Week 7

I started to bleed. Not much, just a little spotting. I take myself to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Service at my local hospital. There I find out that my HCG levels were good at 25000. The midwife assures me that with levels like that, there should be a visible heartbeat on ultrasound, so she sends me off to have one. At the ultrasound, the trainee technician tells me that there is no embryo, only a misshapen sac with bleeding surrounding it. He calls his senior supervisor, who confirms this. She tells me that I will miscarry within the week. I cry. The supervisor is a mumsy type who comforts me with a hug and kind words. I tell her that this is nothing, I had a stillbirth two months ago. I'm just disappointed, and wondering what is wrong with my body. I go home, feeling like a reproductive failure. I smoke cigarettes and drink red wine.
A week passes. The bleeding stops. Nothing else happens. I continue to throw up each morning and my breasts double in size. I put it down to the fact that my hormones hadn’t dropped yet. A few more days pass and I still haven't miscarried. So I went to see my obstetrician, who I call The Boss. I hadn’t visited him before because he was on holidays. I explain the situation. He invites me to have a scan in his office, to see what is happening. I talk to him about how I dont want another D&C, because the last time I had one, I developed uterine adhesions. I ask if I can have a medically induced miscarriage by chemical means. He ignores me as I yabber on and searches the ultrasound sceen. Then he shows me a strong heartbeat of an embryo that is 7 weeks old. I nearly fall off the bed.
Needless to say, I am completely shocked. Obviously, the baby had been too small to see on the ultrasound the week before, but instead of telling me to return in a week, the technician definitively told me that a miscarriage was imminent. This makes me a little cross. I know that mistakes are made and so on, and no one is perfect, but that was one hell of a misdiagnosis. The Boss tells me the initial bleeding sounded like implantation bleeding to him.
I discuss with The Boss my concerns...I had been drinking and smoking for an entire week! He laughs and tells me that they often make the best babies. That makes me feel better.
He sends me on my way with a box of prenatal vitamins. And I breathe again.
 
See Baby This Week