If you didn't read last month's post feel free to catch up here!
When I found out I was pregnant, it was very early on -- only 3 weeks into my pregnancy, which was both a blessing and a struggle. I haven't always been in tune with my body, it definitely took time and practice, but I could tell something was up when I started to feel a little nauseous. I had a fertility acupuncture appointment later that day and figured I would just take a test before my appointment, as I was aware there are certain acupuncture points you want to avoid while pregnant. Since I was in Santa Cruz and my pregnancy tests were in San Francisco, I had to make a quick stop at CVS before my appointment and grabbed one of the first tests I could find (rookie mistake!). I headed to acupuncture which was across the street and used the bathroom before I headed in. The test said one blue line for negative and a plus sign for positive. The first blue line immediately appeared and then, a second outline of a line appeared (not colored in) making a faint cross. I was shocked and confused. I headed into the appointment and let my practitioner know right away, that I "might" be pregnant! We decided to treat me as if I was and then follow up later, once it was confirmed by the doctor. After my appointment, I headed straight back to CVS and purchased 2 more tests (the expensive ones this time!) that would show either Pregnant or Not Pregnant in writing -- there was no messing that one up! Due to COVID, their bathrooms were closed to I headed next door to Trader Joe's because I couldn't wait until I got back to the house. This time...it appeared Pregnant! WOAH.
I was so excited to go home and share the news with Haj. Once I got there, I decided to take ONE more test first -- you know, just to really make sure. It immediately appeared as Pregnant again, so off I went to break the news with 2 positive & 1 kinda positive test results! Haj thought I was messing with him at first, but once I showed him the results, he could not believe we were able to conceive as quick as we did. We both thought this journey might be a lot longer for us, due to my history, but my hard work proved to pay off.
I reached out my now doctor the next day, who I had a future appointment scheduled with 2 months out, for "family planning" as that's all she had availability for. Technically she (along with the 3 other doctors I was recommended to) weren't taking any new patients at the time. The nurses asked a few questions about my medical history, how I was feeling, and if I was experiencing any bleeding or cramping. I gave them the cliff note version of my past and said that I had been spotting for the last couple of days and cramping a lot which was common for me, due to having Endometriosis. They scheduled a blood test for that day as well as one 2 days later to check my HGC levels and make sure they were rising appropriately. They also scheduled an ultrasound for the following week as they were concerned about the spotting and cramping and wanted to make sure I wasn't experiencing an ectopic pregnancy which is common for women with Endo. My blood test came back quickly and levels were pretty low to begin (likely because I was still so early) and then tripled by my next one which was a great sign. By the time I went in for my ultrasound, my spotting had stopped but the cramping was still there. I was really nervous to go to my appointment especially since Haj wasn't allowed to go with me due to COVID regulations. They tried to do a normal ultrasound which was not successful so they had to do a transvaginal one instead which is where they were able to determine that the sac was not in my fallopian tube, and ruled out ectopic pregnancy (another big relief!). I met with Dr. Oderman after to go over all the results. She quickly calmed all of my nerves and luckily, ended up taking me on as her patient - I felt an immediate sense of relief because I knew I was finally in good hands. She let me know we would schedule biweekly appointments for the next few weeks, just to make sure I felt comfortable and to ease my anxiety a bit.
As I mentioned previously, finding out I was pregnant so early, did come with some struggles. A lot of women usually find out they are pregnant at about 5-7 weeks, so having an extra 3+ weeks of constantly questioning if everything was okay was tough. Haj and I both know that having Endometriosis increases my miscarriage risk by about 76%, so it was difficult not to think about that. We also discussed the outdated notion of waiting 12 weeks to share our news, just in case we were to experience a miscarriage. I understand that others have their own way to process the early stages of pregnancy and completely respect that. While keeping the news just between the couple can be important for some, we felt in our circumstance, that if anything were to happen, we would want the support of our closest family and friends. This is why we decided to share our news as we learned it and I am grateful that we did.
It was nice to be able to talk about what was going on with my body with friends that have also been pregnant or just women in general. I also ended up joining an app called Peanut which connects women who are trying to conceive, expecting mothers and current mothers all over the world. It is a judgement free space that I am happy I found, thanks to my cousin who works for the company! I am excited to use to once we move to Santa Cruz full time as well as it also acts as a Hinge of sorts, for moms looking to make new friends who live in their community.
As the cramping persisted and in some cases turned into really sharp pain, the next ultrasound showed there was actually a cyst in my left ovary which I could definitely feel. The nurse explained that cysts are common and tend to go away on their own as the baby grows, so it shouldn't be a large concern, but would be something to keep an eye on. There was also free fluid around the cyst which can make the "having to pee" sensation even more prevalent and painful. Fun! I have mentioned before that I've dealt with candida on and off for years and of course as soon as I became pregnant, the symptoms came rushing back. I let my doctor know and she said we could do an exam to confirm. This is when I first explained to her that pelvic exams are painful for me and she could not have been more understanding. She went straight into mom mode and let me know we didn't need to do anything that made me uncomfortable and we could actually test by just using a swab and not having to do the full exam. No doctor has ever offered that to me before. She also sat right next to me and explained that she too has dealt with this in the past and had a highly reputable pelvic floor therapist that used to be a patient of hers that specializes in type of work. If my first encounter with Dr. Oderman didn't already prove that I was in the right hands, this hands down did. The Candida test results came back positive and unfortunately the Candida supplement I took previously along with the mushroom supplements were not recommend due to lack of testing on pregnant women so I needed to find an alternative option. I worked with my acupuncturist and ND to find 2 strains of new probiotics that focus specifically on women's health, combined with coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and essential oils to help ease the discomfort. It helps most days but it's something that still has not completely gone away so I am continuing to work on it.
In those first fews weeks, I continued my routine as normal. I was trying to eat as healthy as possible, as I know this development phase is so important for the baby and continued my regular workout regimen. I started my day with a green juice, usually eggs with greens for breakfast, some sort of salad or veggie dish for lunch and dinner. Luckily, I didn't experience too much nausea, but of course there were still days where I went straight for Annie's Mac n Cheese -- we just do the best we can. When nausea did hit, I made sure I was fully prepared for it. Here are the list of things that really helped!
Ginger/Lemon shots - I add this to sparkling water or hot water depending on my mood
LMNT electrolyte packs - these are a LIFESAVER (when nausea was at its worst I went to these -- they are SALTY but so worth it and work so quickly, PLUS no sugar!)
B Complex - I have gone on and off taking B Vitamins, but know this is one of the most important vitamins for a babies early development and has said to help lower the chance of miscarriage, plus B6 is known to help reduce morning sickness, so continuing with this supplement was a no brainer. If you need higher doses of B6 the supplement can be taken on it's own but make sure your prenatal has B Vitamins in it because they work a lot better in conjunction with each other.
Simple Mills Crackers - these are the new saltines without all the crap. There was a day that I laid in bed and ate an entire box of only these.
Acupuncture - I cannot recommend this enough and really believe that having a relatively smooth 1st trimester was due to going to acupuncture on a weekly basis. We focused a lot on my digestion which was still struggling after getting COVID and as I mentioned last week, a healthy gut = healthy baby. She also would send me home with press tacks on my nausea points so I would just press on those when I started to feel sick.
Peppermint tea - my "morning sickness" often came at night time so I would try and anticipate it by drinking this tea before bed.
Fresh air - just getting out for a quick walk (or rolling down the window in the car -- pregnancy has created a new development of motion sickness which I had not experienced before)
During week 7, I was still experiencing the cramping but working out definitely seemed to help. I had used the Peloton on Monday and that evening noticed a couple of pieces of tissue discharge when I went to the bathroom. I figured that I might have pushed myself a bit too hard (although who knows if it had any connection whatsoever) and told myself that the following day I would do something a little easier on my body. I ended up doing a pilates class which is not part of my normal routine and focused a lot on the core, which again, might not have been ideal. I went to bed and woke up around 3am to pee (which was now a common occurrence) and for some reason decided to turn on the lights. I realized that I had started bleeding and began to freak out. I called Haj who was away on a business trip about an 1 hr 15 mins east of SF and to my surprise he answered right away. We both put our phones on sleep mode at night so I was not excepting him to answer. He was able to calm me down a bit and offered to make the drive over but I told him to wait for a bit. I called one of my oldest friends Jackie, who was just a couple miles away and is currently in nursing school. She is definitely the type of friend that will pick up a 3am phone and that she did. I asked her if she thought I should go to the emergency room and she made a good point that I'd likely be up all night either way to I might as well go and get everything checked out. She also offered to come with me but I figured they wouldn't even let her into the ER because of COVID so that I would just keep her updated. I called Haj back to let him know i was going and headed over in an Uber.
I was the only one in the ER waiting room when I arrived so they were able to get me in right away. I spent the next 3 1/2 hours speaking with nurses and doctors, answering a bunch of questions, filling out forms, getting blood drawn and finally an ultrasound. To my relief, everything looked OK. Baby was alive and they were able to find a stable heart beat. Majority of my blood tests came back normal with some a bit high but nothing they were too concerned about. They let me go back home and just recommend I track the bleeding (which had now turned into a darker red instead of bright red which they felt better about) rest and get in contact with my doctor once the office opened. This was now Wednesday morning and I already had my 8 week ultrasound scheduled for Friday so they said I should be able to learn more about what may have caused the bleeding then. The ER doctor also mentioned that this could be what they call a threatened miscarriage -- I did not like that sound of that. I spend that day working from my bed, googling (not recommended) and chatting with my mom and a couple of friends. I ended up posting in the Peanut app and got a few helpful responses from women who had similar experiences.
To be continued...
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