So, the last couple of days I have kept opening my Blog and had a feeling for some reason to explain what Ray and I went through 3 years ago. So forgive me if you are uninterested in this topic. But, it may be educational.
It was October 2007 that Ray and I found out that we were expecting. We were a little bit in denial but were coming to our senses. I was having a great pregnancy, I wasn't sick, I felt great had tons of energy and was really happy. I did however feel pregnant, I was in maternity clothes, and had a baby bump, and I was only 10 weeks along. First I thought TWINS!! But what happened I never expected! I try to block most of this time period out so bare with me...
One night I woke up with really bad nausea. I went to the bathroom to get some relief. I found that I started spotting in the middle of the night.
When we woke up we called the doctor, went in and they couldn't find the heartbeat, and so we scheduled an ultrasound. During the ultrasound the tech had the nerve to ask if I was even pregnant and if I took a pregnany test!! I couldn't believe it!! I yelled at her. Yes i took a pregnany test, I was suppose to be almost done with the 1st trimester. Well to keep this post as short as possible, I ended up "losing my baby" well, atleast that is what I told everyone, I didn't have to explain to everyone if I told them that.
Truth is I didn't "lose my baby" the truth is there wasn't an actual fetus. I had what they call a Molar Pregnany.
A molar pregnancy refers to a pregnancy that is a type of gestational trophoblastic disease. It can refer to either a complete or a partial mole. Throughout the United States and Europe the incidence is about 1/1000 and 1/2000 pregnancies. Although it is much more common in areas such as Southeast Asia and Mexico.
We still do not know exactly why a molar pregnancy occurs. It is believed to be a nutritional deficit like protein or carotene. It can also be caused by a ovular (ovulation) defect.
There are two different Molar Pregnany; Complete and Incomplete(partial)
Complete Mole
This occurs when the nucleus of an egg is either lost or inactivated. The sperm then duplicates itself because the egg was lacking genetic information. Usually there is no fetus, no placenta, no fluid and no amniotic membranes.
The uterus is rather filled with the mole that resembles a bunch of grapes. The fluid filled vesicles grow rapidly, which can make the uterus seem larger than it should be for gestational age. Because there is no placenta to receive the blood typically you will see bleeding into the uterine cavity or vaginal bleeding.
Partial Mole
This most frequently occurs when two sperm fertilize the same egg. There may be partial placentas, membranes or even a fetus present in a partial mole. However, there are usually genetic problems with the baby. Rarely, a partial mole will exist with twin pregnancy, however, the other twin rarely survives.
I had the complete molar pregnancy. If the body doesn't naturally get rid of the pregnancy you have to go in and get a D & C performed. When performing the D & C the OB has to make sure to get all of the mole, if any is missed there is a chance that it could develope into cancer and hemmoraging. There was also a chance that I might have had to have a hysterectomy. After the D & C I had to get my hCG levels tested for weeks to make sure that they were going back to normal. Then we had to wait a year to try to get pregnant again.. Unlike some people we were very fortunate to easily get blessed with another baby exactly 13 months from when I had the D & C.
As you can see, it was easier for me to explain that I "had a miscarriage" or "lost my baby" because if I explained things to people they came back with the comment "atleast there wasn't a fetus" but it doesn't matter to me, fetus or no fetus. It hurt just the same. I couldn't stand hearing about when someone got pregnant or had a baby, I was being very selfish. But I hurt.
I am just thankful that I had a great husband and priesthood holder in my home to give me blessing and words of encouragment.