Good News from the Lab!

After writing my post last night, I was fairly certain that I was jinxing myself. . .and I was right since the spotting returned today.  But I can't be too upset about it because I got some good news from the lab today.  Not just good news, but very good news!  Let me start from the beginning and stop being so dang cryptic. . .

I am pregnant again.  I am 4 weeks + 6 days pregnant.  I keep wanting to pinch myself because I'm so thrilled and so happy that I hope it's not just a pleasant dream.  I know exactly when this baby was conceived and readers of this blog can probably figure it out pretty easily too.  I believe this baby likely implanted 2-years (nearly to the day!) since we've been trying for the baby who will complete our family.  Assuming I carry this child to term, I could very well have a new babe in my arms at the very end of this year.

I began using the progesterone suppositories on April 17 and I had already conceived (but obviously didn't know it yet) at that point.  I have had spotting every day since beginning to use the prog suppos.  That sucks, but it's a "normal" side effect so I was tolerating the bleeding fairly well. . .until I got a positive pregnancy test at 4:00 am on Easter Sunday.  There is little that is more distressing to a pregnant woman than vaginal bleeding.  Given that bleeding marked the beginning of the end of my last pregnancy, it is truly something that I'd rather not be experiencing at the moment.  But, since it was just light spotting, it wasn't too too bad to handle.

However, I had two clots this last weekend.  They were small (about half the size of a dime) and mucousy (stretchy & sticky), but they freaked me the heck out because the obvious implication.  Then I began to bleed.  I wasn't spotting, I was bleeding.  It was a thin & watery blood and it was a color that I would consider red.  I think every woman would naturally assume that their pregnancy was ending/had ended in an early miscarriage at that point.

I contacted my doctor and inquired if I should cancel my first prenatal appointment, which is scheduled for May 16th, because I was certain that the pregnancy had ended.  He suggested that we should check my hCG levels instead and see what we can discover about the pregnancy.  I wrote about the results from my initial test two days ago and I decided to go in today for the follow-up hCG test.  The rap on hCG is that it should double approximately every 2 to 3 days in early pregnancy.  Also, it's a very good indicator of miscarriage if the numbers are dropping.

My hCG level at 4w4d was 3,852.
My hCG level at 4w6d was 7,424.

THE NUMBERS NEARLY DOUBLED IN JUST AT 48 HOURS!  This isn't a guarantee of the best possible outcome (a healthy, full-term pregnancy), but it is VERY GOOD news! 

It's interesting to note that my hCG levels in my last pregnancy weren't doing nearly so good this early on. . .at 5w3d I was only at 4,000 last time.  Again, none of this is a guarantee that I won't suffer another miscarriage, but it is good to know that I have not miscarried.  I don't know how it's possible to lose so much blood and not lose the baby, but I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and sometimes I'm taking it one hour at a time. 

As it stands tonight, I am still pregnant and this pregnancy is progressing.  For that, I give all the thanks to God above.