Wednesday 7 June 2017

A rough few days, but everything looks good

Content warning: pregnancy, symptoms, ultrasound (no photos)

Monday morning I used my second Clearblue digital with weeks indicator. The one I took a week before had shown 2-3 weeks pregnant. Sure enough, this test showed 3+ weeks pregnant.

I didn't have much time to feel happy about that before I started to feel nauseous. A little, then a lot. I ended up staying home and throwing up all morning. In the afternoon and evening, I was up and down. I felt well enough to do a few things, but anytime I tried to eat I would throw up again.

Still, I seemed better overall so I thought I was managing it. Boy, was I wrong. I woke up at 2am Tuesday and dry heaved for 7 hours. It. Was. Horrible. I have sore pecs today from being on my hands and knees retching. Since I obviously wasn't coping well Tuesday morning, Mr. Turtle drove me to Urgent Care. They gave me fluids and Zofran by IV. The doctor felt obligated to tell me that one unpublished, unduplicated study had shown Zofran possibly linked to heart defects.  But the drug has been widely used for years, including on all 3 of her pregnancies, and no other evidence of harm was indicated. I opted for the Zofran. I may wake up at 3am one night and hate myself for this, but the way I was feeling, I thought I needed the big guns. Also, it was a one time use. The doctor gave me a half-dose to play it safe.

The Zofran and IV fluids did help, and within a couple of hours I was feeling more like myself. I am deeply, wildly grateful for modern medicine and easy access at times like this. Although my condition was not immediately dangerous to me or my pregnancy, I cannot imagine living with that kind of nausea, never mind functioning in a normal way. And, I'm back on Diclectin, which does work very well for me. Again, ideally I'd like to not use any drugs, but everybody has a limit, and vomiting every 5 minutes for 7 hours is mine. I'm still home today, but well rested and starting to eat normally again.

Because of the severity of the nausea, the Urgent Care doctor sent me for an ultrasound, to rule out molar pregnancy or multiples. I had the feeling things were fine, but it was a little nerve wracking since it brought to mind the series of inconclusive early ultrasounds I had when pregnant with AJ.  I went in today and was lucky to have a very nice, very skilled tech. She saw one sac, ruling out molar (huge sigh of relief). Nothing else showed up externally, so we did internal. She took quite a long time looking at things, so I nervously amused myself by checking out her facial expressions every few minutes. She looked relaxed, focused and intrigued, so I chose not to ask questions.

Eventually, she turned the screen toward me.  One the screen she showed me a sac, a tiny fetal pole inside, and - wonders! - a little flicker of a heartbeat. The image was very clear and I could see everything she pointed out. She said it was challenging to measure the heartbeat but she recorded it twice at 120bpm. There was definitely only one embryo, no twins. This is a relief since if I was going to have twins, I'm pretty sure they would be identical. I cannot imagine myself ovulating two good eggs. And identical twins are more likely to have complications. So this was good news, all around. She dated the embryo at 5 weeks, 6 days which sounds exactly right.

So, on one hand it hasn't been the greatest of weeks, but at least we got some reassurance that things are progressing well so far. I'm still crossing my fingers for a smoother run the rest of the month.

27 comments:

  1. Hope you feel better and the nausea evens out over the next few days! And congrats! It's definitely real now!

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    1. Thank you. I wasn't expecting to see a heartbeat, so that was a nice surprise. It does make it more real.

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  2. Wow, you are a superhero. I can't even imagine feeling that sick! I am glad you are feeling better though, and even happier about that ultrasound! Go mini-turtle!

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    1. Haha, I'd rather nausea was not one of my superpowers, but it does feel that way at times. Kate Middleton had hyperemesis gravidum with both her pregnancies, so I can say I'm like a princess in that regard. Thanks for the good wishes.

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  3. I'm sorry that you're dealing with the nausea side of things, but congratulations on that heartbeat!

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    1. Thank you! It was definitely a nice surprise and the highlight of the week!

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  4. I am so glad you are feeling better -- thank goodness for modern medicine! That sounds MISERABLE. I bet your ribs hurt, too. Oh! A flicker! How exciting. I'm glad there's one strong little bean in there. I hope that you feel better and have no more Urgent Care visits in our future!

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    1. Yes, I'd be the first to wonder if we can be overly dependent on medicines and drugs, but damn, sometimes they are the best thing ever. I can't imagine trying to cope with this unassisted. Thanks for the good wishes: I do hope there are no more urgent care visits, though I'm glad they are there! We gave a little bit more reason for hope now,

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  5. Interestingly, the handful of mole cases I've seen, none had hyperemesis and I've only seen two patients with severe HG who had twins. We used to use Zofran exclusively, sometimes it's the only thing that works in severe cases

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    1. Oh thanks, it's always good to hear reassurance.

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  6. What a beautiful ray of sunshine I've happened upon! I'm so excited for you, and hoping things go more smoothly for the next several months! The nausea sounds unbearable, so I'm glad zofran helped. But this is wonderful news, and I'm so happy for you xoxo

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    1. Thanks Adi! So glad you stopped by. Are you still blogging? I hope you and O are well.

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    2. I haven't written in far too long. I can't find the brain space to get out a long entry. I mostly go on Twitter! I've been making more effort to read blogs, though, except you're the only one updating much. Still I'm happy to have your good news to look forward to :)

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  7. Yay for a heartbeat! Sorry you had to go through that much vomiting in order to see the heartbeat, but what a good sight to see!

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    1. It certainly was! Thank you! I am feeling better though not 100% and seeing the little embryo gives me strength to get through the rest of the month.

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    1. Thank you so much. I love to hear good wishes!

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  9. Oh my gosh! I'm just catching up. That is some crazy good news to see a heartbeat and some crazy terrible nausea! I'm am so optimistically excited for you and for AJ to have a sibling!!!

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  10. Thanksgiving so much! Nice to hear from you: are you still blogging? I haven't been able to read your blog in a long time.

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    1. Yes! I've been having a rough pregnancy so not keeping up with life or friends very well. But I am still blogging every month or so. I will resend an invite to your gmail. Check your social/junk boxes for it.

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  11. Thanks!! And congratulations!! I enjoyed getting up to date. After a few fairly good days the nausea is bad again, even with medication. No vomiting but in bed all day, so much for anything I planned to do. Going to be listening to a lot of podcasts I think.

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  12. Oh hooray for the heartbeat, congratulations! And boo about the awful nausea, I'm so sorry about that. I can't remember if you had it this bad with AJ or not. I had pretty bad nausea with my son, but this time was so much worse. Those early weeks were in the winter, and while the sickness stopped in the second trimester, just seeing my winter clothes in the back of the closet the other day gave me a huge wave of nausea. I am having a girl this time, and people have told me that "morning" (all day) sickness is worse with girls, but I honestly think each baby just has their own unique mix of hormones and it's random luck of the draw with how good/bad you feel. In spite of the crappy nausea, this is such wonderful news. So happy that the newest baby turtle is doing great! :D

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    1. Hi Annie, thanks for dropping by, made me smile. I think the nausea is worse this time around. I'm managing not to throw up with the medication but I have waves of nausea all morning; ususally I can't get out of bed till mid afternoon. Obviously I can't go to work and I'm not doing much around the house or with AJ either. It's rather depressing to be honest but trying to take it one day at a time and keep my head above water. Congratulations on your daughter. And thank you for the reminder that hopefully this will one day get better!

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  13. Congratulations Torthúil!!! The nausea sounds terrible: I have such a low tolerance threshold for feeling sick that I would have taken anything (well, not anything but I'd definitely have taken what they offered). I pop anti-nausea pills at the drop of a hat, I really do. There's not much worse than relentless nausea. Best wishes!

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    1. Thanks. Yes, I hate nausea and this was baaaaaaad, it was not just a mild case of the sickies. I will take medication too if I'm reasonably sure it's safe. It's too bad that something as wonderful and miraculous as pregnancy is also truly gross and miserable sometimes.

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  14. oh gosh that sounded like really horrible morning sickness, you poor thing!

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    1. Yeah, it wasn't fun. Too bad something as amazing as pregnancy has to be so miserable and disgusting at times. I'm so grateful I haven't had the bleeding this time: that is the worst, but the digestive system grossness is not fun. Nausea is now making way for awful reflux. Thanks for the sympathy.

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