Thanks a lot doc

In person I can be pretty vulgar.  But I actually do keep some things to myself or closest of friends because I just need an ear - who doesn't?  Back in August, I made a blog entry about my experience with a chemical pregnancy.  Never happened before, but after I did a ton of research, apparently it’s pretty darn common.  Most women just don’t test for pregnancy because their period never goes more than a week overdue.  

Last Wednesday I went into the doctors office explaining I had performed several hpt’s (home pregnancy tests) that were all negative.  They advised to do blood work and see that might be causing it – mainly looking at a possible thyroid issue.  Thursday afternoon they called and the nurse explained “Everything looks good, but you’re pregnant.”

After I picked my jaw up off the floor I said “What?  I can’t be.  How do you know?”  I was dumbfounded so give me a break for sounding naive.  She said when they ran the blood work they automatically look for hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin – it’s produced by the placenta once implantation occurs during pregnancy.)  I asked the nurse what the level was and she said 51.  So of course I did some research to try and find out whether or not that number was normal based on the duration of the pregnancy.

My last cycle was 8/25-8/30 so my next period should have happened on or around 9/26.  My cycles usually run about 28-32 days apart.  Even when I was on birth control pre-Persephone and on the Paragard IUD post Persephone, I’ve only been irregular three times.  Once in 2011, it was 14 days late, but it eventually came.  In 2012 I was pregnant with P and this last hiccup in August when it was 6 days late from that chemical pregnancy. One would assume, the Paragard a non hormonal IUD would have no affect on your periods after removal…but who knows really.

I spent this entire weekend worrying and worrying over being pregnant.  I probably took 5 hpt’s, all of which came up negative, although I swore two of them turned up with very faint positives....  I was confused, worried, anxious…you name it, I probably felt it.  When the nurse called me last Thursday she said to come back in this week and let them re-draw to check the numbers.  I couldn’t wait until Wednesday so Monday morning after dropping Hardy off, I drove over to his office.  I asked for a copy of my blood work from last week and asked them nicely to please go ahead and draw again now.  I don’t know the exact details, but from what I was able to find online – hCG doubles every 48-72hrs so if they were to re-check your blood at least every 3 days, they would notice the number going up (which would result in a healthy pregnancy in most cases.) If my hCG was 51 on Wednesday, it would at least be about 100 – 200 Monday. The staff obliged, drew another sample.   

When I got to work, I reviewed the lab results a little closer and noticed something just didn’t look right.  If any of you have ever read lab work, you know that anything with a low or high result will usually be highlighted/bold so it stands out for the doctor to review.  Everything was perfect aside from my glucose which was bold because the reading was 100 and the “textbook range” is 65-99mg/dL.  I glanced further down to where the doctor circled hCG and 51….I noticed hCG wasn’t bold, but rather the reading right above it was.  I flipped out.  The nurse/doctor told me just 4 days ago I was pregnant and now looking at my blood work, clearly I’m not.  

You can imagine the thoughts circling in my brain.  I called and left a message for someone to call me ASAP (I’m sure they thought I was crazy.)  After waiting for an hour I called back again.  You’ve almost convinced me I’m pregnant and now it’s obvious by these results…I’m not.  Now I think my liver is failing because this number is insanely high.

Anyway, take a gander at this report yourself.

You will see that GLUCOSE is bold,

my # was 100 and the range is 65-99

You will see that ALT is bold,

my # was 51 and the range is 6-29

You will see that hCG is not bold 

my # was <2 means="" not="" p="" pregnant="" which="">

The doctor did call to personally apologize for the misinterpretation, said he was going to go ahead and look at my liver enzymes again to see if that number is still elevated and just to re-check for pregnancy.  If I'm not pregnant then he'll give me some pill to make my period start.

I'm at such a loss for words.  

I'm pissed.

I'm worried.

I'm disappointed.