My Little Overachiever

So, we had blood work done. I know it wasn't necessary, but it wasn't exactly unnecessary either! When I called to schedule my first appointment, which won't be until 2/2, I told the nurse that I was hoping to get a little more support or guidance through the first 8 weeks. She said I could come in and do blood work if I wanted to, and they could tell a lot from that. Didn't even need an appointment. With that kind of open door, of course we chose to do it!

I had my first draw Tuesday morning. When the nurse called back that afternoon with my results, she started with, "Well, I have your results." Now, let's pause here and discuss. I have had the *cough* luck *cough* of having had bad medical news in the past. When someone starts with, "Well, I have your results," it ain't good. She went on to say in a soft, "I'm sorry" voice that I was pregnant but just barely. My beta # was 124, which the lab estimated put me at about 2-3 weeks pregnant. She asked me if that aligned with my own calculation. At this point I was tearing up and had closed the door to my office. "Well," I told her, "My little ticker thing says I'm at 4 weeks and a day. I'm supposed to be 15 days past ovulation."

Then she goes, "Hmmm...our lab didn't do this work. I wonder if the other lab is measuring from LMP or from conception. Hang on a sec." I was put on hold. At this point I was freaking out, reeling from her tone of voice, from her "just barely." I had spotted earlier in the afternoon and was already freaked out about that. Now this nurse was on the phone sounding like she was trying to break something to me gently. My stomach was cinched up into a tiny ball and was hurting so bad I had to sit down.

Then the nurse got back on the phone and says, "So they do it differently than we do. They measure from conception. So you should be 2-3 weeks from conception. So that puts you right on track! Congratulations!" all chipper and shit.

I wanted to reach through the phone and throttle her! Why the hell wouldn't you make SURE you know what results you're giving before you get on the phone to give them!?!? A couple of google searches later indeed confirmed that 124 was perfectly on track for how far along I was.

All that remained was for that number to double. TH suggested going back on Friday, giving it three days to double since some of the things he had read said it would double every two to three days, but there was no way I was waiting any longer than I had to, especially after that phone call. We went back in Thursday morning for the second draw, and the rest of the morning I tried desperately to distract myself. I carried my cell phone with me everywhere--to the copier, to the water fountain, to the bathroom--determined not to miss her call. I just wanted to hear anything over 200. If it could possibly take three days to double, anything over 200 would set my mind at ease that things were moving in the right direction.

The call came just after lunch, and I knew as soon as she said "Hey there!" that the results were good. She said I had "great" results: 382!!

So, our little Sprout went from 124 to 382 in 48 hours. Already a little overachiever.

With that behind us, there is nothing left to do but relax. I realized on Tuesday after freaking out about the spotting and the stupid nurse's call that in reality, there's not one thing I can do to affect this. There are only two possibilities: either Sprout is here to stay, in which case I need to not flood his/her little developing system with stress hormones, or something is going to happen, in which case I don't want the time we have together to be spent worrying.

I am embracing my lack of control and enjoying being pregnant! We are going to start telling our family next weekend. We bought our first cute little onesies (gender neutral, of course!) and hung them in the nursery. I un-registered for the 100-mile bike ride I had signed up for. We looked up what the September birth stone is. We are 100% go, not worried, looking-forward-to-everything pregnant!

In fact, waiting until 2/2 for the first appointment doesn't even seem so bad anymore. (We'll see how long that lasts!)