ectopic update:

Yesterday was "Day 7" of my Methotrexate injection and it is critical to get a blood draw to check my hCG levels because there is supposed to be at least a 15% drop in the hCG levels from "Day 4" to "Day 7". Well, on Tuesday (I went a day early because I was in a good bit of pain) when I went to the doctor they were 1227 and yesterday they went UP to 1929. Of course. Originally I was going to have to have emergency surgery if they didn't decline like they were supposed to, but because I wasn't losing too much blood or in as much pain as the weekend and everything else in my blood work was looking good, they let me decide whether I wanted the surgery-- or to try another dose of the Methotrexate. We decided to go with the Methotrexate because my doctor pretty much said that if they had to open me up I would lose my tube. I'm going to try and go back to work tomorrow as long as I feel at least a little better than today. We'll see =) I really hope the parents don't freak out because I was out "sick" all last week and want to know what I had, if I'm contagious etc. A few parents already asked if I was still working there.. nice. I have thought about just saying it was my appendix if anyone asked-- that would explain why I was out for a whole week, why I will not be wearing my regular work pants and why I can't stand up all day, plus it's just as serious as an Ectopic. I know it's really none of their business, but if I had a kid in a class where the teacher was sick enough to be out for a whole week I would be concerned about my kid catching something.

Anyway-- I go back to the doctor on Tuesday to check my hCG levels, then again Friday to check them again and see the doctor to determine if they've dropped enough.. or if I have to have surgery. UGH.            



9.29.10-- After having 3 severe nosebleeds in 2 days, being extremely light headed and having increasing severe pelvic/lower abdominal pain, I ended up back in the ER. My hCG levels are dropping very quickly, which is why I am feeling so bad this week. The nosebleeds and lightheadedness are side effects from the Methotrexate. I had another ultrasound and the pregnancy was visible in my right fallopian tube. I also had free fluid in my pelvis--which normally is very alarming (especially when accompanied with severe pelvic pain); however, with my hCG levels dropping so rapidly--we are being optimistic until my appointment on 10.01.10


10.01.10--hCG levels are now in the 400's. Things are starting to look up! I wasn't able to go to work again today. Instead, I came home around 11:30am and slept until 6:30pm. When I woke up I had an absolutely WONDERFUL text message from Matt with a picture of Baby Coppel! =) I hated not being up there today, but I decided it would be best for me to go up there tomorrow, after he was already born. I HATE feeling like a crappy friend for not being there, but I know Brielle understands. If it were anyone other than her, I think things would be totally different. She is one of my best friends, and I knew her before she was pregnant with Baby 'C'--and I know the things she went through in order to even get pregnant. She has been there for me through everything this year, and I could never thank her enough for everything she has said/done for me. I can't wait to meet Baby 'C' tomorrow and check on Brielle. I know her and Matt are going to be the best parents and she is going to absolutely love being a mommy. =)

On another good note-- I will be leaving next Saturday, 10.09.10, for Tucson! I can't wait, and I can really use a little break from SC. =)

I'm so ready for this to be over.

bella's halloween pajamas! =)

it's offically FALL! =)

Today was my due date from our first pregnancy. I have to admit-- I have handled it much better than I thought I would. I have also been doing much better handling what we've been going through this time than I did back in January. It's not that it is easier by any means, but I think it's because I know there has to be an underlying medical issue-- and hopefully once I heal and we see a Fertility Specialist it will finally be our turn to have a family of our own. It seems like every single week someone I know is announcing they're pregnant (and way, way too early might I add). I don't think anyone ever thinks something like this could possibly happen to them. It's weird though-- one of my worst fears, even as a teenager, was that one day I wouldn't be able to have children of my own. I have always known I wanted to have 4 kids total and I would like to adopt at least one child from the US, preferably a child with special needs/disabilities. I'm very thankful that I'm only 22, so hopefully this is a problem that will be "easy" to fix and Alan and I will be able to look back on this year of our lives, and we will be able to be thankful for everything we learned and how many wonderful friends & family members we have that helped us get through it. It really are times like these that make us realize who our true friends are, and which family members we are able to count on.

Enough of that.


One of my best friends, Brielle, was due yesterday, September 21st-- so she is now officially past her due date! I'm not going to lie, it has been pretty tough seeing her and knowing she is in the exact place I "should be" right now-- but it has also helped me to deal with my emotions and learn to accept what happened to us. If it hadn't been for her being so understanding and thoughtful with us, I probably wouldn't be able to work at a preschool right now. I can't wait for Baby 'C' to arrive! =)

 

--Here are a few pictures Brielle and her husband had done a little while back:

(Jodi Jones Photography)

See, Brielle can do the "modeling, no smile" look and it looks GOOD-- me, not so much. I just look pissed off. 

I love this one! It's so peaceful. =)

 

<3

Also: It is officially the first day of fall!! 

(aka: my favorite season/time of the year!)

.. and because I'm bored-- here are some pictures from last fall =)

Our apple picking adventure!

We were Doug Funnie & Patty Mayonnaise for Halloween

..pretty self explanatory hahah

Ok-- that is all! Time to watch the Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU season premiers! =)

wtf.

I'm not going to go into very much detail here because I really don't want to, but Friday night I ended up in the Emergency Room with excruciating right-sided pain and some other issues I'm not going to talk about. It turns out I was 5 weeks pregnant and having yet another Ectopic Pregnancy.

I have lost absolutely all faith with anyone in the medical profession. First, I had an RN who could not put my IV in for the life of her. Needles absolutely do not bother me and I almost passed out from her taking the needle out and putting it back in about 10 different times. Then, the doctor insisted on me having a Foley Catheter before my ultrasound so they would have a better chance of seeing if the embryo was implanted outside of uterus. I requested that another RN put it instead of the girl who couldn't even put my IV in, so they got the most unfriendly human being on the face of the planet. No joke. She told me it wouldn't hurt too bad and that pretty much it affects everyone differently, so she made it sound like it was no big deal. Let me tell you-- I will never, ever have that shit done to me ever again. f. that. Then, the ER Doctor kept talking to me like I was an ignorant, knocked up 16-year-old who hasn't already been through this. Apparently no one there bothers to read the charts or they would know I have already had an Ectopic and a miscarriage this year. He attempted to draw a diagram of the female reproductive system and drew two fallopian tubes-- I only have one. What an idiot.

Saturday another nurse put my IV in incorrectly and it infiltrated. ( I have a history of Phlebitis from an infiltrated IV with Phenergan in it, which is exactly what the RN was pushing when this happened.) She proceeded to bring another nurse in to put the IV in. When this lady walked in, she looked at Alan and started yelling, "Move it! Go on long legs-- MOVE IT! Get up!! Get out of my way!", then moved his chair over with him still in it. It was so ridiculous we thought she was kidding at first. I told her she was not touching me and she needed to get the Head Nurse. Needless to say, we filed a formal complaint against her. They finally got my IV in and I got my pain medicine about 2 hours later. Ridiculous.

A few hours later, an OB from my OB-Gyn's office came in to talk to me about my different treatment options. I wanted to punch this guy in the face by the time we left the hospital Sunday night. He treated me like I knew absolutely nothing about an Ectopic Pregnancy, contradicted himself over and over about the treatment options and which one he would recommend in our situation, and then when I asked how long Alan and I had to make our decision (you know, since if I lose my other tube my only option for having children of my own would be through In Vitro Fertilization) he laughed in my face, then he proceeded to tell me no less than 5-10 times that he had to hurry up with us because he needed to go upstairs and deliver a baby. Thank you VERY much for continuously telling me you had to go deliver some lucky persons healthy baby while we are in the middle of losing our THIRD. Meanwhile, the nurse in the room kept mouthing how sorry she was to me for the doctor's behavior. Before I even got a chance to file a complaint against him, the nurse in the room had already gone to the Charge Nurse about his unprofessional and contradictory behavior. I refused to see him again.

Two hours after being told I was being admitted to the sixth floor pending our surgical decision, I found out the ER doctor transferred me into the OB's care after I refused to see him. I was livid. Basically I was told afterward that he was the absolute only person that could/would take me because of the seriousness of my condition. I agreed only because I was not in any condition to transfer to a different hospital-- or I damn well would have. I wasn't allowed to eat for 24 hours because they weren't sure if I was going to have to have surgery or not, and I hadn't slept but for about 4 hours in 48 hours, then on top of that I felt like I was being completely neglected and treated like absolute shit.

Alan and I ultimately decided to have the Methotrexate Injection to try and do our best to save the tube I have left. I got discharged around 8pm Sunday night and I am going to be out of work all week. I went back to the OB-Gyn's office today to have a repeat hCG test and it is now well over 1200 (it was 250 Friday and 245 Sunday around 1am-- it is 0 when you're not pregnant.) She said it can rise after being given the shot, but if it is not significantly lower by Saturday when I go back I will have to have emergency surgery-- and more than likely lose my tube.

Alan and I have decided to see a Fertility Specialist in Charlotte, NC once my body has healed. There is a reason why this keeps happening and it's time for us to seek help.

My mom has several connections with people higher up at Lexington Medical Center, so we will be filing a formal complaint with them very soon. Our experience was absolutely horrible-- and some of the things that were said/done to us were completely uncalled for. What we were going through was bad enough without being treated so terribly.

{update.}

Let's just say working at a preschool is extremely exhausting. I started last week and I love it! I teach the half day 4 year olds everyday from 9-12, take my lunch break/catch my breath, after that I "float" throughout the different rooms. The first week was very, very stressful. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday's I am the Co-Lead Teacher; and on Tuesday's and Thursday's I am the Lead Teacher. Well, apparently the Lead Teacher on Monday/Wednesday/Friday didn't tell the parents she wouldn't be there (she's in school and has class in the mornings) so they proceeded to take it out on me. I know I look young, but come on--at least speak to me before judging my teaching abilities. Long story short, a parent started a rumor about me (on my first day there) saying that I supposedly taught some class at the YMCA, and they had to withdraw their kid because of something that happened. Another parent (not the one who started the rumor) went to the director and she basically told her that she had my background check in front of her and that I have NEVER worked at the YMCA. In the end three kids transferred out of my Tuesday/Thursday class and into the Monday/Wednesday/Friday class (which, mind you I am still the co-teacher in the room, so if there really was some problem with me they wouldn't want their kid in the room with me at all). I'm not happy the director allowed them to transfer because it's like she's admitting I did something wrong. How juvenile. What's funny about the whole situation is that the Lead Teacher basically only reads books to the kids, goes over the calendar and that's it. I am still the one doing the one-on-one activities with them and actually being involved in their small group time. I'm trying not the stress out about it too much, but it's kind of hard when the Lead Teacher is doing nothing. I'm trying to be in the mindset that the effort I am putting forth will pay off somehow.

Now for some of my experiences so far while "floating". I don't like the baby room (6 weeks-10 months). For example, today I got peed on. I went to change a 12 week old little girls diaper, and as soon as I got her wet one off she started peeing everywhere. But that's not nearly as bad as what happened yesterday in the older toddler room. There's a little boy that speaks so quietly (and not quite english....) so neither me or the other teacher in the room could understand what he was saying. Well, I made the mistake of asking him to "show me" what he was talking about. He proceeded to reach behind him, into his diaper, and pull out a huge piece of poop. Oh my god. It was horrible. We were right by the bathroom, so I brought him in and he immediately started touching everything. We had a talk about how you never, ever touch anything inside your diaper; and next time he needs to go into the bathroom and take his pull up off. Lesson learned. Oh, and today was "show and tell" in the 4 year old room and I had a kid bring in an "invisible coconut". He explained to us that he drinks the milk because it's good for you, then uses it to store money. Also, when I asked the kids on their first day if they knew what season it was, I had one kid reply "football season." This same kid also informed the class that his baby brother was being potty trained and hadn't gone to the bathroom in his underwear yet today. I couldn't help but to laugh. It was interesting to say the least =)

Other than that-- I have been doing a lot of school work. I come home so tired that I have been going to sleep between 9:00 and 9:30.

That is all for now =) The USC game is on and Ginni & Jake are over watching it with me.