One Crazy Story: Part 2

Part 1 of this story can be viewed by clicking here.

So, I've just had a positive pregnancy test even though I have a ParaGard IUD in. I'm at the ob/gyn's office. It's Monday. Nate stayed home with the boys for the first part of the appointment, and when Connor woke up from his nap, the plan was that he was going to join me the doctor’s office. 

Before I get into the visit, I'd like to say a bit about my OB/GYN. He's been in his line of work for something like over 30 years. He's considered one of the best in the field in the area I live in. He's kind of the "high risk" OB/GYN people go to when shit has hit the fan for them, medically speaking. He's seen A LOT. I've had multiple random other doctors (Even a podiatrist... really??) tell me that he is the one they would trust their life and baby to. He has almost no bedside manner. He deals with some pretty serious shit on a daily basis and basically, just gets to the point and does not dick around. And I love him. Not like I want to leave my husband and entice him into leaving his wife, what with my rocking jelly belly and stretch marks, but I truly respect him and have absolutely no problem overlooking his totally blunt manner and actually respect him more for it. I like for people to just give it to me straight.

At the appointment, Dr. S walked in the room, looked at me, and asked, “Why do you think you’re pregnant?”

“Well, a positive pregnancy test, for one. My period never really started, for two; the last week, I’ve only been spotting, which is highly unusual for me. I usually bleed like it's going out of style.”

“Well, you’re only a week late. That’s actually not much. And, you have an IUD in.”

“Yeah. I know.” 

“Let’s do the ultrasound and see what’s going on in there.”

“Sounds good.”

A minute later, “Well, look at that! There’s a maternal sac! Unbelievable! And there is your perfectly placed IUD! I have never had a pregnancy on an IUD that I have placed. Unbelievable.”

So there it was. A maternal sac, in case you’re wondering, is apparently what the blob of cells that is about to become a fetus is called prior to it becoming a fetus. I was so newly pregnant that there was not a heartbeat yet. 

So my OB said that we had two options: remove the IUD and clean out my womb (abort the sac), or leave the IUD in and let it expel the maternal sac, which it probably would eventually do (and when the hell would that be? I was wondering but didn't ask). Instead, I asked why he would clean out my womb after removing the IUD. He responded along the lines of, “Well, you weren’t planning on having another baby, right? And besides, the likelihood of the maternal sac surviving the removal of the IUD is so slim…. See, look here. See how the sac is below the top bar of the ‘T’ of the IUD? When I pull the IUD out, it is most likely going to drag all or part of the sac out with it.”

Since I don't want this to be confusing, I busted out my MS Paint skills and drew you a picture of a uterus, IUD and "maternal sac" for clarity's sake. Although, I'm sure it's debatable just how much clearer I am making this. Try not to be wowed.

I told him that I felt there was a third option, the one I was going for, and it was to take the chances removing the IUD, and see what happens. Do NOT clean out my womb. He reiterated that he was most likely going to pull the sac out with the IUD and I said, “You know what, I am not attached to having another baby. If the sac comes out, it does, and I’ll be just fine. But I am NOT going to be the one to decide whether this pregnancy, that is already is here against all odds, survives. I am not.”


And, the other option of leaving the IUD in and seeing what happens was not a viable one for me, either. I couldn't even begin to fathom dealing with that thing in my uterus, along with a baby. It wasn't going to happen. I had hated the IUD and wanted it out, no matter what.

So we moved to another room and he proceeded to remove the IUD. Problem: he couldn’t see or grasp the strings that were supposed to be visible from my cervix. So there he was, snipping blindly at my cervix with these scissor-like things and tugging, hoping to grab the strings. I jokingly told him not to rip out my cervix, and he misunderstood that I was kidding and in all seriousness told me that he couldn’t get the strings, he didn’t have a choice but to do what he was doing, and then suddenly, he got them and out it came. 

He told me that he was going to send the IUD to the lab to test for fetal tissue, to see if any part of the sac was scraped out by the IUD. Then he took me back into the ultrasound room to see if the sac was still there. Much to our astonishment, it WAS. He told us (Nate had joined me at this point) that he really didn’t think it was a viable sac in the first place and that he didn't expect the sac to survive the trauma of the IUD removal and I would most likely miscarry over the next couple of days. 

He also ordered a couple of blood draws to test for hCG (the "pregnancy hormone") levels; if they are rising, then the pregnancy is sticking, if they are dropping, then it’s failing. He then said that he wanted to see me on Friday to see where we are at, if I hadn’t lost the pregnancy by then, and to see if by chance the heartbeat shows up, which he didn’t expect it to. Nate asked when it was supposed to show up, and he replied probably not until next week, if at all. At this point, I was 5 weeks and 3 days pregnant. The heartbeat does not show up until sometime in the 6th week. Friday was the first day of the 6th week.


So, we were left to just wait and see what was going to happen.


Kind of like I have to make you do since this part has been long enough.

The next installments can be viewed by clicking on the links below:
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

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