2 lines
One late night/early morning experience of debilitating pain, one very stressed out husband, a cumulative four and a half hours of waiting for medical attention and feedback, three doctors, two nurses, three injected drugs, two blood tests and one trip for a X-ray cut short by the presence of two lines on a pregnancy test.
It started during the night, a nausea-inducing, vision-blurring abdominal pain. I didn't bother to check what the time was, I got out of bed and let my dogs outside for their "midnight" ablutions and found myself needing to seek the refuge of the couch while waiting for them. Lying down seemed to help so I called them back in and went straight back to bed, not even bothering to reset the burglar alarm. As I tried to fall asleep, I wondered if I should wake Nik up and ask him to take me to casualty at Greenacres Hospital, but decided that if rest eased the pain I would simply go back to sleep and hope it had subsided by the time I wanted to go to gym. It hadn't. I waited a bit longer before waking him to let him know my predicament and asking him to phone our GP for an appointment. Unfortunately our GP could only see me at 2pm and I didn't want to wait that long. Little did I know the ordeals I'd go through before finding out that the pain in my pelvis was a tiny person making itself comfortable in my uterus.
We waited for over an hour at the nearby Medicross. That doctor thought that I might have had appendicitis, he sent me for blood tests, a glucose test and a urine test and informed us that we would be contacted with the results, but advised us to go to a hospital if the pain persisted into the evening. After trying to sleep it off a bit more, I had to get up and sort out a few things; we had just gone through the process of buying a new car and the paperwork had arrived for me to sign and, thereafter, drive our new car home. Sadly, this would-be happy moment was marred by the return of my discomfort. After finishing with the legalities, Nik and my mom forced me to go to hospital.
I didn't have to wait as long before the doctor on duty could see me and as we were about to have a repeat of the earlier doctor's visit, I suddenly asked about the risk of my pain being due to an ectopic pregnancy. Realising my concern, this doctor decided to do another urine test. I was given injections to ease my pain and, shortly after, the doctor came back to my cubicle and announced that the dipstick test was positive. Nik felt like he was going to fall over. It was a suprise for both of us. I'd been to see my gynaecologist the previous week and the visit had doubt cast over our chances of conceiving soon. We were elated. Another blood test soon followed to confirm the levels of Hcg, bringing with it an almost 2 hour wait before I could go home. The blood test confirmed it: we were going to have a baby. I was four weeks along. I was advised to see my gynae as soon as possible to ensure that the pregnancy was, indeed, not ectopic.
Fortunately my gynae managed to squeeze me in the following morning and our fears were dispelled with the image of a little dot in my uterus. I was relieved, only to be thrown into another bout of fear because my Hcg levels were "a bit low" and I had to endure another long wait before finding out if all was well. The next day started with a trip to the pathologists and by lunch time I'd been informed that the levels had risen beautifully and that it looked as though all was on track for a normal pregnancy.
After weeks of Nik bursting to scream the news from the rooftops, I finally relented after going for the eight week scan. Seeing our little one, quite literally the size of a bean and hearing that strong, rapid heartbeat was reassuring and awe-inspiring, enough reason to "spill the beans" soon after. Not that the news was entirely contained, our parents were informed very soon after we found out, with the remaining immediate family members being contacted the following day, along with a selected number of close friends (and my boss). But it's slipped out a few more times since then; excited parents telling other relatives or close friends and work colleagues, Nik excitedly speaking and eventually letting all the guests at a housewarming party we attended in our impending journey into parenthood...
At nine weeks in, the mixed anxiety and excitement have been very difficult to contend with; unhappy stories never seem to be far away, but I've tried to put those unpleasant thoughts to the back of my mind and enjoy the surreal wonder of the little blessing in my belly. It's still early days, it's still somewhat scary days, but I will keep praying and indulging in the wonder of reading the week by week development stats. Pregnancy "symptoms" have been variable, some acne outbreaks in the first few weeks (which seem to be relenting), fatigue which goes away and then suddenly hits me with full force at unexpected moments, vivid dreams, the need to get up during the night to pee and then the struggle to return to sleep (that wasn't much of a problem before!), the food aversions, the nausea (usually smell-induced, food aversion induced or from an overactive gag reflex when I brush my teeth) and restlessness accompanied by a lower than normal bull$h|t tolerance. Here begins my journey into becoming a mom, with a loving and supporting husband/eager daddy-to-be at my side.
It started during the night, a nausea-inducing, vision-blurring abdominal pain. I didn't bother to check what the time was, I got out of bed and let my dogs outside for their "midnight" ablutions and found myself needing to seek the refuge of the couch while waiting for them. Lying down seemed to help so I called them back in and went straight back to bed, not even bothering to reset the burglar alarm. As I tried to fall asleep, I wondered if I should wake Nik up and ask him to take me to casualty at Greenacres Hospital, but decided that if rest eased the pain I would simply go back to sleep and hope it had subsided by the time I wanted to go to gym. It hadn't. I waited a bit longer before waking him to let him know my predicament and asking him to phone our GP for an appointment. Unfortunately our GP could only see me at 2pm and I didn't want to wait that long. Little did I know the ordeals I'd go through before finding out that the pain in my pelvis was a tiny person making itself comfortable in my uterus.
We waited for over an hour at the nearby Medicross. That doctor thought that I might have had appendicitis, he sent me for blood tests, a glucose test and a urine test and informed us that we would be contacted with the results, but advised us to go to a hospital if the pain persisted into the evening. After trying to sleep it off a bit more, I had to get up and sort out a few things; we had just gone through the process of buying a new car and the paperwork had arrived for me to sign and, thereafter, drive our new car home. Sadly, this would-be happy moment was marred by the return of my discomfort. After finishing with the legalities, Nik and my mom forced me to go to hospital.
I didn't have to wait as long before the doctor on duty could see me and as we were about to have a repeat of the earlier doctor's visit, I suddenly asked about the risk of my pain being due to an ectopic pregnancy. Realising my concern, this doctor decided to do another urine test. I was given injections to ease my pain and, shortly after, the doctor came back to my cubicle and announced that the dipstick test was positive. Nik felt like he was going to fall over. It was a suprise for both of us. I'd been to see my gynaecologist the previous week and the visit had doubt cast over our chances of conceiving soon. We were elated. Another blood test soon followed to confirm the levels of Hcg, bringing with it an almost 2 hour wait before I could go home. The blood test confirmed it: we were going to have a baby. I was four weeks along. I was advised to see my gynae as soon as possible to ensure that the pregnancy was, indeed, not ectopic.
Fortunately my gynae managed to squeeze me in the following morning and our fears were dispelled with the image of a little dot in my uterus. I was relieved, only to be thrown into another bout of fear because my Hcg levels were "a bit low" and I had to endure another long wait before finding out if all was well. The next day started with a trip to the pathologists and by lunch time I'd been informed that the levels had risen beautifully and that it looked as though all was on track for a normal pregnancy.
After weeks of Nik bursting to scream the news from the rooftops, I finally relented after going for the eight week scan. Seeing our little one, quite literally the size of a bean and hearing that strong, rapid heartbeat was reassuring and awe-inspiring, enough reason to "spill the beans" soon after. Not that the news was entirely contained, our parents were informed very soon after we found out, with the remaining immediate family members being contacted the following day, along with a selected number of close friends (and my boss). But it's slipped out a few more times since then; excited parents telling other relatives or close friends and work colleagues, Nik excitedly speaking and eventually letting all the guests at a housewarming party we attended in our impending journey into parenthood...
At nine weeks in, the mixed anxiety and excitement have been very difficult to contend with; unhappy stories never seem to be far away, but I've tried to put those unpleasant thoughts to the back of my mind and enjoy the surreal wonder of the little blessing in my belly. It's still early days, it's still somewhat scary days, but I will keep praying and indulging in the wonder of reading the week by week development stats. Pregnancy "symptoms" have been variable, some acne outbreaks in the first few weeks (which seem to be relenting), fatigue which goes away and then suddenly hits me with full force at unexpected moments, vivid dreams, the need to get up during the night to pee and then the struggle to return to sleep (that wasn't much of a problem before!), the food aversions, the nausea (usually smell-induced, food aversion induced or from an overactive gag reflex when I brush my teeth) and restlessness accompanied by a lower than normal bull$h|t tolerance. Here begins my journey into becoming a mom, with a loving and supporting husband/eager daddy-to-be at my side.
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