In both of my previous pregnancies, I've had spotting. Nothing major, and generally only lasting a few days at the most, but spotting nonetheless. I also have an incredibly sensitive cervix, and actually had cervical erosion with and after Gavin's pregnancy. It's harmless and painless, but scary as heck to have the bright red bleeding that can come with cervical erosion! So I had been spotting for a total of five days as of yesterday, and it had been increasing. I set an appointment with an OB (gulp...quite the step for this midwife-lover!), but couldn't get in any sooner than June 30th. My boss is a FNP, and she called some OB friends of hers to see if they could squeeze me in before then, but I didn't hear from them. So, after an increase in bright red spotting, I decided to go to the ER. The nurse in me was saying that it's probably O.K., that it's probably just my cervix acting up again, and I was just spotting (not officially bleeding) and not cramping, so I was most likely not miscarrying. But the mom in me was just screaming out for help, knowing bright red blood is never normal, and was scared for the life of my baby. I had blood drawn and waited an eternity for an ultrasound. Everyone was very nice and sympathetic. After a time of quiet prayer, and a short nap, I finally got to go for my ultrasound. The tech asked if I was sure of my dates. Well, I'm sure of the date of my LMP, but my cycles were so whacky that any due date is possible, I suppose. He said that my HCG beta was a bit low for my LMP-based date (well, that scared me, but I figured it would be lower than their calculated 8 weeks due to my whacky cycles...), but we'd go ahead and have a look. I was seriously expecting to see a sac with no baby, or no heartbeat. But would you believe one of the first things I saw when he put the probe to my belly was that beautiful, fluttering heartbeat?! He announced "Well, you're definitely pregnant, and we have fetal heart tones!" I could have sat up and hugged him right there. He found that, by measurements, I'm only 6w3d. That would explain the low beta. Everything looked really good, and he pronounced my pregnancy "viable". That sounds so...medical...especially when you're talking about the miracle of life, about a new little person inside a mother's womb. But I've never heard a more beautiful word in all of my life! I got back to the ER and met the doc who was to be doing my exam. He checked me out and found that my cervix was tightly closed, but extremely irritated and bleeding. He said that, of course, any bleeding is not considered "normal", and that it's considered a "threatened" miscarriage, but the bleeding is definitely coming from my cervix. I could breathe a little. So, although we're not considered out-of-the-woods just yet (not till 20 weeks, technically), I have a little peace of mind, for now. It's still unnerving to see blood, but I can at least rest a little. So, little Dempsey is still with us, and I hope s/he says with us for another full 34 weeks! At that point in the ER, I had been there for 4 hours and was told that I'd be discharged in a few minutes. Two hours later, the nurse finally hunted down the doc, who had really procrastinated on getting my paperwork through. At 0245 this morning, I finally walked out of the hospital. But I couldn't be mad...I am just happy that I'm still pregnant!
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