Thursday, November 6, 2008

Too Much Information

Yesterday, I went in for my CVS to the perinatalogist office. First they did a 30 minute long detailed ultrasound and then the Doctor (let's call him Dr. Smilesalot) came in to talk to me right before the procedure. He said there were a couple of findings on the ultrasound that concerned him and he wanted to discuss them with me. The first one was my blood flow to the uterus was not optimal and this could be an early indicator of preeclampsia and we should watch for that, the other was the the fetus has a single umbilical artery. Normal fetuses have two umbilical arteries and one vein. But mine only has one. This could be an indicator for chromosomal abnormalities or a host of other congential problems.

At this point I was stunned and couldn't really think of what to say or ask. He sort of went on to downplay it and said, well nothing is for certain, but if the CVS results come back normal, they'd like to monitor me closely throughout the pregnancy.

So there I was in a state of shock, about to go through what turned out to be a not so easy CVS procedure. I, Ladies, am blessed with a tilted uterus, and every doctor who has ever examined me says, oh you have a tilted uterus, did you know that? Of course, I knew, I have only been told that a 100 times. Anyway, this time I told the doctor about my uterus, so that he could make a decision of whether to perform the procedure transvaginally or through the abdomin. He said, it's Ok, I think I can make it work transvaginally (you think? Doesn't instill much confidence, does it?). Anyway, what was supposed to be a 10 minute procedure turned out to take 45 minutes. He managed to collect the sample that he wanted and he was very pleased with himself. I'll get the results back sometime on Friday.

I had some bleeding last night which I know is not unexpected, but made me panic anyway. I called the emergency clinic number and Dr. Smilesalot called me back and told me to monitor it closely and call him back if it gets any worse through the night and then he proceeded to give me his direct cell phone number (which never happens). Anyway, as luck would have it my bleeding stopped shortly after and now I've had some minor spotting today, so I didn't have to use Dr. Smilealot's cell phone number.

So today, I got on the internet and researched "preeclampsia" and "Single Umbilical Artery". Both conditions sound very dire and scray. I'm not really sure what to do at this point, except hope and pray that everything will be OK.

7 comments:

Melanie said...

Your mind and heart must be reeling from this. Thinking about you. I'm pulling for definitive good words about the CVS.

Evil Stepmonster said...

Oh Joonie what a scary day! I hate it when doctors tell you worst case scenario stuff without having all the facts. I hope the cvs results come back ok. I'll stay here and hope and pray with you if that's ok.

Jess said...

I'll be here hoping and praying for you and baby. Please update as soon as possible!!

(Sheesh, this is just never easy, is it...)

Baby Smiling In Back Seat said...

Oh my. I hope that everything works out. Take care of yourself.

hudson6803 said...

SUA CAN be an indicator of a problem, but isn't always. I know of two people whose babies had no problems other than the SUA. I would definitely insist on frequent monitoring though.

Pepper said...

I was so stunned reading your post; I can only imagine what you must be feeling! That's a lot to take in and process.

Thinking of you and praying that the results today are fantabulous. (And that Dr. Talkstoomuch learns a better bedside manner. I'm glad he was nice, but it sure seems as if he could've given the news more gently.)

xo

battynurse said...

I'm glad that the results for the CVS showed no abnormalities. The rest of it is scary but I have met several people that have had normal babies with the 2 vessel cord. I hope that all turns out well for you.