Where to start, where to start......
From February to April, my hours at work have been getting more demanding. We only have three employees that work in my department. Business is picking up and more demand was being placed on me. One of our employees decided to just stop working as hard. I was under a lot of stress and noticed that my hands would go numb. I was also trying to loss those last few pounds of weight before Summer hit. My only outlet to my building stress was running and exercising. I was doing a good job, but I started to notice that I was slowly gaining weight, not losing the weight. During the week of April 15th, this employee that wasn't working so hard decided that she would just quit before her planed retirement date in May. SO I went from 5 day of work to 6 days of work. Yeah more money! But from then on I was put on 6 days and working 40 plus hours. With my hands going numb and being a cake decorator I was starting to have a hard time doing my job. Not to mention, i had the worst lower back pain.
Jump forward to, April 26th I was doing some exercises before having to go to work and David told me that I was looking like I was 4 months pregnant. We brushed it off and I went to work. After I returned home late that night we started to discuss this topic again.
After an uneasy sleep that night, On April 27th, I drove down to the store to buy a test. There is no way that this test could possibly be positive, I had the ParaGard IUD put in three years ago. I took the test around 10 am and it came out positive. POSITIVE!!!! Shock and fear hit me hard. I went into the kids room and told David. We sat in there for a while just talking and crying. We both were just beside ourselves. I even took another test to make sure. Maybe the first test was wrong. NOPE. I went to work, still shocked and then again Sunday the 28th.
On Monday the 29th, I Called my last High risk OB. They don't take my insurance anymore. Cried!!!
I then called my insurance group United Health care, trying to see if there is High risk OB in my group. I called the OB in my group to try to make an appointment, "I need to get a referral from my primary Dr after a confirmation of pregnancy by him." More Crying!!! Called Primary Dr, got appointment for Tuesday the 30th. I was on the phone talking to this person or that person trying to get things moving, while also keeping David informed via texting. David told me to call back my Primary and try to get in Today. I called back and was a little more pushy with some more crying to the urgency of the situation: "Might be 16 weeks and I have a blood clotting disorder that puts me at a high risk of dying". They asked if I could come in right now. (9:30 am) Of course, i said yes! I loaded Kaitlynn into the car, texted David, and drove to the appointment. David left school at Northridge and got Dropped off at the Dr office by a school friend, Tim. We talked with the Dr and expressed the urgency to him. My primary wasn't familiar with APS and we had to explain in to him. While listening he took some notes and stopped listening to the rest of our info once he heard Lupus. They took some blood for the pregnancy test and told us, we would get the results tomorrow. I also got a Dr note to be off of work while we figured out Dr appointments. Also, since I was already having some problems, IE: my blood was already thick, I shouldn't be working right now, let alone 6 days 48hrs.
Tuesday the 30th, I had to wait till 5pm, after two calls to the Dr office to get the answer I already knew. I was pregnant! My primary Dr had already called the director of my medical group and was working on the referral.
Wednesday the 1st,I called my Dr's office to get a name and number for my referral approval so I can make an appointment before the week ended. While waiting for my return phone calls, I was laying in bed resting. Kaitlynn was laying on my lap. She started speaking to her friend Anna. She was having a full conversation with her. I asked Kaitlynn where Anna was. Kaitlynn looks at me an informs me that Anna is in my belly. Kinda Freaky! The kids didn't know I was pregnant.
It took Thursday and Friday of calling before I got an appointment with who I thought was an OB specialist for Tuesday May 7th. I asked for another Drs note to keep me off work for his appointment.
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| 16 weeks pregnant! |
May 7th, came and my appointment was at 10 am. David stayed home from school to go with me. We drove down to Valley Presbyterian hospital to see an OB Dr finally. NOPE, this Dr was a Perinatologist, she is a High risk OB consultant .The frustrating part, was that she was under the understanding that I
had LUPUS because that was what she was told by my Primary Dr. I showed her my blood work from three years ago that shows proof that I have just APS. Not Lupus. The comforting part was that she understood what I had and the risk that I was in. She then said that we have two options but first we'll get an ultrasound to determine exactly how far along I am. The ultrasound Tech started the ultrasound and we knew right away that I was indeed 17 weeks pregnant. We were sent back into the Dr office to discuss our options. "WE now only have one option and that is to drive to Torrance to get my OB care. I am too high risk for a regular OB to take under their care now and my best bet it to go get help from a great High risk team in Torrance." We said OK, got a prescription for my Lovenox shots and she started to make her call to Torrance to get me an appointment ASAP. We left there feeling like 'we can do this'.
Drove to my work to turn in another Dr note and to see how to get my Lovenox filled. Since I already went through this, four years ago, I already knew I couldn't get it from my regular pharmacy. This intailed some more phone calls to my union to get the information I needed to get it filled. I need it prescribed by an OB and sent into my Medical group for Authorization. (Frustrated again) Called the Specialist to let her know, got a call back to inform me I had an appointment Thursday in Torrance to get me registered in their system and then an OB appointment Friday.
Thursday, May 9th I drove down to Torrance for my appointment. Got there and hit a snag. Everyone was under the understanding that my HMO was a Medical HMO not a private HMO. I'm not able to see this OB group unless I get an authorization from my insurance or pay out of pocket. I held back the tears and got the Drs name and number and started walk back to my car. As I was walking back to my car, I left a message with my Primary Dr informing him of this info and my frustration. On my drive home, he returned my call and told me he would do everything and anything to make this happen. (Some good news) I then called the Specialists office and left a message to get my care info to my primary so he can start on the referral.
Friday May 10th, called nothing had moved. By 4pm on the 10th, I had spoken to my Specialist and she got my two referrals moving. Great News! I then called my primary Dr to find out, he was on the phone with the medical Director trying to make this happen.
On May 12th, Mother's Day, during dinner with my parents and in-laws, I told them I was pregnant in a card! There was some shock, concern and excitement. WE then told them this journey and the end result that I am 18 weeks pregnant. They all were just shocked that I didn't know.
SO today, we are at a wait and see situation. We are hoping that by the time we see an OB dr we get our second Ultrasound and find out what we are having officially. We already looked during the measurements ultrasound while the tech was in the area trying to measure a leg and the baby's stomach. I wish I had asked for a picture of this surprise baby to show everyone and end this properly. Oh well! This will Do....
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| 18 weeks pregnant! |
My Due Date is October 15th but I will probably have this kid the end of September. I haven't gone till my due date. I had Andrew at 37 wks and Kaitlynn at 38 wks.
