeding had subsided so I felt like it was okay for the time being. And how long could that REALLY take?

We get 2 new phones.. YAY! And we are off to the hospital. Let me tell you though, that phone saved me during labor. I was talking to people constantly keeping my mind off of the contractions etc. It was VERY worth it. We get Wendy’s before we get to the hospital because I know if I dont eat I won’t get food for a while. I get a chicken sandwich and try to eat as much as I can. I’m a little nervous and eating was difficult.

Well we get to the hospital and I go into labor and delivery and the nurses there ask me why I am there. They have a full house and I’m not on the list to be induced tonight. But I do have my paper work told them about my bleeding and they got me into a triage room. I was admitted at 6 and finished eating my dinner and we started Cyotec to help ripen my cervix. I was having some pretty constant contractions but nothing too painful and I was getting a repeat dosage every 3 hours.I was also pretty upset I didnt eat more at dinner time. I was already starving and it was only 10! I lost my mucus plug at about 10 pm. I’m not going to lie I told myself pretty soon I would be in pain and my hunger pains would be nothing compared to the contractions! My doctor came in and chatted a bit with us and I told him how he started all of this by stripping my membranes. On a side note I can’t believe how much those guys work. He was there at all hours of the day.

I went from a 1-2 at about midnight. It was going slowly but that was okay for me. At 3 am I woke up and told Mr. OB I think my water broke. He said, are you sure you didn’t pee on yourself. Well when your water breaks like it did for me you know your water broke. There was no holding it in. I got up to walk to the bathroom and I was just leaking everywhere. Because my water broke spontaneously I couldn’t get anymore medication vaginally so off to Pictoin it was. We had to have this baby within the next 24 hours. EXCITING!So at 4 AM we started the Pictocin. I knew that these contractions are contractions from hell but I was also determined to get the epidural when I was at least 4 cm dilated. I didn’t want to get it too early because I knew it would slow down the process which was already slow in my opinion. The nurse also told me to be aware when you ask for the epidural you don’t get it then and there. You have to get tons of fluids in you before you get it and it takes about an hour to an hour and a half for that. I definitely kept that in mind. At about 7 I decided the pains were pretty bad. They asked me what my pain level was 1-10 and I said 6-7. Mr. OB says, umm you take the epi when you are at a 10. Well buddy in about an hour or two I will be at a 10 and it will be too late. I couldn’t have asked for it at a perfect time! I labored for about 3-4 hours without the epidural and it was rough there at the end. I was dilated to at about a 3 or 4 at this time. When I was checked at 11AM I was at a 5. I was finally getting SOMEWHERE! At 1:30 I was at a 6 and at 2:30 I was at an 8! I think alot of my progress was due to my awesome nurse Jenifer I had. Every time she checked me she stretched and massaged my cervix because she knew I had cryotherapy. She was such an awesome nurse. At 3 I was at a 9.5 and it was about time to push. Go figure the epidural would wear off by now and I could feel alot of pressure in my groin and back. Major Back Labor! I couldn’t get more medicine because then I couldn’t feel my contractions and know when to push. I figured I could handle it.

We started pushing at 3:30ish right after I threw up. I guess thats the sign its time to push? This is the photo Mr. OB took RIGHT before I started pushing. Notice my phone. See it was VERY important I get that phone.

Once we started pushing I thought she was NEVER going to come out. I pushed for 2 hours straight. It was rough. I could feel everything with every push I had pain in my right groin and nerve pain because she was hanging out on my nerve and there was nothing anyone could do for it. We decided to have me push on my side. It was a VERY awkward laboring position but it was the only way I felt some sort of relief. After about 2 hours of pushing my doctor came in and it was go time.

There is a funny part in this story… I had a labor music. I had a song I wanted to be played while I was pushing and I told Mr. OB about it. It was more a joke but we played it from our phones and all the nurses came in wondering what the hell I was doing. Yes I was pushing to the song by Salt N Pepper … Push It. With every push I laughed. Nurses were coming in wondering why rap music was blaring. All the nurses were saying when they have their babies they are totally going to push to that song.I told Mr. OB and the nurses how my doctor was going to come in and think WTH is this chick doing. The nurses said nah he will like it. He comes in and and I’m pretty sure he was singing or dancing away. I’m sure now he thinks Im a nut. Pure awesome. It definitely lighten the mood.

After a couple of pushes everyone says they can see her head and she is almost out. Then I hear the nurse say, “She didn’t show any signs of this. If she had we wouldn’t have had her labor”. Yep the cord was wrapped around my daughters neck and tight. Little Olivia didn’t ONCE show any signs of distress. At all. Her heartrate was perfect throughout the entire laboring process. Amazing.

As I’m waiting for her to cry, I hear my doctor say, “There is something you want to do right” to Mr. OB and Mr. OB cuts the cord. Then I heard the most awesome sound ever. Her crying. It was amazing. Then this is where things went downhill FAST!

Mr. OB walked over to look at Miss Olivia because I couldn’t see her or hold her because the doctor was working on me. I knew I needed to deliver the placenta but had no idea there were complications. Pretty much the cord ruptured and I was hemorrhaging. My doctor is elbow deep into my uterus trying to get out residual placenta and I hear him say, we need to get her to the OR ASAP and she needs a blood transfusion. She has lost ALOT of blood. I’m like huh? I just want to see my daughter. Mr. OB comes over with her before they rush me out and I see her and she is perfect. I’m in alot of pain because 1. the epidural as worn off and 2. my doctor is trying to find the rest of the placenta since the cord ruptured and ouch it was WORSE than labor pains.

The nurse gave me a shot of demerol and I was out. I was fainting and told everyone and off to the OR I went. I meant to tell Mr. OB I loved him before they wheeled me out but I was gone. I remember getting to the OR and saying oh I feel alot better. It was super cold in there and helped me come to it.

My doctor began working on me and I had a d and c to get the remaining placenta. I lost alot of blood so I was very out of it. I do remember telling the doctor I was sorry Push It wasn’t on in the OR room. I also remember shaking SO bad from the epidural and tell my doctor I was sorry it might be hard to work down there with all my shaking. The nurses were also telling my Mr. OB was worried about me and if I wanted to tell him anything. Oh yeah I did. This is what I wanted to tell him. My nipples hurt. Yes I said, tell him my nipples hurt its so cold in here. He will know I’m fine. After I guess what about was an hour I’m all finished and my doctor finished me up and I was sent to recovery. I see Mr. OB waiting for me outside and he said so I guess you’re okay but your nipples aren’t? HAHA

I was sent to a room and was able to see my daughter and bond for the first time. The nurses in the nursery were so wonderful. They didn’t bath her give her a bottle or anything. I said I wanted to breastfeed as soon as possible and I didn’t get that hour to bond with her but they realized what I went through and made it happen. I was so happy. Here is our first family photo!

After an hour it was time for mommy to rest. And rest I did. I was so dizzy and just out of it from losing so much blood. I needed a blood transfusion. I got two units of blood the next morning and felt AMAZING. I can’t believe how much blood I had lost. Pretty much half of my blood. I’m so lucky and fortunate to have such a wonderful and talented doctor. It could have been worse better yet I could have died on that table. I can’t begin to tell you how blessed we are. I kept on telling my doctor thanks for saving my life and he was like Nah, it wasn’t a big deal.

Here are some photos my awesome friend took of us the day after! They are amazing!

Little Miss Olivia had to stay an extra night in the hospital without her mommy because of some jaundice issues. Theses are all taken care of but let me tell you leaving the hospital with an empty carseat was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I can’t believe the love I have for my daughter already. Its so amazing.

More on how our first night home was etc later. For now Mommy needs some much needed rest!

A long update

I'm sorry I am just now getting to this, but honestly, I just didn't have it in me to update and tell my story again. However, I am gaining strength and am ready to share.

My last post was about our first pregnancy appointment. If you remember, they couldn't find the heartbeat because "I had come in too early." In the back of my mind, I knew that this wasn't correct, however, I convinced myself that it was.

So, here is what happened next - Tuesday, December 8th, I went to try to find the HB again and they still could not find it. Dr. D decided to check my betas and have me come in Thursday, December 10th, to check the betas again. On Thursday, there was still no HB found and my betas were rising - they should have been able to find a HB. It was then determined that I, in fact, had a Blighted Ovum. (If you click here, you can learn more about what that means)

I am heart broken and still in shock, but I am dealing with it. Dr. D advised that since I have had no cramping, spotting or bleeding that I should have a D & C (dilation and curettage) because the empty sac could continue to grow for up to 2 more weeks (which would put us at Christmas) and then I would miscarry on my own. I decided to take his advice, as the only way to really have closure is to end this, move on and look forward.

I have to give kudos to several people during this hard chapter in my life. To my wonderful husband, who has been nothing but a pillar of love and strength. To my friend Stephanie, who has been so supportive and loving. And lastly, to The Getting Pregnant Board on The Nest. These women have been the best support system a woman could have. Thank you to all of these people!

I will be having my D&C tomorrow, December 15th at 1:45 CST. I am nervous, but hopeful. Please pray for the Sugar Bud house, as we are dealing with this.