Ultrasound drama

(week 7)

I spent the weekend in pain. The pain in my side felt like it was worse, it felt like some one was stabbing me with an accupunture needle in my belly. I kept surfing blogs and websites and it seemed fairly common for women to complain of strange pains during pregnancy. Medical sites reassured countless women that this was normal and not a concern as long as the pain wasn't on one side or accompanied by rhythmic cramping.

Well, that didn't reassure me at all - it only alarmed me more - I had exactly those things. The cramps were the worst - really low across the pubic bone, they had me doubled up at times. The only thing I've felt like that before was the cramps I used to associate with my endometriosis. When I was in high school, I used to have intense cramps that would make me freeze in place, gasp for air while waves of burning pain radiating out from my womb to the top of my head and tips of my toes. The ones I felt now were different, but equally intense.

I kept imagining that the baby was stuck in my fallopian tube and everything was bulging, ready to burst. I kept trying to dismiss this and stay calm, but I did more research and found out that it's not uncommon for endometriosis to cause blockages that cause infertility or ectopic pregnancies.

That did it!

I stayed home Monday morning and called my doctor's office. I explained my history & symptoms and the receptionist handed me off to a nurse. The nurse had me waiting for hours. I gave up and went into the office, only to get a call back during a meeting. They wanted me to come in right away, but their ultrasound technician was out that day, so they wanted me to go to the hospital for the test instead.

I was happy to be going in early, but I was sure it wasn't going to go well. My husband couldn't join me on the last minute trip and I was a ball of nervous. I flew into my boss' office - she asked me if everything was okay since I'd been sick that morning. I was a jittering teary eyed mess - I just blurted out "Well, I'm preggers and I'm off to the doctor to see if the bugger's about to kill me - so NO".

-slick- Not the announcement I'd had in mind... sometimes I wish there was a rewind button.

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"Drink at least 16oz of water and don't go to the bathroom before the test."

I HATE THE EVIL ENTITIES THAT PLANNED THAT ONE. Seriously! By the time I sat in the waiting area for an hour I was about to EXPLODE! I had to practically threaten to pee on the check-in counter before nurse 'nazi' would tell me where the bathroom was. I think she could sense murder in my eyes so she eventually conceded after I *promised* I'd only go a little bit. By the way... in case you were wondering, stopping you pee mid stream when you bladder is about to pop is an extraordinary demonstration of self control.

Half an hour later I tip toed into the testing room, crawled onto the table only to have the technician exclaim "My! Your bladder is so full it's crushing everything, I can't see a thing, I'm going to have to ask you to go to the bathroom first."

.... I couldn't decide if I wanted to strangle her - or kiss her...
I settled for wiping the goo off my belly, pulling up my pants and gratefully waddling to the toilet.

I came back much relieved but no less perturbed.

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Technicians aren't supposed to comment on what they see in a test, but I could see the screen and she could sense my nervousness.

"Baby looks normal and implanted safely in the uterus".

PHEW!