Postpartumness pt. 3

Growing cutie!

Just had my 6 week check up with the OBGYN and saw my primary doc 2 weeks ago.  The fun never ends when it comes to my health issues.

Primary doc was sooo happy that I finally had a baby! I’ve seen him since I was 12.  He knows my parents very well.  When I first starting having fertility problems, he was there ordering labs and tests and helping to get to the bottom of it. When I suffered from postpartum depression after the loss of my twins, he ordered the “get happy pills.”  When my RE said I had a thyroid issue and wouldn’t do the IUI until it was fixed, this doc gave me my prescription to fix it.  I gave him a birth announcement and a hug for being so helpful. Turns out he has a new grandson as well! I told him about my postpartum preeclampsia/pulmonary edema episode and he ordered follow up labs as well as keeping me on my meds to stay normal.  Labs came back fine, except for maybe a UTI, culture pending.

My GYN appointment was with Dr. P, who delivered MeMe.  My new problem of the month: Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding.  I have had my period for over 2 weeks and it’s not stopping.  The lochia stuff stopped after 3 weeks and then my period started at 4 weeks after delivery.  Here I am at almost 7 weeks and I’m just continuously bleeding and bleeding and bleeding.  IT REALLY SUCKS!  Apparently, the mini pill that I’m taking for contraception is doing it’s job too well.  It’s made my uterine lining too unstable, but not only that, I can’t really get my groove on with all this bleeding going on so there is a 100% chance of not getting pregnant, any time soon ha ha. I have some options and I was just soo pissed that I always seem to have some kind of problem or end up in that small percentage of people that gets screwed. I have some options:

• Stop the mini pill, get an IUD
• Stop the mini pill, use condoms
• Stop the mini pill and switch to the combination pills, but no more breastfeeding
• Or maybe the bleeding will stop on its own and I can stay on the mini pill

Crap!  I loved pumping and giving MeMe the boob juice because I know it’s best for her.    I hate to have to give that up now. I just feel so guilty to stop the boob juice.  But the main thing is that she is here and is healthy.  She’ll be fine on formula alone.  What I don’t want is to become anemic from all this damn bleeding or have a uterus too jacked up to have any more babies. I’ve given myself until Monday to see if the bleeding stops. Then switch to the combo pill.   

Another thing, boy did my vagina muscles contract back up.  Doesn’t even seem like I popped out a baby a few weeks ago.  The speculum was awful!  She had to use the little one to do my pelvic exam.   I’m a born-again virgin.  Eek! I didn’t like being one the first time around.

Just started getting on the treadmill.  These pounds need to come off.

Other things on my mind other than my uterus and cooch is going back to work.  I have this packet of skills to review. I also realized how cool it would be to review cardiac rhythm strips so I found an awesome website that runs a strip and explains what it is or you can quiz yourself.  Just needed to refresh my memory.  I haven’t had to do that since April. I really need to get back to work, staying around the house all the time has lost its coolness.  I need to use my brain like it’s been trained to do.  I need to have random conversations with coworkers and laugh and bitch about our husbands.  I need to show off pictures of MeMe and talk about babies growing up fast. 

I will miss being with MeMe, but mom and I have currently been sharing baby care duties.    Mom will watch for a few hours and then hand her back to me. So when I go to work, it won’t be like I feel like I’m leaving her for the first time.

Still waiting out our time in escrow. I really hate how all information is funnelled through my husb and then he forwards me the emails whenever he feels like it.  He swears that I stress or fixate on certain things or freak out when its not necessary, which isn’t true.  I’m a practical realist, he’s a dreamer.  He’s thinks “everything is fine”  and that stuff should happen on his terms, but when shit needs to be done and there’s no time to playing power games.  The loan officer wanted some info back on Thursday and he still hasn’t given it to her.  He’ll just wait till Monday.  Why wait, he could’ve done it on Friday at the latest.  If escrow doesn’t close on time, it’s his fault.

14w3d, reality check

 

So I can comfortably say I’m in my second trimester and I’m feeling a little freaked out because with the twins, next week is just when everything went to hell and it took 5 days to finally deliver. 

 Over the weekend, husb and I had a discussion about what our plan of action is and we finally decided to get the stitch sooner than later and do the shots.  So we called the peri and they said we need a referral again to do it so we called Dr. M.  It turns out that according to Dr. T’s recommendation, our care would have to be transferred to UCSD( 30 miles away) until I’m 28 weeks, then I can go back to Dr. M.  What the hell!!! I just built rapport with Dr. M and now we gotta switch it up with the peri people.  Shit, there’s goes my confidence!  That had me a little frazzled on Monday and of course I had to work.  I spent a large part of my night doing research on MDconsult and I realized that doctors are sadistic and cruel.  They want ladies to go through multiple 2nd-trimester losses before they think a cerclage is needed.  Or get in trouble before a cerclage is needed which in turn will end up as a loss.  Docs really don’t care about you as a pregnant patient until you’re in your 3rd-trimester.  I guess they figure whatever happens between conception and 24 weeks is a toss up, so good luck and we’ll see you later.  

Back to my research of medical journals: “Patient’s with a prior 2nd-trimester loss were 10.8 times more likely to have a recurrent 2nd-trimester loss or spontaneous preterm birth, compared to those with prior full-term delivery.”  OUCH!!  Then in the conclusion of a study regarding 2nd-tri losses it stated “if in fact 2nd-tri loss and early preterm labor occur by similar biological mechanism, women with 2nd-tri loss would be candidates for therapy that reduces subsequent preterm birth such as p17 and not for cervical cerclage”.

Still confused. I feel like I’d be taking a big chance either way.  I have prayed and prayed and prayed over this decision.  My mother-in-law called me yesterday to check on me and said everyone was praying for me.  God has watched over this baby despite all the bleeding and spotting. 

My mom talked to one of her ob-gyn friends (Dr. Lo), it turns out it was the same doc that saw me when I was first admitted to the 1st  hospital.  She did a pelvic exam and saw the sac bulging in my cooch. My vaginal cultures were negative so what’s all this infection talk?  I bet by the time I went to the second hospital, I was head down and stuff probably started sliding back north and the contents of my uterus wasn’t as heavy so it didn’t look as bad when that peri saw me.  Dr. Lo said “GET THE CERCLAGE” since she has seen cases where it happens again. Even Dr. M said do both.  And the old peri said get a cerclage for the next pregnancy before I was discharged.  So I should feel good, right?

I’m still scared of the surgery.  Just because it’s surgery.  I want this baby so much and it took sooo long to make this baby, all the shots and meds and waiting, I will do anything to boost it’s chances of growing up. I wanted to have a “normal pregnancy” but I have to let that dream and my ego go. Plus getting shots in my ass every week sounds like so much fun! I needed help getting pregnant and I need help staying pregnant.  That’s my reality.

I better hurry up and get my hair braided before the referral goes through. I might be in the hospital for a looong time.

Secret’s out

 

Now that I am 12 weeks and feel pretty good about the pregnancy (no more pink spotting or bleeding), I decided to tell some people at work.  Partly because my work is physically demanding and I want people to give me a break (no infectious patients). Also, I wanted to share my joy and hope with others.  Good positive vibes! I told one person I was close to while at work and then told a group at the same time when 10 of us went out for breakfast.  I haven’t done anything social like that since Alicia’s baby shower.  I guess I feel less nervous about gummy bear and more nervous about any upcoming interventions. Still haven’t felt 100% on any decision and I want to make one that I am comfortable with.  For now, I am comfortable telling folks I’m pregnant.  My brother and his girlfriend found out last Sunday, let’s just say my bro wasn’t too happy that he didn’t know but very happy for another chance to be an uncle. 

The other secret is that my bro and his girl are moving in together, so next comes marriage, moving back to Cali and a hopefully baby carriage.  Fantastic!  Overall, she’s cool to chat with, not snooty or trashy.  Fun-loving and outgoing, so good pic for my bro.  I just think that everything shouldn’t be all peaches and roses all the time because then it ain’t a real relationship. Sometimes you need some turmoil to really know a person.

So back to the baby decisions: What to do….

We were originally soooo sure I needed a cerclage. But if an incompetent cervix didn’t cause my water to break, what did?  And how can we stop it?  I can’t go through that again and I can’t go through not doing everything we can to keep baby safe.  The cerclage can work miracles and cause issues.  And the more I read about how putting in the stitch after the cervix starts to shorten the more it freaks me out.  The risk is much higher to wait because baby is heavier and the sac could get ripped or already be opened leading to an infection.  I don’t want that either.  I have like 2-3 weeks to put it in.  But in my line of work, I’ve seen how a simple procedure could snowball into much bigger problems due to accidents or infections.  For example, my abnormal PAP smear turned into two LEEP procedures which turned into getting pelvic inflammatory disease and a possible incompetent cervix.  What the hell…