Not so normal after all

After being on bed rest the entire weekend, and all day that Monday, Dr. Bankowski said I could go back to work (even though they hadn't technically seen me yet.) I hadn't had any more bleeding, just a few episodes of spotting here and there.

January was supposed to be off limits for me to be gone from work. Literally, in my contract we specified a "black out period" where I couldn't miss any time from work, and all my appointments were to be scheduled during my breaks or lunches. Thankfully ORM was just up the road from my branch. Already though, I had missed 3 days of work and January was a hectic time. I had a LOT of catching up to do and absolutely no energy to do it.

The morning sickness was starting to get to me, and I finally asked Carrie if Dr. Bankowski could prescribe anything. Zofran was his answer! Hopefully it would do the trick and I could be back up and running full speed like I needed to be.

I had another appointment scheduled for 11:30 on Thursday morning for an ultrasound to check growth, etc. I went during my lunch break and finally got an answer to why I had been bleeding so much: Subchorionic hematoma. Commonly referred to as an SCH.

What the heck is that? That's what I wanted to know. I could clearly see what he meant by just looking at the ultrasound, but what did it mean for the pregnancy? For the twins?

A lot of doctors will refer to it as a blood clot, which is a lot easier to understand. In early pregnancy, from what I read, it can cause absolutely no damage to the pregnancy as long as it is controlled (AKA doesn't get any larger).

The way it was described to me at ORM was pretty similar to what I read online after leaving the office. As long as it didn't increase in size, the pregnancy should continue on normally. The issue, Dr. Bankowski said, is if it were to increase in size and continue on into the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. If that were to happen, there was potential for it to cause a tearing between the placenta and its attachment site (through the umbilical cord) to the baby. This could cause termination of one or both of the embryos in the pregnancy.

At this point, I hadn't been experiencing any pain, and the bleeding had subsided. That was good news. He recommended that I lighten my work load (HA! I thought. Did he not know how stressful my job was? Especially in January?) and work only 4 hours a day. That ought to be interesting. This whole "black out" period was really working out well.

All I could think about when I left ORM and headed back to work was "it could terminate the pregnancy." It was like a song stuck on repeat in my head. I was relieved to have a reason why I'd been bleeding, but at the same time it was the scariest thing I'd heard so far. There were two little babies growing inside of me. Two strong heartbeats. I couldn't stand the thought of one of them going away. Or both of them. E & S had been so thrilled to learn that it was twins, and my last appointment showed no sign of a blood clot. Now here it was threatening the chance of E & S being parents.

Once I was back at work I couldn't focus. I knew I had to "get my head in the game" and not think about what I had just been told, after all I was still trying to play catch up from the 3 missed days of work I'd already had that month. I called my boss to tell him that I was going to have to shorten my work days for a bit, which I knew wouldn't go over well. The branch was barely functioning as it was and I was there 10 hours a day. Cutting down to 4 hours was going to be a struggle. I didn't know how long the shortened work days would last, only that it was a must. I had to stay healthy and had two little babies to keep healthy, too. They would have to find a way to keep things running with me only there part time.

About an hour after being back at work I started to cramp. Painful, make me keel over cramps. I couldn't stand and it hurt so bad that I burst into tears. This couldn't be good. After all, Dr. Bankowski said it was a GREAT sign that I wasn't in pain and the bleeding had stopped. That was only an hour ago. Now here I was feeling like I was being stabbed to death.

Once I could function enough to use the phone, I immediately called Carrie. About 3 times. I knew she had other patients that day to see, but I needed to talk to someone. Once she called me back and I explained what happened she said "Go home, right now. Stay on bed rest through the weekend and call me on Monday." This sounded all too familiar. More bed rest. I was to call her if the pain got worse or if I started bleeding again.

Home I went. That was January 12th.

The next day, I still hadn't bled anymore but the pain was still there and anytime I got up to get food or use the bathroom (now becoming more frequent), I got dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. Even a couple minutes of activity would do that. ORM's response was "decrease your activity." Not sure how that was possible as I was already on strict bed rest. But I'd do my best. I had another ultrasound scheduled for that following Thursday and we would go from there.