Today I went to see the hematologist and I ended up being an emotional wreck. The tears started flowing when I checked in with the receptionist. When I told her my last name to check-in she said, "That's funny. That is the same last name as my favorite high school teacher." She then asked if I was related and when I told her that her favorite teacher is/was my dad (yes, I actually had this debate about tenses in my head) she became very excited. She said, "Oh please tell him that I say hi. I think about him all of the time." At this point I was devoting all of my attention to keeping my composure and I did not have it in me to tell her that he died. Instead, I attempted to smile and headed to a seat in the waiting room where I cried quietly.
The next part of the appointment consisted meeting with the hematologist. Again, lots of questions about my family history, especially my dad. More tears. I couldn't keep it together and I was handed a box of tissues. The hematologist then spent the next hour working on "our plan" by going over every worst case scenario and possible disorder I could have. Despite this, she was actually pretty wonderful. Very thorough. Answered all of my questions (even though most questions cannot be answered at this point). And she was generally likable and extremely comforting.
The last part of the visit was the epic blood draw. I am scared of needles and generally dislike blood. But I thought I did a good job of preparing myself for this part of the appointment. The problem was that I did not envision the blood technician pulling out 15 collection tubes. FIFTEEN! As soon as I saw this, along with the blood techs comment "I'm going to be taking a lot of blood today!" caused more tears. I think she quickly regretted this comment because she spent the remainder of our time together (which was far too long, no offense to her) trying to interest me (read: distract me) in her recent trip to Vegas.
Apparently, the fact that my platelet count has been dropping since the beginning of my pregnancy is unusual in terms of this being strictly pregnancy related. The doctor said that usually women do not see a drop in their platelet count until the second or third trimester. This leads her to believe that something else could be going on. There is no test to determine if the low numbers are due to pregnancy. So instead they test for every other possible blood disorder (hence the 15 vials of blood) in order to rule everything else out before they determine it is just because of pregnancy. So far my platelet count has gone from 126 to 117. I should find out what my levels were at today's appointment by tomorrow. All other test results I will find out on May 1st. The doctor will not be overly concerned unless my levels drop below 70. With my current levels they will try and reduce the amount of bleeding I have during labor to an absolute minimum. They will avoid a cesarean at all costs and I will not be allowed to have an epidural. My friend recently gave birth (CONGRATS M&J) and told me she did not know what she would have done without the epidural. My anxiety about labor is already starting to raise so I am going to try and get some hypnobirthing books ASAP. Any other recommendations?
In other news the baby will have his/her first flying experience this week. We are off to Los Angeles to visit my sister!
The next part of the appointment consisted meeting with the hematologist. Again, lots of questions about my family history, especially my dad. More tears. I couldn't keep it together and I was handed a box of tissues. The hematologist then spent the next hour working on "our plan" by going over every worst case scenario and possible disorder I could have. Despite this, she was actually pretty wonderful. Very thorough. Answered all of my questions (even though most questions cannot be answered at this point). And she was generally likable and extremely comforting.
The last part of the visit was the epic blood draw. I am scared of needles and generally dislike blood. But I thought I did a good job of preparing myself for this part of the appointment. The problem was that I did not envision the blood technician pulling out 15 collection tubes. FIFTEEN! As soon as I saw this, along with the blood techs comment "I'm going to be taking a lot of blood today!" caused more tears. I think she quickly regretted this comment because she spent the remainder of our time together (which was far too long, no offense to her) trying to interest me (read: distract me) in her recent trip to Vegas.
Apparently, the fact that my platelet count has been dropping since the beginning of my pregnancy is unusual in terms of this being strictly pregnancy related. The doctor said that usually women do not see a drop in their platelet count until the second or third trimester. This leads her to believe that something else could be going on. There is no test to determine if the low numbers are due to pregnancy. So instead they test for every other possible blood disorder (hence the 15 vials of blood) in order to rule everything else out before they determine it is just because of pregnancy. So far my platelet count has gone from 126 to 117. I should find out what my levels were at today's appointment by tomorrow. All other test results I will find out on May 1st. The doctor will not be overly concerned unless my levels drop below 70. With my current levels they will try and reduce the amount of bleeding I have during labor to an absolute minimum. They will avoid a cesarean at all costs and I will not be allowed to have an epidural. My friend recently gave birth (CONGRATS M&J) and told me she did not know what she would have done without the epidural. My anxiety about labor is already starting to raise so I am going to try and get some hypnobirthing books ASAP. Any other recommendations?
In other news the baby will have his/her first flying experience this week. We are off to Los Angeles to visit my sister!
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