Roller Coaster Ride

When we went to the doctor on Tuesday to get the official "you're pregnant" news and to take some precautions to be sure all was o.k., the nurse welcomed us to the beginning of a roller coaster ride that we would never forget. We both agree as this week has seemed a bit up and down and yes, roller coaster-like. We had some worries when going to the doctor and we were assurred that all I was experiencing was normal. The doctor ordered an ultrasound that same day. It was definitely a unique experience to see my uterus close-up. We saw what the nurse called a "yolk sac" and all looked as expected for a baby who was determined to be 5 weeks and 5 days old. We left feeling very relieved, excited, and quite amazed at the reality of seeing that there really was evidence of a little person growing inside of me.

We received a call that same afternoon from the baby doctor who works within the same practice as my medical doctor. We had been told that once I was determined to be pregnant, I would need to be under the baby doctor's care and information from my ultrasound would be passed on to her to share with us. Her office was calling to schedule an appointment with me. The secretary also shared that a gestational sac had been seen and that I had a fibroid. This did not alarm me as I knew a little about fibroids and knew they were not harmful unless there was pain. I was curious about the location and size but waited to find out that information at our appointment on Friday.

Friday came and I spent the morning wondering what to expect at the upcoming appointment. Would this be an initial baby doctor appointment where the doctor finds out about us, gives us a list of do's and don't's and we get the chance to ask questions? Or would this be an appointment where we just learned information from the ultrasound? I wrote down some questions thinking it would be more of the initial baby doctor type of appointment with a little information about the ultrasound thrown in.

Hubby and I arrived at the doctor's office a few minutes early and realized it was still closed for lunch. We waited in the hallway until the secretary arrived and when she opened the door, we followed her in. She asked our names and told us that our appointment was across the hall. This seemed odd as we were told very clearly on Tuesday by my regular doctor that we would need to go across the hall to see the baby doctor. We followed the secretaries instructions and went to the office where I normally wait to see my doctor. My name was called and we were directed to a room to wait.

The doctor arrived, introduced herself and began sharing information about the ultrasound. She educated us on fibroids and said that several had been found. There was a large one of concern in my uterus. She explained the importance of finding out where the fetus was implanted in relation to the fibroid. If the fetus is implanted on or near the fibroid, it would not have an adequate blood supply. From what the doctor could determine from the ultrasound, the fetus appeared to be implanted on the opposite wall of the fibroid but this could not be determined for sure right now. She said we would have to wait and see, shared that implantation occurs randomly, told us that this was out of our control, and scheduled another ultrasound in two weeks. She asked if we had any questions and here is where I thought I would ask my questions I had been thinking of that morning. I asked a couple and at some point in the middle of one of my questions, she said "I'd be glad to answer your question if you give me a chance to answer but you are still talking and not letting me answer." I stopped talking and she answered the question. I sat red faced feeling embarrassed and it finally dawned on me that this appointment was more about my ultrasound results and not at all about baby doctor do's and don't's stuff. No more questions from me! More on my mixed feelings about the appointment later. We left and my husband said "Don't you wish you could just enjoy being pregnant without having to worry?" We are figuring out that the worries and ups and downs come mixed in with the enjoying part.
A roller coaster ride indeed.