Joy

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Semi-excellent News!

About 2 weeks ago I was sent by a perinatalogist to have 15 vials of blood drawn to check for any chromosomal problems or blood clotting issues that might have possibly contributed to Will's death. I was hoping something would come up so that 1. We would know what happened, and 2. We could do something about it to keep it from happening again.

Well, I finally got the results back! Lo and behold, I have 3 blood clotting abnormalities! I was so excited! The doctor who was talking to me and telling me the "news" must have thought I was a psycho because I kept saying "That's great!" "Awesome!" "Thank you soooo much!" The excellent part is that now we know and we can help prevent it from happening again. The doctor wanted me to make an appointment asap (because practically any second this baby could die from it as well) to learn how to give myself heparin injections.....bummer...(That's the semi-part.) I fretted that night that the baby would die while I was sleeping (as is what happened with Will) but was able to get an appointment the next day early in the afternoon. Josh came with me to learn how to give the shots too as we weren't sure how it all worked and of course for moral support.

The OB who taught us was very nice and knowledgeable although I disagree that my stomach has enough fat on it to not go too deep. Why can't I do it on my thigh or side chunk? There is plenty of fat there. I have to give myself the injection 2 times a day, (every 12 hours) in the stomach.

I had actually talked myself into thinking it wouldn't really hurt but was surprised at how much it did and how sore the "injection site" is. She told me to think of my stomach as a clock, do the first injection at 12, and the next one at 1 and so on, so it will be 6 days before hitting the same spot. I am sure I will get used to it quickly. I'd better! I have to do this for the rest of the pregnancy AND for every other pregnancy from here on out.

I wonder why they don't test for these abnormalities in every pregnant woman. I wasn't tested with Claire or Will. Do you really have to wait and see if your baby dies before doing a simple blood test? I am going to find out the logic behind NOT doing it. Maybe it is extremely rare. .... but still. Will would most likely be here today if they tested for it. I also don't know how Claire managed to survive a 41 and a half week pregnancy. Scary!

So there we have it. Heparin injections twice daily, oh and a baby aspirin daily. The doctors can't say for sure that it will work but it seems to, in most cases, do the trick.

Right after the injection class, we had our 20 week ultrasound! It was a level 2 ultrasound which was awesome. It is not a 3-d ultrasound. Just a more informative, in-depth ultrasound. At one point the doctor was mapping the blood flow directions of the heart with different colors, kind of like a weather radar map. Everything checked out great with Peanut. We were very careful to not find out whether Peanut is a boy or girl. The doctor said she didn't write it down or note it anywhere so that a different doctor doesn't spill the beans by accident. She said though that whatever parts he/she has are normal so that is good. The baby was moving quite a bit and arching its back with it's arms up by its head stretching. It was so cute. (s/he) liked to have an arm by its head and at one point it looked like it was trying to suck on both hands at the same time.
In other pregnancy news.... my varicose veins and leg swelling have been terrible! I figured that since it is this bad, this early on, I had better bite the bullet and get some compression hose. I ordered them online to get more supportive and "stylish" ones than what Walgreens sells. The ones I chose are thigh-high and open toe so I can wear them with sandals if I want. Although, they are about 20 shades darker than my normal skin tone so it looks pretty weird. They came in the mail last week. I was reluctant to wear them out in public but I have the last few days and wow! I feel great! Before, I could feel my varicose veins bulging and throbbing but with these leggings on, I don't feel them aching or feeling like they are pulsing at all. The down side to them is that my legs look artificially "sand" colored and weirdly smooth.(the flash makes them looks really light here.)
Attractive no? Plus, they are HOT- as in temperature. What can you do?

I think I should just rename this post "My Angry Body"

Full on belly photos coming soon!

2 comments:

  1. Wow, Kathleen! You are in my prayers! You are one tough cookie!!

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  2. I have been praying for you and your peanut since I found out you were expecting again!

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