The Back Story....continued

My nurse from the OB office called back early the next morning (December 23rd). My HCG level was 225 which she said was good and more or less "fit" with my calculations that I was 5 weeks along. Phew. But then came the bad news: my progesterone was 12.8 which was much below the desired goal of 20. At this level, my miscarriage risk was 40-50%. Another possibility was that this pregnancy could be ectopic. She wanted me to start Prometrium (a plant-based source of progesterone), which has been deemed safe in pregnancy, and then repeat my blood work on Monday, December 26th. Her goal was that my progesterone level would double every 48 hr initially to get me back into the normal range. She instructed me to stay off my feet and watch out for any heavy bleeding or one-sided pain. If I were to experience either of these over the Christmas weekend, I was to go to the ER immediately, tell them I'm pregnant and request an ultrasound. Perfect. Just how I'd been dreaming of spending Christmas in Bellingham.

I was sort of in a daze; it all feels like a blur. I managed to ask the nurse the plaguing question: "Will taking the Prometrium preserve a pregnancy that shouldn't be, that my body is naturally trying to get rid of?" I dreaded her answer but was somewhat relieved (although that feels like the wrong word) to hear that if I was going to lose this baby, I would lose the baby. I also asked whether my progesterone was low when I was pregnant with Isla since I had also experienced some spotting to a milder degree with her. No, it had been just fine. Normally, being that I'm in the medical field, I would have researched Prometrium a little bit to make sure I was comfortable with the pros and cons. But this time, I didn't even think twice. I filled the prescription and started taking it.

On top of my progesterone issues, the nurse informed me that my thyroid hormones were off (my TSH was 3.91 with goal being <2.5, my T4 was fine at 1.2). This was not entirely surprising to me given that I consider myself "hormonally challenged" in general. I considered it a miracle that I made it through my pregnancy with Isla without having to increase my thyroid medication dose. This time around, I wasn't going to be so lucky. An new prescription for an even higher dose of thyroid meds was called in.

We proceeded on with our Christmas plans and headed up to Bellingham, attempting to act as if all was normal. I wanted to tell my family the news since I wasn't sure how on earth I'd lay around all weekend (basically modified bedrest) and let them chase Isla around without them wondering why I was being such a lazy bum. Graham, however, wanted to wait and so covered for me by stepping up and helping out with meal prep/clean up while I casually laid around. I was SO EXHAUSTED and went as far as to attempt a nap one day which I later found out, as I expected, totally blew my cover. My mom just doesn't miss a beat! Thankfully she didn't ask questions.

I attempted to enjoy Christmas festivities but I'll admit with subdued excitement. It was sort of like I had this lingering black cloud over my head. I wanted to be excited. I wanted to celebrate. But I remained reserved. On the 26th, we headed down to Pullayup for an extended family celebration at my aunt and uncle's. We spent the night (since we were en route to Oregon the next day) and so I had my OB call in my repeat blood tests orders to a lab down there so as not to ruin our travel plans. I woke up super early to sneak off to get my blood drawn before any of the rest of the family woke up to ask questions.

The week felt eternal with so much waiting! The results finally came back on December 29th: my HCG had climbed nicely to 3281 and my progesterone was now in a normal range at 31.5!! I think we both breathed huge sighs of relief. My nurse asked if I wanted to do another repeat test to make sure everything was trending in the right direction but we declined. She reminded me again to stay off my feet until the bleeding stopped and then said we could call if we had any other concerns.

January 3rd rolled around and I was still bleeding. At this point, I'd been spotting on and off since December 17th, nearly 2 1/2 weeks prior. I decided I'd best call my doctor just to let him know that the bleeding continued despite my now-normal progesterone. Ha! "Just to let them know...." Of course rather than brushing it off, this elicited a whole flurry of activity and phone calls. They wanted me to go immediately to Overlake Hospital for an urgent, walk-in ultrasound. Thankfully, Graham was working so I just called him and asked him to come down to imaging to be with Isla and I. I needed his support, but I didn't want him to miss seeing our baby for the first time. First the ultrasound tech looked at and measure my kidneys and other organs (which seemed to take FOREVER!) Finally, after a bit of nerve-rattling searching, she located my uterus. In it was a tiny little spot with very faint flashing--a baby with a heartbeat!!!!! Hooray!!!! She also mentioned seeing a yolk sac and commented that the baby was measuring about a week younger than the 6 1/2 wk dates that we'd calculated.

I received a call later in the day stating that the radiologist had read the ultrasound as completely normal and that they could find no obvious reason for the spotting. More good news!! We hoped and prayed that the whole scare would soon be behind us and that a perfectly healthy baby was growing inside....