Before I was pregnant, I suffered from a variety of bizarre hormonal symptoms. I had hot flashes, inexplicable cramping, mood swings and a very scarce period. These symptoms led me to see my family doctor, Dr. Steve, on a few occasions. Most of those occasions resulted in some blood work confirming that I was crazy and not pregnant. Also I was the proud owner (and grower) of ovarian cysts. Luckily I haven't had a cyst since my last one ruptured on my honeymoon. Because of these pregnancy-like symptoms, I became the queen of pregnancy tests.
When I finally had a positive test, not only did I freak out from excitement, but I went running to see Dr. Steve for confirmation. I was right! YES!!!!
For me, this positive result was more than just excitement from being pregnant; it was finally confirmation that all my uncomfortable symptoms were not in my head and that I was not growing a monster cyst.
When I figured out that I had celiac disease, I went through multiple negative tests and numerous doctor's appointments. The results were all the same; "your stomach discomfort is in your head and there is nothing we can do". Other than letting this infuriate me, I used trial and error methods to determine that I was celiac.
Months later, it was pseudo confirmed with a positive diagnosis for lactose intolerance.
*Please note: Celiac disease ruins the digestive system to the point where most celiacs cannot produce enough Lactaze enzyme in their gut to digest milk sugar.*
To this day, I resent the idea of medical symptoms being a result of craziness. People who suffer from multiple symptoms without cause are still suffering and they are not crazy.
Back to the story.
Today was my second official visit to see Dr. Steve and he had lots of good follow up news for me today.
My previous ultrasound confirmed that "peanut" (the fetus), is healthy and has little chance of having a spinal disorder. Also, we found out that I am Rh negative. This is good news. My blood antibodies shouldn't attack "peanut".
*Note on "peanut": We are calling fetus "peanut" until birth. We are going to find out the sex of "peanut" but I am not going to disclose it in the blog. We chose the name "peanut" because its androgenous and honestly all the pictures show that a fetus looks like a peanut.*
I had two big questions for Dr. Steve today. The first one was whether or not he was going to deliver "peanut". The answer: yes.
Dr. Steve is also my Mother's doctor. He has been doing this for a while and the benefit of this is that he knows my ENTIRE health history and genetic health history. He was my Mother's doctor throught both her pregnancies with me and my sister. He actually delivered my sister. (Technically my Mom delivered Wendy but Dr. Steve was dealing with the doctor stuff at the time).
He didn't deliver me because I was born in July and he was off being the camp doctor. He apparently missed a good show. I came out at a whopping 9 lbs 1oz. My mother is pretty small so one can imagine that this is an impressive feat; especially because she didn't have a C-section!
I love you Mom!
But I digress.
My second question was: if I eat gluten, will "peanut" still exist? The answer was yes. I presume that I will suffer but "peanut" will not.
Here's a sigh of relief: aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.........
I haven't had any gluten during the pregnancy and I don't plan to, but just in case I accidentally get poisoned, I no longer have to worry about "peanut" suffering.
Overall it was a great visit. I took home some paper requisitions for further tests at 16 and 18 weeks. Luckily I didn't have to get poked by a blood thirsty lab vampire today.
All in all, a super visit.
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