The update I'm sure you've all been waiting for: I got the drugs. And they (mostly) work!
It was shockingly easy. Yet another medical mystery! I walked into my 16 week appointment, told the doctor I was still terribly nauseous, and he said, "sounds like it's impacting your quality of life, would you like some prescription medicine?" Um...yes?!! Did making it to the 2nd trimester unlock a special drug door, or something?! I was afraid to ask, lest he question his decision. But I do not understand at all.
They also did a screen for various fetal abnormalities, based on some blood protein marker, and my results came back as "possibly at risk." At first the lab result really freaked me out (rare for me!). Then I did some research and found out the test is not diagnostic but just "screens" for a million things and could indicate basically anything. Most of the time, there is nothing wrong at all. UNHELPFUL.
The doctors made a big fuss, though, and scheduled a special ultrasound today to check for any abnormalities. The baby looks perfect. I am happy about this, of course, but not surprised, especially given the fact that I have already had two ultrasounds, one of them just last week, and the baby always looks fine.
The doctor who reviewed the scans told me I could take the blood test again to see if my levels were just briefly elevated, or I could get more ultrasounds. I told her I would be getting more ultrasounds anyway, since I am over 35. "Oh right," she said. "So, yeah, it would make no difference." Always comforting when the doctor doesn't even bother to check your age. Sigh. I will not be taking the test again.
My disappointment with the medical profession continues. It's not that they don't help — if the baby did have spina bifida, I would be so grateful for the interventions of modern medicine! But turns out the best way to diagnose something like spina bifida is the 20-week ultrasound, which I was going to do anyway! Not this stupid blood test.
They do all these tests and flag all this stuff and there is never anything wrong. If anything, the constant monitoring and fussing just stresses me out. (And I am not an anxious person! What must this be like with anxiety?) By the time I have an actual problem, I hope I still take the doctors seriously.
3 comments:
So incredibly happy to hear this!
And yes--very vague "possibly bad" results are ridiculously anxiety-inducing. It seems like there should be a better way.
I'm glad everything is ok!
I have a lot of medical anxiety, and I had a lot of medical concerns during my pregnancy and the first two years of my kids' lives, and there WERE some issues, nothing super serious (I think!) and I still have actual PTSD from those years.
Alex: Yeah, I can only imagine the degree of fussing there was over you and the twins! And not entirely unwarranted, of course, but man it must been awful, for so many reasons. I'm not surprised you have PTSD.
Emily: Thanks! I've decided I'm not going to check my portal messages or lab reports anymore. So if there's an issue, the nurse will have to call me and explain everything. Strategic ignorance.
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