12 weeks

What a rollercoaster week...

Remember last week when I said I felt like my ribs were pushing apart and I thought it was too early for that? The very next day I got an e-mail update saying that my uterus probably shifted upward sometime during week 11. How convenient! So I really DID have a lime shoved up under my ribs. ;) I noticed discomfort with bending and I noticed that I got winded easily (reading out loud, for instance).

I was grumpy this week.

I still can't stomach avocados.

I continue to gag and occasionally dry heave in the mornings.

I was given two boxes (!!) of used maternity clothes so I sorted through those this week and did several loads of laundry. I gotta say, other than eventually wanting some shorts for the summertime and maybe a couple of camis, I am SET. I feel so thankful that I don't have to spend a fortune on a new wardrobe. And this stuff is cute!

The second half of week 12 was not so uneventful...

On Saturday evening (2/18, 12w3d) I noticed some dark brown discharge. This turned to bright red bleeding later in the evening, prompting me to call the after-hours advice line. The lady I spoke to was very nice and said that based on my symptoms (no cramping) and the way I answered questions, I didn't need to be seen that night. Thank goodness because I did not want another ER all-nighter.

The next morning I was still having some bleeding, which turned darker over the course of the morning. Steve and I talked and decided that we would like to be seen for our own peace of mind. We wanted to see our baby's heartbeat and hear that everything was fine.

I called the advice line again to see WHERE we should be seen and after another whole battery of questions, was told again that I didn't need to go in. We also learned that Kaiser's urgent care is by appointment only, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Both nurses I talked to said that a message had been sent to the OB office and that they should give me a call Monday morning. We decided to just wait until Monday morning and then if the OB office didn't offer us an appointment, we would ask for one. (One nurse also told me that if I DID end up experiencing a miscarriage, "that's just mother nature's way of telling you it wasn't meant to be..." Kaiser is absolutely unbelievable.

Monday morning arrived and I did get a call from a primary care doctor at Kaiser. But she was a primary care doctor... not an OB. She must have been the one doing the call-backs that morning... and she suggested that I call the OB office. Well, gee, thanks!

I called OB and they told me that if the bleeding had stopped (it had turned to dark discharge and I would no longer consider it "bleeding") then we didn't need to be seen by a physician. BUT, because there had been bleeding and I have a negative blood type, I would need to come in to get a Rhogam shot.

The ONE THING I did not want AT ALL and was prepared to fight at 28 weeks.

I burst into tears on the phone with the nurse and told her all the reasons I didn't want the shot, including the horrible first appointment we had. She listened to my story and then said, "Wow. I could just puke." She was disgusted that the doctor had said those things to us and apologized profusely. She told me that she doesn't like that doctor either, that she is intimidating and callous. She patiently explained Rhogam to me and why I needed the shot (the reasons make a little more sense at 12 weeks after there has been bleeding than they do at 28 weeks when there is NO medical reason to have it).

I told this nurse we would like to come in and be seen and to have an ultrasound. She told me they don't like to do ultrasounds unless they are really, really needed, because they "aren't safe."

What a line of crap. There have been NO studies done that have proven that ultrasounds are unsafe. And if they were, I don't think pregnant women would be having them willy nilly all the time!

I informed her that if they were so concerned that I needed to come in for a Rhogam shot, then I certainly felt validated in requesting an ultrasound so that *I* can be sure that my baby is ok.

Sheesh.

She did call me back a little later and tell me that she had ordered an ultrasound (though of course I couldn't schedule it until later in the week because I wasn't considered an emergent case).

Long story short, I did go in for the Rhogam shot, which they give you in the butt. I also threw up my breakfast two days in a row (the first time that has happened) and had about half a dozen complete meltdowns in two days. I stayed home from work for three days to "take it easy" and Steve stayed to take care of me. He was stressed beyond belief (not just over the baby but about a ton of other things attacking us right now) but he was a trooper and did a great job of being a caregiver.

The ultrasound was scheduled for 13w1d so that story will come in the 13 week post. ;) Don't worry, it's a good one.