Takin' it Easy!

We've had quite a week, hence my absence from the blog.  Wednesday afternoon, I received word from my doctor's office that the blood draw they drew two weeks prior showed low progesterone.  They started me on prometrium, which is progesterone.  Now for those who don't know much about pregnancy hormones, here's the gist.  The range for progesterone during the early weeks of pregnancy is around 9 to 46.  My range was in the 9 range but not lower than that.  When a woman is first pregnant, her body produces extra progesterone until the placenta takes over.  A drop in a woman's progesterone levels (or low levels...I never had a drop) can be a a signal of a miscarriage.   Progesterone is responsible for keeping the placenta/baby in place.  When levels drop, contractions can start and all that causes labor can start...which, in early pregnancy is a miscarriage.

So, all that to say, we went in to a regularly scheduled appointment on Thursday afternoon.  I was already scheduled for an ultrasound since the first ultrasound showed a 6 week baby (with heartbeat) and that's considered too early (at least for my doctor) to be considered "viable."  I was also having some upper back pains at the initial visit and I had a really weird cycle which was what prompted my progesterone level to be checked.  I went in with the full knowledge that our baby might not be with us and was prepared for the bad news, etc (even thought I almost threw up at lunch).  Mark could see the screen and watched intently.  He announced that the baby was bigger and all I wanted to know was that there was a heartbeat.  He found it before the tech said anything and signaled a thumbs up and I finally relaxed after 24 hours of holding my breath and praying hard for our little one.

We finished with the ultrasound and waiting on Dr. J.  Nurse D came by and told us that right now we had a very "delicate pregnancy right now" because there was a blood clot.   No heavy lifting, full pelvic rest, and she continued on and on.  We still weren't quite sure what was going on.  Dr. J came in and told me that I had a subchorionic hematoma.  That's a neat medical term that's a new one I learned!  Anyway, what it is, in a nutshell, is a blood clot between the placental membrane and the uterus.  It's not detrimental to me but if it suddenly ruptured or broke off quickly, it could be so to the baby.  In a majority of women, the clot will either be reabsorbed by the body or my body will pass it.  

So, Dr. J said to take it easy.

I stared at him and asked him to please define that.  He asked me what I did all day.  I just stared at him, "Uh, I take care of five children all day..."  So, he defined it as full pelvic rest, no exercising, no heavy lifting, no picking up things heavier than Ceili Rain, no stressful things, etc.  I'm not officially on bed rest.  I don't think I will be unless I start bleeding.  My plan is to do as little as possible to get through a day to make sure our little one grows.  Dr. J wants things to "calm down down there."  So with my prometrium, prenatals, and handful of movies, I am set to entertain the kids.  This just has to be for the next few weeks and then the baby should be good to go.  I'll go back in at about 12 weeks for another check up.  No more progesterone levels checked, no ultrasounds scheduled yet.

All that to say, I should be able to keep the blog updated since I'm not going to be up in the kitchen (not that I feel like cooking), nor puttering around getting school done (although I have to get it ready for January)...it should get interesting around here!  Prayers for B6 would be much appreciated.  We love our little "kidney bean" already and are already thinking about the day we'll meet him or her (Zoe's hoping for another her by the way)!