Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A Problem Pregnancy. *Update* Drat....they are admitting me to the hospital.

Today I went to my appointments at the UNC Women's Specialty Clinic for genetic counseling and then my First Trimester Screening.  The screening is a combination blood test and ultrasound to check for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13. 

I got an ominous feeling when I saw the ultrasound tech who had done the ultrasound when Mary Grace had passed away....luckily, she called another patient, not me.

I got the really super nice ultrasound tech who had helped with my amniocentesis with Mary Grace.  This guy just instantly puts you at ease.  And when he started telling me about the problems he saw with this pregnancy, and I started bawling on the table, he handed me a washcloth to cry into...you know, the ones they have handy to wipe the ultrasound gel off?  He made me feel as comfortable as I could with the new circumstances surrounding my pregnancy and helped me focus on the positives. 

I'll start with those.

First, baby is alive and wiggling all around with a strong heartbeat. 
The nuchal fold measurements came back within a normal range which means that it is unlikely that this baby has Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, or Trisomy 13.
I had plenty of amniotic fluid.
The baby's heart and brain looked good so far for this stage of pregnancy.
We got some good pictures.

The bad news:

Baby is measuring exactly 1 week behind.  I am 13 weeks and 2 days and baby was measuring 12 weeks and 2 days. 
My placenta does not look good.  It looks like swiss cheese; very cystic.  It is much "thicker" than it should be.
The Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor came in and said that this looks like it could be another Triploidy case, or it could be a molar pregnancy.  Apparently they are leaning more toward a molar pregnancy since I have a lot of the symptoms associated with molar pregnancy, such as:  spotting, severe nausea, developing complications like thyroid disease, high blood pressure, protein in urine.
They did an extra blood test today called a NIPT which is a new test that should tell us if this is Triploidy or a molar pregnancy.  The results will take up to 2 weeks. :(

In the meantime, my blood pressure at the appointment was as high as 155/112 and I had tachychardia at the office.  Of course, it could have been due to all the bad news.

The MFM sent me immediately back over to my regular OB.  My blood pressure was normal at his office (of course they used the regular cuff on me twice, instead of the small cuff recommended by the MFM office).  OB found +2 protein in my urine and was debating putting me into the hospital!  What?  I was not prepared for that.  He consulted with MFM doc and agreed to send me home but read me the riot act and told me to come back in if I began to feel worse.

I have an appointment with regular OB on Friday.  With MFM on Monday.  They want me to do a CVS test on Monday to try and get results sooner.  Ugh....this is Mary Grace all over again. 

God help us.

Would you please pray for us?

***UPDATE***  5:12pm 
Doctor called and told me I am definitely hyperthyroid right now with TSH levels at less than .005, T3 at 6.9 (normal = 2-3.9) and Free T4 at 2.2 (normal = .7-1.4).  So that is indeed why I feel super jittery and my hands are shaking.  More bad news is that my HCG levels came back very high at 382,854 when they should be in the 50,000-100,000 range for this point of my pregnancy.  This is highly indicative of a molar pregnancy, according to the doc.  Between my regular OB and the MFM they decided to admit me to REX hospital.  However, when they called to get me a room, REX is entirely booked....so they debated sending me to UNC (over an hour drive at least), but after I had packed my bags they called back and decided I could stay at home tonight and go straight to the ER if I have any worsening symptoms.  So I am home for the night.

Tomorrow a.m. I will head over to UNC to have the CVS test done (an invasive test that they do instead of an amnio since I am less than 15 weeks).  They are repeatedly telling me to start thinking about having to make some "tough decisions" if my health starts to deteriorate.  We all know what that means.  This is actually turning out to be worse than Mary Grace, because I was "free" to carry her as long as she lived.  With this baby I am already feeling "pressure" to terminate. 

Tried to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet on EWTN today at 3pm...but I could only sit through it and stare at the tv.  But really felt peace when they said the closing prayer:

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

23 comments:

Hillary said...

Praying for you and your family!

xoxox

Greg and Marie Bauman said...

Oh Angela, I am so sorry. My heart is breaking for your right now. Our little are so close in age, so this hits close to home. Please know of my prayers and I will be saying my Divine Mercy Chaplet for you today. Our Lady of Hope, pray for us!

Joy Beyond the Cross said...

That was me above. (((Hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Prayers going up!! I'm so sorry to hear that. May God's grace surround you and lift you and the baby up. - Renee

Anonymous said...

Angela & Rob,
I am praying.
Kelly

Kathryn said...

I am so sorry! I will be praying for you and your little one as you go through this!

JoAnna Wahlund said...

Prayers for you and your little one.

Karey said...

I'm so, so sorry. I'll be praying for you and baby.

Anne B. said...

You and your sweet baby have the prayers of me and my family.

Lucky as Sunshine said...

Praying for you.

M said...

I am praying for you and for your sweet baby.

Unknown said...

Praying for you and your little one!

Lauren @ Magnify the Lord with Me said...

Many prayers for you and your little one. I'm so sorry yo u're going through this. AGain. My heart is aching for you. You just sit and stare- that's prayer in and of itself, and we'll take care of the words for you.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it could be a partial mole. This has some moral controversies whether it has a soul or not. Only someone who is well versed in medicine and Catholicism can figure out this ethical pathway and reasoning. Call the National Catholic Bioethics Center. They always have a medical ethicist on-call. Present your case, or better yet, get a faithful Catholic doctor to present your case.

C said...

Praying for you and baby. So sorry to hear this.

Anonymous said...

Praying all is well today. Praying for you and the whole family - especially this little one.
+JMJ+
~allison

Anonymous said...

Praying for you, your sweet family and your little one. You have strength and grace that I cannot fathom. Keep uniting yourself to our dear Lord, and know others are doing the same on your behalf. Much Love, Jessica

Faith makes things possible said...

Oh, I'm am so very sorry you are going through this...please know you are in my prayers!!!

Sew said...

I'm so very sorry you are going through this...do you think you could ask for your thyroid antibodies to be checked---

TPO
TGAB

just last week you were very hypo and this week you are "hyper"....you can google hashimotos.....

Beth Cotell said...

Praying for you and your little one.

The Will Of God In All Things said...

Prayers for you and your little one. For peace and strength to accept whatever God wills to you Angela... Suzanne

Anonymous said...

Praying. God's will be done. Bonnie

Unknown said...

You’re definitely in a rollercoaster of pregnancy updates, Angela! I think you have to trust your doctor’s recommendations and prescriptions this time. Their knowledge will help you a lot on maintaining a healthy body for you and for your baby. I hope you’ll be able to pass this challenge. Rest assured that all your readers and family members are praying for you and your child. Good luck! :)

Adam Heller