If you read yesterdays post, you know how thrilled I was to get so many of our results back! All of the blood work was back, and my ultrasound results were back. There were lots of little details I could’ve added to that post, but it wouldn’t made it FAR too long! Either way, I left the day and the post feeling like things were great and I was about as “cleared” as I could be.
Yesterday, after I posted the blog, (post post, lol) I spoke to my family doctor. I just have such a good relationship and history with her, I prefer to go over most things with her as well, and she has always left me room to do just that. I had left a message, and she called me back in the evening to go over everything and answer the few questions I had. I love talking medicine with her because she has a really good way of using layman’s terms without making me feel silly and uneducated, but she also gives me a lot of credit and knows that I know a decent amount of the big words too 😉 It just feels like a good balance, and we have great banter.
She went through my blood results very thoroughly, and helped me understand why some things on there are actually good when I thought they were bad to begin with. We agreed that my hcg isn’t back to normal yet, but its very low, leaving no concern about leftover tissues/placenta inside my body. It all felt like a win. Same story with my ultrasound results. The small changes were completely unremarkable. The ultrasound had also confirmed that there is nothing leftover in my body, coinciding with my blood work. Once we were through that, she kind of just summarized our chat. “We’ve gone over your blood work, that was all clear. That was your ultrasound, aaaaand here are the baby’s placenta results, but you’ve probably heard those already…”
😮
Indeed I had NOT heard those yet!!! When I spoke to my OB just days before, she didn’t have them in my file yet and told me they’d likely be months away. I had kind of come to terms with the fact that we might even already be pregnant again before they came back. And once again, I did NOT have to wait for those results, because they came WAY faster than anticipated!! Praise God!
I eagerly told Dr. Guselle that I hadn’t heard them yet, and she seemed surprised. She apologized that she wasn’t more prepared and gave them a quick read herself before reading them to me. She kept reminding me that she was not a specialist, so she might not know every word, but she’d try. That was all I wanted, I assured her.
So! Jamin’s placental results! Firstly, it tested negative for all the “itises,” lol! There was no obvious illness, infection, or problem. Until we got to the fine print. There was a very noncommittal note that stated there was the small possibility of a placental infarction.
First of all, apparently they’re just called “infarcs.” I swear, I thought my doctor was saying “in-fart” over and over again on the phone. But I’m an adult. So I only laughed later.
A placental infarction is basically a piece of the placental tissue that died, likely from no blood flow into that area. This hypothetical one was suspected to have been about 2cm x 2cm. How hypothetical can it be if it had a measurement? So it was a small spot. Sometimes, they cause no real issues and baby is born fine. Sometimes, they cause stillbirth. You can’t know until you’re there, or until its all over, I suppose.
I want to stress here that I KNOW this is all just hypothetical. BUT I’m weirdly relieved that something finally came up in all the many test results that shows what could have possibly caused Jamin’s passing. At the very least, it gives me totally justified reason to be on the aspirin regiment that I wanted to be put on! Dr. Guselle offered to write a letter to my OB on my behalf to discuss these results and hear her thoughts on this new information and possibly make a plan.
I say it far too often, but I am just SO thankful to have all of these people on my medical team. I have the BEST people in all of the important places, and I feel so cared for. I see that Dr. Guselle is being careful not to step on toes, and she is very confident in my OB, but I also know that my OB expects to transfer me back to Dr. Guselle whenever I feel comfortable, and she is more than fine with that as well. They both want whats best for me, physically and mentally, and for that I am SO thankful!
Like I said yesterday, this all feels a bit premature to share so publicly, haha! You guys know by now that I’m not especially private, and it feels like it would almost be unfair to start trying to be private now. So many of you have rolled through these hard things with us this year (What a year its been! Oy!) and it would be a shame if we couldn’t share the victories with you as well!
Thank you for your seemingly unending support, and for sharing in our life!