Monday, July 27, 2009

A Day Spent in Emergency

Saturday morning I woke up and found some bright red spotting on my underwear, more than I had ever seen before. I had been spotting for a few days before that but I was reassured because it was always dark brown in colour and really can't be described as anything else except a light staining. I wasn't having any cramps but the fact that the colour changed from dark brown to bright red and that there was more of it than I had ever seen before, we decided to be cautious and headed to emergency at 8:45am on Saturday morning. My local clinic had already finished cycle monitoring and there wasn't an ultrasonographer in sight so we didn't really have a choice but to head to emergency.

It took *hours* to get the bloodwork done and to get in for an emergency ultrasound but we did get everything done that we needed. The ER doctor was actually really good and I know I wasn't high priority since I wasn't gushing blood but she kept on checking in with us and tried to hurry the process along as best she could. Six hours later, we finally got some answers. We got our HCG levels rechecked and by my calculations, we should have been in the 30,000 range and it actually came back at 75,000+.

We were also squeezed in for an emergency ultrasound. This was our first ultrasound and was right at the six week mark so it's iffy whether or not you'd see a heartbeat at this point. I couldn't help but remember all of the ladies I had read about who posted on IVFC who didn't see heartbeats until 7w and beyond but then suffered the stress of going to their first u/s and not seeing a heart beat. I was worrying about everything while the hours ticked away and we waited to get in for an ultrasound. I was worrying about seeing an empty sac, the baby having no hearbeat...all the paranoid kind of stuff that can go through your mind as you wait and clock watch. Tick tock, tick tock...

When the time finally came for my ultrasound, they made my DH wait outside. Then, the technician didn't or wouldn't say a thing during the exam - there were signs everywhere that said that the ultrasonographer needed to do the exam uninterrupted and the way they had me propped up, I couldn't see the screen at all. The scan went on for a good 20 minutes and during the whole thing, she said not one word. I was trying to face-read any expressions and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of something in the reflection on her glasses but alas, nothing was revealed until she was done.

We're having twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My little 4CB and 2/3 both took! We are stunned and so incredibly, totally and completely grateful. And to think that we were going to give up on them, cycle again in hopes of getting a few more to transfer. I'm going to say it again - we are stunned. Both looked really good according to the radiologist and measured at 6w2d and they were able to find both heartbeats!! Way to go my little overachievers!!!

The spotting that sent us to emergency on Saturday morning was a subchorionic hematoma which is essentially a blood clot between the yolk sac and the uterine wall. I sent off the ultrasonographer's report to CCRM and got a call from them the next day and the nurse explained "subchorionic hematoma" to me in layman's terms. Apparently, the spotting is caused by the placenta tearing away from the uterine wall a little. Scary eh? She said to be really cognizant of my body motions, emphasizing that I was really not to lift anything heavy and no twisting body motions either. If it happens again, she said to put myself on bedrest, put my feet up and rest until the bleeding goes away.

Since the ultrasound was done in a hospital emergency, we weren't given the option of taking a photo home but my DH did get to come in after she was done and saw the pictures on the screen. When she finally told me, I burst into tears and then proceeded to cry all over my DH when he saw the pictures. It was such a relief to see both of them and to know that everything is going well. It was a very long and tiring day but it was worth those 6 hours in emergency to find out that information. A bad start to the weekend but it has gone up to a high for sure.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay for the little guys! I am very happy for you!!! I hope the SCH resolves itself quickly. I understand from some of the other twin mommies on our CGH thread that it is very common.

brunettechicagogal said...

OMG, what AGONY that ultrasound must've been. How did you stop yourself from screaming, "TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE?" I am so happy for you!
-Kathleen, aka Teachrun from IVFC

DAVs said...

WHOA!!! That is some amazing news! I'm sorry you had to be in a scary situation, but what an incredibly wonderful outcome!

Anonymous said...

WOWZA! DOUBLE CONGRATS! That's AMAZING! I hope the SCH goes away so it causes no more fear - but that's a great way to end the episode!!!

Andrea

ME! said...

I am so sorry for the scare- that really must have been awful! I am impressed you didn't kick the US tech with your foot..um, accidentally of course.. :)

YEAH for the twins! That is awesome. You just never know in this thing called infertility huh? You just never know!!

elliej said...

That is the most wonderful news I have heard in a long time. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. I'm a twin myself (twin brother) and it's all good, highly recommended. YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY. You give us all hope. Mind yourself now and am loving the reassuring comment from zgbethie re the SCH. Happy, Happy Days.

Sue said...

That is INCREDIBLE! Sorry you had such a scare - but what great news! I am so excited for you!

JJ said...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so stunned and happy for you. This just goes to show even more how being your own advocate is so important. Those little overachievers really love their new home! It makes me wonder whether they will rethink their policy on CB grade embryos. Honestly, I wish I cd give you a huge hug of congratulations! I was sorry to read how you got to the information, it must have been awful, but fab that all seems ok. Please take good care of yourself!

Pie said...

What happy, happy news! I just found your blog, and happy to do so on such a great, and joyous post!

Congrats to all 4!

Jill M. said...

OMG, you just totally made my day, congratulations!!!! You must have patience of steel! You definitely got yourself a miracle set of twins. Like I've said before, hopefully ccrm will learn something from this and not be so quick to discard low morphologically-graded embryos. Take care of yourself and I hope the scary bleeding stops soon. Yippee!!!! BTW, do you know the genders?

Unknown said...

Oh mi goodness!! This is such amazing news! Congratulations to you both!! Lets catch up soon.

Kris said...

Woohoo! The u/s was well worth the six hour wait. TWINS! WOOHOO!!!! Congrats, congrats, congrats! That is awesome news!

Meant to be a mom said...

That's fabulous news. CONGRATS!!
My prayers are with your twinkies.
I'm so glad that both heartbeats were heard and that everything was ok.

Emily said...

First of all, lots of congratulations!!!! So excited for you!
I am sorry that you had a bleeding scare. IVF should come with a disclaimer - I feel like we have scary bleeding so much more often than your typical mommy. I had 3 episodes in the first tri. Bedrest and water goes along way but it does not get any less frightening. I am hoping and praying that it was your first and last episode!

Polly Gamwich said...

Congrats sweety!

What a horrible, yet wonderful experience!!

BabyMakingJourney said...

How are you doing? {{HUGS}}

Phoebe said...

Wow, huge congratulations!! I'm so glad to hear that the "grading" system is not predictive. I hope you don't get anymore scares after this. And yes, bleeding in the first trimester is common with twins.

Angie said...

Wow, scary, but glad all is okay! And CONGRATS on 2 little ones!!!