The Miracle of Ben
Since blogging has replaced my handwritten journals for the boys, I need to make sure I remember that Luke and Ben are my main audience and that I get down all the stories that I would have written to them in a journal. I want Ben to know his story from the beginning and see how God blessed us with a healthy baby boy when we didn't think we would ever get the chance meet him. I sent the following email to a friend early in my pregnancy, so rather than rewrite the story, I will share my email (for the guys reading this, I am not editing so don't read if you do not want the details.)
I’m pregnant and due on April 24th. It’s been a complete up and down roller coaster thus far. To give you the short story (which isn't short at all): I didn’t even know I was pregnant because I got my period Mon thru Wed, but it was strangely short and light. then on Friday we went to the Hannigs in Kerkhoven and the entire ride from the Cities I felt a ton of pressure in my tummy and was really uncomfortable. Shortly after we got to the Hannig's I went for a run and was so dizzy and uncomfortable that I got about 5 blocks and then stopped to walk and turned around and went back to the Hannig's. I was back for just a few minutes and all of a sudden I had a ton of dark bleeding and some "stuff" came out that appeared as though I may have just had a miscarriage. Ann and Paul checked it out and we all just chalked it up to a weird period, but at the same time I thought “Hmm, what if I was pregnant and just miscarried. I guess I will never know.” I didn't do anything until the following Tuesday when I went for a lunch run with a Target friend and coworker. I told her the story and she told me my Hcg hormone which spikes during pregnancy would still be in my system if i had been pregnant bc it takes a while to return to normal levels, so even if i had been pregnant and misscarried, i could still probably tell with a home pregnancy test . She encouraged me to at least call my doctor or take a home pregnancy test. I decided to take her advice and I called my doctor the next day. they told me to come in (this was last Wednesday). I went in by myself and they did a urine test... and it came back positive – my first total shock! The doctor was surprised, too, based on what I had told her. Then, the doctor drew blood to see what my Hcg level actually was, but I had to wait 24 hours for the results and my dr said she was guessing that I had miscarried and my Hcg would be on its way out of my system. So I left last Wed thinking I was pregnant and then miscarried. I called Paul and cried. even though i didn't think or know i was pregnant, it hit me hard to think i had been pregnant and had lost the baby.
But then I get a call Thursday morning and my doctor said, “well, you’re an odd case. i have your blood test results. Your hcG levels are REALLY high, so you definitely did not miscarry.” She clarified when I asked that yes, I was indeed pregnant. (What? So now I’m kind of excited but also scared that the pregnancy would not be healthy b/c of all the bleeding and clots I’d had). So I had to go in at 2pm for an ultrasound. The doctor was concerned that the pregnancy was in my fallopian tube. My friend at work mentioned that it could have been that I was pregnant with twins and one miscarried…so I was hopeful of that. Paul and I headed in for the appt. It was difficult to see anything on the ultrasound b/c the baby would have been just 5 weeks and 3 or 4 days old at that point. But they saw that the gestational sack was a really abnormal shape. So, it wasn’t that I miscarried a twin. Basically they thought something was wrong with how the pregnancy was developing and they told us that I was eventually going to miscarry or that I could have a DNC. So then we were back feeling ‘down’ and I was feeling a little strange b/c I was technically still pregnant, but I knew it wasn’t going to last (eerie). they were going to look at things again on Monday morning with another ultrasound and also check the Hcg levls in my blood again (your Hcg levels double every 48 hours for the first 8 weeks of a healthy pregnancy. They were sure my levels would not meet that criteria and would be on the way down)…I went for a run after the appt (which the Dr said would not impact anything) and afterwards I had some more really heavy bleeding again. So i was sure i was miscarrying right then and there...
We got through the weekend...feeling strange about everything happening, just trying to process it all. then yesterday (Monday) we had another interesting turn of events at our ultrasound. The ultrasound technician told us that she saw a completely healthy gestational sac with a normal little yoke sac and fetus….with a normal heartbeat. !!! We could hardly believe it! They told me that I do have a hemorrhage (called a subchorionic hematoma) around my gestational sac, which is quite common they’ve said (happens in 30% of pregnancies. when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining it can often pull or tug the lining and cause some blood to seep in and pool there). So that is what was causing the bleeding and also why the ultrasound last week looked strange (they thought the abnormally shaped mass of blood was actually the gestational sac). My hemorrhage is a bit larger than normal but the nurse practitioner told me that it would not at all harm the baby and also should not increase my risk of miscarriage. The body absorbs the hemorrhage on its own eventually. So, they were very happy to tell me I have a completely normal gestational sac and a fetus measuring perfectly at 6 weeks + 1 day, as well as a perfect little heart beat of 107 beats per minute. What a roller coaster! But praise God for this pregnancy!
Please be praying for a healthy baby!
The pregnancy challenges didn't stop there, however. Later in the pregnancy I had Influenza A for a month and it turned into pneumonia, an upper respiratory infection, and bruised ribs from coughing so much. I was on Tamiflu, codeine, vicadin, lexapro, and ambien. I thought for sure the baby would be born with 3 arms. He came a week late, but he was and is still healthy. What a miracle he is.
I’m pregnant and due on April 24th. It’s been a complete up and down roller coaster thus far. To give you the short story (which isn't short at all): I didn’t even know I was pregnant because I got my period Mon thru Wed, but it was strangely short and light. then on Friday we went to the Hannigs in Kerkhoven and the entire ride from the Cities I felt a ton of pressure in my tummy and was really uncomfortable. Shortly after we got to the Hannig's I went for a run and was so dizzy and uncomfortable that I got about 5 blocks and then stopped to walk and turned around and went back to the Hannig's. I was back for just a few minutes and all of a sudden I had a ton of dark bleeding and some "stuff" came out that appeared as though I may have just had a miscarriage. Ann and Paul checked it out and we all just chalked it up to a weird period, but at the same time I thought “Hmm, what if I was pregnant and just miscarried. I guess I will never know.” I didn't do anything until the following Tuesday when I went for a lunch run with a Target friend and coworker. I told her the story and she told me my Hcg hormone which spikes during pregnancy would still be in my system if i had been pregnant bc it takes a while to return to normal levels, so even if i had been pregnant and misscarried, i could still probably tell with a home pregnancy test . She encouraged me to at least call my doctor or take a home pregnancy test. I decided to take her advice and I called my doctor the next day. they told me to come in (this was last Wednesday). I went in by myself and they did a urine test... and it came back positive – my first total shock! The doctor was surprised, too, based on what I had told her. Then, the doctor drew blood to see what my Hcg level actually was, but I had to wait 24 hours for the results and my dr said she was guessing that I had miscarried and my Hcg would be on its way out of my system. So I left last Wed thinking I was pregnant and then miscarried. I called Paul and cried. even though i didn't think or know i was pregnant, it hit me hard to think i had been pregnant and had lost the baby.
But then I get a call Thursday morning and my doctor said, “well, you’re an odd case. i have your blood test results. Your hcG levels are REALLY high, so you definitely did not miscarry.” She clarified when I asked that yes, I was indeed pregnant. (What? So now I’m kind of excited but also scared that the pregnancy would not be healthy b/c of all the bleeding and clots I’d had). So I had to go in at 2pm for an ultrasound. The doctor was concerned that the pregnancy was in my fallopian tube. My friend at work mentioned that it could have been that I was pregnant with twins and one miscarried…so I was hopeful of that. Paul and I headed in for the appt. It was difficult to see anything on the ultrasound b/c the baby would have been just 5 weeks and 3 or 4 days old at that point. But they saw that the gestational sack was a really abnormal shape. So, it wasn’t that I miscarried a twin. Basically they thought something was wrong with how the pregnancy was developing and they told us that I was eventually going to miscarry or that I could have a DNC. So then we were back feeling ‘down’ and I was feeling a little strange b/c I was technically still pregnant, but I knew it wasn’t going to last (eerie). they were going to look at things again on Monday morning with another ultrasound and also check the Hcg levls in my blood again (your Hcg levels double every 48 hours for the first 8 weeks of a healthy pregnancy. They were sure my levels would not meet that criteria and would be on the way down)…I went for a run after the appt (which the Dr said would not impact anything) and afterwards I had some more really heavy bleeding again. So i was sure i was miscarrying right then and there...
We got through the weekend...feeling strange about everything happening, just trying to process it all. then yesterday (Monday) we had another interesting turn of events at our ultrasound. The ultrasound technician told us that she saw a completely healthy gestational sac with a normal little yoke sac and fetus….with a normal heartbeat. !!! We could hardly believe it! They told me that I do have a hemorrhage (called a subchorionic hematoma) around my gestational sac, which is quite common they’ve said (happens in 30% of pregnancies. when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining it can often pull or tug the lining and cause some blood to seep in and pool there). So that is what was causing the bleeding and also why the ultrasound last week looked strange (they thought the abnormally shaped mass of blood was actually the gestational sac). My hemorrhage is a bit larger than normal but the nurse practitioner told me that it would not at all harm the baby and also should not increase my risk of miscarriage. The body absorbs the hemorrhage on its own eventually. So, they were very happy to tell me I have a completely normal gestational sac and a fetus measuring perfectly at 6 weeks + 1 day, as well as a perfect little heart beat of 107 beats per minute. What a roller coaster! But praise God for this pregnancy!
Please be praying for a healthy baby!
The pregnancy challenges didn't stop there, however. Later in the pregnancy I had Influenza A for a month and it turned into pneumonia, an upper respiratory infection, and bruised ribs from coughing so much. I was on Tamiflu, codeine, vicadin, lexapro, and ambien. I thought for sure the baby would be born with 3 arms. He came a week late, but he was and is still healthy. What a miracle he is.
Comments
Post a Comment