Monday, March 8, 2010

"My Story..." Monday: Getting Pregnant After A Preemie- The Surgery

I enjoyed my last weekend before surgery. It was a fun time with my family! Throughout it all, though, one little thought kept nagging me...

Could I be pregnant?

You see, during my pre-op work that previous Friday, one of the questions the nurse asked me was a common one- When was your last menstrual period?

"October 3rd," I'd answered. It was November 7th. Now, that didn't necessarily mean much. I realized I was a little late, but that wasn't unheard of, especially given the fact that I was nervous and under a lot of stress about this whole surgery. I figured it would start some time over the weekend.

It did not.

One of my lab tests had been a pregnancy test, so I decided to call the doctor's office to get the results on Monday. Keep in mind, I had not told my husband ANY of this whole saga yet. I dialed the doctor's number Monday morning and was informed that the office was closed until 1 PM. Grrr.

That morning felt very long but, after lunch, I dialed those digits again. This time, I was able to speak to a nurse who pulled out my file.

"Hmm, Mrs. S., you say they did a pregnancy test?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

"Well, let me see... um... it looks like maybe the results were inconclusive."

"Inconclusive? I've never heard of an inconclusive pregnancy test. So what does that mean?"

"Well, don't worry about it. They'll do another test first thing in the morning right before your surgery to be sure."

"Oh, ok. Well, thank you."

I hung up the phone. I was pretty sure that this woman hadn't been able to find the results and that's why she had given me that whole "inconclusive" response and all. But it didn't really matter why she'd told me that, the fact was... I still didn't know.

I also didn't want to wait until Thursday. If I did happen to be pregnant, what sense did it make to have my mother-in-law come over to babysit, go to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, and get prepped for surgery only to have them send me back home?

I took a deep breath and dialed my husband's cell number. I prayed for his voice-mail and let out a little sigh of relief when that's what I got. After the beep...

"Hey, hon! It's me. I just got off the phone with the doctor's office and apparently the results from the pregnancy test they gave me on Friday were inconclusive and they say they'll give me another one right before the surgery but that seems kind of silly to me to wait until we're at the hospital and all before just finding out for sure so would you mind running across the street to CVS and picking up a pregnancy test before you come home today?Okay, thanks, love you, bye."

Click.

He didn't call me back, but when he walked in the door, he hugged me and handed me a bag.

I finished making dinner and we all sat down and ate as a family. After I'd cleaned up the kitchen, I went into our bathroom to take the test.

I walked back into the living room, where my husband was playing with the 2- and 3-year olds. I handed him the test and said, "Well, that's the fastest positive I've ever seen."

In that moment, our eyes met we both realized we were facing something much bigger- and better- than the surgery I'd had planned.

I was officially pregnant after a preemie.

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