More pregnancy complications

[judecorp]

Ugh. What a stressful day.

I got up early to go to my midwife appointment before work. Lefty Tonsil had been bothering me a little bit on Tuesday and Wednesday (no big deal) but by yesterday afternoon it was getting quite big and painful so I figured I would mention it and see what they wanted to do.

Well, the ultrasound before the appointment was great and the sonographer awesomely showed me everything. She did a full scan and showed me the brain, eyes, nose, mouth, spine, ribs, stomach, belly, kidneys, bladder, arms, legs, fingers. She measured arm and leg length and said everything was great for dates. She also could find no evidence of hematoma. Baby B hadn't changed at all and I guess is determined to hang in there - its sac was still just as large with no sign of absorbing. But everything else was awesome.

The midwife visit was good. She used the doppler and said the heart sounded great, and I told her we had a doppler at home that we use about twice a week and she said that was fine. We talked about the spotting, how it keeps getting lighter and lighter, and she was glad about that also. Vitals were good, but she was a little concerned about my throat so she did a throat culture. She originally told me to just go home and call if it got worse but then came back in the room and said she wanted me to go across the street to the Franklin ER so I could see someone about it. I wasn't jazzed about that but she made me promise. So I scheduled my next month appointment and Big Ultrasound and then headed to the ER.

I got there around 10:40 and got into a room almost right away. I thought maybe I was getting rushed through because the midwife called ahead, but I guess it was random because I sat in that room unseen until 12:30. By then I was in quite a lot of pain (Tylenol was wearing off) and so thirsty and hungry, since I hadn't had /anything/ since 8:30am. No one came in to check on me, nothing, until the PA came at 12:30.

She did some "stick out your tongue and say 'ahh'" stuff and said that yes, my tonsil and throat were swollen (duh) and wanted to give me augmentin, which I can't take because of a penicillin allergy. I also told her that I was concerned about medications because of the baby. She came back a while later and told me I could have IV clindamycin, which I have taken in the past. I'd looked it up earlier in the morning on safefetus.com and saw it was a Category B, but I let her know that I was nervous about taking any medications. I told her I wanted to talk it over with Jen (I had to call her at work) and she was a little miffed that I didn't make a decision.

Jen and I talked and we really had a hard time deciding whether to get the IV or whether I should leave and see if it got worse. Finally we opted on the IV, and I told the PA... but the in the 30 minutes before someone came with the IV I started getting nervous again, so I called the midwife and she said I should do it. The IV nurse came in around 2:15 or so and said the IV would take an hour or so. At that point I couldn't take it anymore, and said something like, "Wow, I will /never/ eat." She was actually very nice and got me a tray of foods, including some chicken soup and lots of desserts (ice cream, sherbet, jello) which made things a lot better. But sheesh - who lets a pregnant chick not eat or drink all day?

So I got the IV and then the PA comes back with a prescription for more clindamycin and tells me to go back to the midwife on Monday for a follow-up. And umm, I can't keep running up there. But whatever. So I go to work (get there at 4) and turn in my hours, then go to CVS where the pharmacist tells me they don't even MAKE clindamycin pills in that dosage. She wanted me to take 450mg 4xday for 10 days. The pharmacist said he could give me 150mg pills and I could take 12/day. Which is 120 pills in 10 days!! He seemed to think the dose was too high, and I told him to call the doctor and left. Then we called Jen's dad, who is a pharmacist, and he felt the dose was high, too.

So I called the doctor back and told her I was concerned about taking so much medication. She kind of berated me on the phone a bit and finally agreed to change it to 300mgx4 if I agreed to take it. She seemed very annoyed that I was so worried about the baby, and let me tell you, that didn't warm me up to her at all.

So I spent about one hour being completely psyched and worry-free about the baby, and now I'm paranoid that I am going to damage the baby with all of these antibiotics. So I don't know when I can stop worrying, because who knows when we'd know if there was a problem?

I just wish something could be easy.

Comments

[estrange.livejournal.com]

Oh how annoying. I hate doctors :/ That sucks you are sick and have to take antibiotics. I took them during my pregnancy and had some narcotics when I got my surgery & Maia was fine so hopefully that makes you feel better. I'm finishing my dose of clindamycin today from the mastitis thank god. The doctor said it was fine to still give the baby breast milk while taking it so I did for a few days but it was giving her diarrhea so I stopped.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I will get over it eventually but it is so nervewracking when it finally looked like everything was going "normally." But I'm sure things will still be fine... I can check in on the doppler if I need to and we have our Big Ultrasound in just 4 weeks! WOW!

Clindamycin is a nasty drug. I am going to have to stock up on yogurt and drink tons of water.

p.s. I got your birth annoucement today. So cute! Thank you.

[anitsirk.livejournal.com]

if it makes you feel any better, i was on antibiotics at some point during all three pregnancies and my kids are only mildly weird.

i hate dismissive doctors.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it will be fine, but I /hate/ that I got little to no understanding for worrying about it. I mean, I was SO upset about it and the PA asked me (I am SO not kidding) if I was thinking about suicide.

Suicide? Are you nuts? I'm worried about hurting my baby with an antibiotic and you think I'm going to kill myself?

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

I completely understand where you're coming from about taking the meds. I had to take an antibioic (can't remember which one) for a UTI in the first trimester and didn't like it. The risk for further complications is what made me finally agree.

About that RX - sounds like BS. People really need to get there shit together. Sheesh ...

[oddharmonic.livejournal.com]

I think you made the right choice. I've had a couple kidney infections as a result of unchecked UTIs and can barely imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have one while pregnant.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I feel a little better about it this morning. I keep telling myself that I'm 14 weeks and mostly everything is formed... and it's a Category B so I'm just going to tough it out.

I did have a nasty infection - that much is true.

We're going to have healthy babies!

[skreeky]

Hang in there. Getting a bad fever would be so much worse than a bit of antibiotics! *hugs*

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. I just am mad at my body for not being able to tough it out!

[jeney.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry. It only gets easier and easier from here on out. By the time you reach the eighth month pregnancy, all the discomfort and hassles are over.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Ha ha. HA HA HA HA. Oh Jeney, you are such a kidder. :)

[jeney.livejournal.com]

:D

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry to hear about your awful day! I really can't stand doctors that treat you like an idiot. It's your body after all!

I hope it works and you feel better real soon!

e.
http://twomomsarebetterthanone.blogspot.com/

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Dang it, I just want an understanding doctor! My midwife was cool about it and TOTALLY got it. I called her to tell her I was scared about the antibiotic and she said without missing a beat, "It's totally safe, safer than Tylenol." Even if that's not true, the lady knows what she's doing.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, there are a couple of things that could happen to my sad looking demised fetus. Usually the body reabsorbs it, at least somewhat, and it comes out with the placenta at delivery. Sometimes as the other fetus gets so big that it just smooshes the other on up by the end and it comes out at delivery. Sometimes the dead fetus turns into this mummified fetus (it has a cool latin name, I can't remember it now) that usually is not a problem but sometimes can block the cervix, requiring a c-section.

AND SOMETIMES THE SURVIVING TWIN CAN ABSORB THE OTHER ONE LIKE IN ALL OF THOSE B-MOVIES.

So if my kid ends up with teeth in his liver or something, you'll know why.

[oddharmonic.livejournal.com]

Dang, that's a lot of clindamycin!

Poo on doctors that are dismissive of a mother's concern for her unborn child. I had a poopy doctor early in my pregnancy with Laurel so I switched practices and never saw her again. My sister ran into her a few years later and said the look on her face was priceless when informed that my two-year-old and I were doing fine, thank you very much.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thankfully the people at my practice are AWESOME... it's just the ER lady who was probably too frazzled and overworked to deal with my stalling, crying ass. When I called the midwife about it, she immediately just busted out the, "It's okay. It's totally safe. Your baby is fine." without missing a beat.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Ugghh...I am sorry you are sick and sorrier you had a dismissive doctor -- especially when you are doing the right things for your baby!

If it makes you feel any better, the pregnant teens on my caseload in my social work days all had healthy babies, despite doing nothing to ensure that situation.

I continue to pray for you, Jen and the Frankenbaby!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, all of the drug users I've worked with all had mostly healthy babies, too. So I guess a little antibiotic should be fine. *crosses fingers*

Thank you for your prayers.

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

I felt totally safe taking anything Category B during pregnancy. Category B is "we haven't done double-blind tests in pregnant humans, but we've seen no problems in either double-blind tests in pregnant animals or in longitudinal observation in the human population." That was good enough for me, because NOBODY does double-blind tests in pregnant humans. Seriously, I think the only things in Category A are Tums and oranges. Oh, and Unisom, strangely enough.

Obviously you need to set your own risk/reward point. . . but having a high-grade infection or fever during pregnancy is very seriously bad mojo for everyone involved.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know logically that they can't do drug studies on pregnant women because of the ethical issues. Although I did find a study that actually DID test clindamycin on pregnant women (for bacterial vaginosis) so I guess it must be safer if they were allowed to do blind testing with it.

My midwife said that clindamycin is safer than tylenol. I don't think she meant that exactly, but the point I took was that it was safer for me to take antibiotics to kill the infection than to take a bunch of tylenol to try to deal with it.

I'm just hoping for a healthy baby after everything we've been through!

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hear you, and I don't mean at ALL to belittle your very sensible concern for Frankie. You're a great mom already! Just offering a data point from someone who's kinda been there done that.

For no clear reason, I feel a really deep empathy towards you and your lady in this pregnancy. My circumstances were really different, and yet it's weirdly healing for me to try and provide comfort to someone else panicked in early pregnancy. It's weird. (Though you seem a lot less panicked now, I will say.)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to tell you, a lot of the anxiety came from heavy bleeding, which seems to have subsided. I'm hoping for good, but at least for now. And getting out of the traditional "danger zone" helps, especially because I don't know that anyone thought we would actually make it.

So it was just kind of a kick in the pants to have gotten to this point feeling really good and then WHAM, someone hands me a gallon of medication. Aie.

But I definitely appreciate your concern.

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, mine was from immediately previous miscarriage + light bleeding which caused bloodwork which revealed bad numbers (progesterone only 9.4! hCG waaaaay too high AND not doubling!) which triggered an emergency ultrasound and on and on and on.

do NOT google "low progesterone high hCG." Just don't.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Dr. Google is seldom my friend. I remember when I googled "subchorionic hematoma." Bad idea.

Uh....not to add to your worry but....

[therewaslight.livejournal.com]

Just a warning: clindamycin is what they gave me after the dog bite, and it is what gave me the pseudomembranous colitis that resulted in my colon attempting to eat itself. It's notorious for causing this illness because it's heavy duty. Please be careful. If you have ANY symptoms of "bathroom troubles" you need to see a specialist right away (and don't let them tell you it's "the stomach flu" - if you can see spore-like material, it's from the drug). Sorry to be gross. Just want you and the frankenbaby to be safe.

Re: Uh....not to add to your worry but....

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've taken clindamycin before (thankfully without the colitis) and I re-read all of the info whenever I get a prescription even if I have taken it before, so I will be on the lookout.

What is spore-like material and how would you know what it was? I thought I should just look for abdominal pain and watery diarrhea (which I would anyway, being knocked up and all).

How much clindamycin did you take for the dog bite?

Re: Uh....not to add to your worry but....

[(Anonymous)]

Hehe. People are going to read this and go "Ew, they're gross." "Spore-like" refers to the quality of the material floating on the water surface. A. it's all watery and yellow and B. flowers outwards and looks kinda like a fern spore or something. Also, it's highly contagious and the ACTUAL spore part of it can be spread to Jen. The painful contractions in the stomach is what would concern me most with you being pregnant.

I can't remember how much I took. It was the recommended dosage, which is something like between 150-300mg. For I think ten days or something.

Re: Uh....not to add to your worry but....

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. At least if there ARE stomach contractions, they will be GI-related and not uterus related... but I will keep my eye out for anything nasty!

I've taken clindamycin at least 3 times and never had major poo issues. I'm hoping I continue to be lucky.

[lizardjee.livejournal.com]

i am happy to hear that everything is fine with the baby. i was on a ton of meds during my nightmare pregnancy including antibiotics. it is good that you have resources like that. some people would have just taken the meds as written.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, with all you went through, your son is gorgeous and perfect. If it can happen to you, it can happen to me! :)

Thanks for chiming in. I'm glad I'm not totally a neurotic mess for being concerned... I just want to give my baby everything while I can actually control it a little. :)

[lizardjee.livejournal.com]

it can, and it will :) i thought i would never have one and here he is. i sit and stare at him every day in amazement.
:) you will get over the control thing soon enough. lol. i know what you mean.. i did the same.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I guess it's less about control (exactly) and more about wanting to give him/her everything I can and make things as perfect as possible. I mean, the world is full of hazards and I am okay with that, but during this time, can't I make things as hazard-free as possible? I worry so much about any damage that I might be doing with medications, ultrasounds, doppler, food choices, etc.

I mean, my rational mind tells me that lots of people do a lot worse to their babies in utero, and that heck, my own mother smoked like a chimney and probably took all kinds of prescribed stuff and I think I'm doing pretty well, health-wise. But my mama mind just wants to give my little dude everything I can...

[(Anonymous)]

so sad. i went through that, too, with my second. you're so much at the advantage by knowing what it is you want to do for your baby in the womb. i was pretty clueless. sounds to me that you're doing a fantastic job of taking care of this little one! keep it up.
-nikkip

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Awwh thanks, Nikki. You're great!