Other than the constant "upheaval" of my meals, my pregnancy was relatively smooth. I did however, have one upset from the doctor's office that left us in a dither for about 3 days. I had to have normal blood testing for each trimester. For the first trimester, this required me to starve myself of my precious food for a morning. OK, whoever invented these tests did not understand that most pregnant women need to eat before getting out of bed to prevent a mad dash for the basin. And now we have to fast for that first meal to have some blood drawn? I understand the reason behind it, but sheesh!
Anyway, I dragged myself to the lab and dealt with the needlestick and headed out the door to get the big breakfast my doctor had promised I could have in between the blood tests. I was promptly stopped at the door and told to have a seat and drink this. The lab technician handed my a bottle of "Insta-Cavity Orange Soda" (Why take years to rot your teeth when we can do it with just one sip!) I argued that I was going to McDonald's for a pancake breakfast and 2 or 3 Egg McMuffins and some hashbrowns. She explained that wasn't what my doctor had ordered. I sat down and drank the syrup (talk about morning sickness!) and had to wait a WHOLE HOUR until the final blood letting....er drawing (can you tell I don't like needles?). Finally I was able to leave and get some real food. I was finally a happy camper again.
For the bloodwork for my second trimester, my doctor's office handed me the paperwork. I was not happy about more needles, but I was willing to take one for the team, I guess. I happily bounced to the lab once again. As I be-bopped along, I thought I would be nosy and check the forms to see what they were going to use my dear precious blood for this time. I felt a surge of pride and contentment surge up my spine as I noted that the doctor's office had written in large red letters across the top of the lab order: TWINS. "That's me!" I thought, "Mother to those two little tic-tacs (OK more like Ever-Lasting Gobstoppers, by now)!" I turned in my paperwork, grateful that I didn't have to fast for this round. I followed procedure and was on my way.
Three days later I got a call from the doctor's office. The lab results were in and things were not good. The lab detected that there was an anomaly in one or both of the fetuses. There was a possibilty that the babies could have birth defects. We were devastated. We had always talked about what we would do in this situation. The answer was clear as day. We would not...COULD not abort. We had to get some answers.
I went to the doctor's office the next day to discuss options. Right off the bat, the doctor recommended amniocentesis (why are all these doctors so hyped up about needles?!). I told her that before we went that far, I wanted another blood test, from different lab. We needed a second opinion. She agreed. I drove to the hospital and had more blood drawn. The results were read this time, by the Chief of Staff himself. He achieved the same results as the lab...only he took into consideration that I was having TWINS! What a beautiful yet simple word. Yes, the word that was written at the top of my original paperwork. My babies were fine; my hormone levels were higher due to the fact that I was having two babies, therefore creating the "anomaly" effect. If the idiots at the lab at looked at that one tiny 5-letter word, all of this would have been prevented.
The third trimester, the lab screwed up once again. I had to do the fasting thing again, with that delicious orange drink. This time I had someone on my side. My cousin's wife was there, having bloodwork done for HER pregnancy-- three months ahead of me (same doctor, too!). They tried to hand me the bottle of soda and I told them that my doctor told me to have breakfast. They argued that the doctor had not marked that on the form. My cousin stood up and told them that in no uncertain terms were they going to give me the soda....she and I were going out for breakfast. So NEENER! They didn't stop us either. And I did have my pancake breakfast and 2 Egg McMuffins and hashbrowns. And it was all delicious! Almost made the needles worth it.
Life went back to somewhat normalcy. My babies were safe, things were quiet. I went to the doctor for a regular check up on August 3oth. I told Scott he didn't need to come as they were just going to check the heartbeat and measure my beyond huge belly (would the tape measure reach?). He said he was headed for Builder's Square to get some things to finish painting the babies room. Little did we know....
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