I was instructed to come in for betas and also requested to have my progesterone levels checked. What I mean by betas is checking hCG levels and progesterone is the hormone that maintains a pregnancy and I have a history of dropping levels of it.
This went smoothly, you just stop in the doctor's office for a blood draw and they call you the next morning. I was guessing I was very very early, only about 3 weeks 6 days on 9/26. I use very sensitive HPTs, 10 miu!
The next morning I got my results from Monday and it was great news! My hCG was 241 and progesterone 22.2. My doctors like to see progesterone in the 20's so that was great! hCG levels are more difficult, as the only way you can tell if they are good is if they double every 48-72 hours and should never drop.
This is where the difficulties began with my doctor's office. The nurse who initially told me to come in for the blood work instructed me to come back in 48 hours for the second blood draw. The nurse that gave me the results Tuesday morning told me that I didn't need to come back and that I wouldn't be see until I was 8-10 weeks. I was taking a nap at the time and answered the phone a little groggy and my head just wasn't clear or I would have had a fit right then and there.
In the past I have always had second blood draws because it is important to make sure hCG is doubling and I have always had close to 6-7 week viability u/s so I was a little upset. The nurse seemed to have no idea that I had a history of m/c and that I am a high risk patient.
I was pretty upset and angry because this is not the first time that I have had issues with the nurses not knowing what is going on. One nurse actually asked me if I was bottle feeding when she was setting me up for the SHG in July, you should feel confident in your doctor's office, not afraid of what they are going to say or not say! Another thing is that sometimes the nurses call me 2-4 times to tell me the same thing that another nurse has already called about! Things like this have been going on since I first started going there in Fall 2010 and this was just the last straw. I couldn't deal with an office who was so unorganized during a high risk pregnancy. Little to say I had had enough and wrote a comment card to the office about my concerns.
Wednesday morning I called back and firmly stated to the receptionist that I am a high risk patient, that i want my levels redrawn and that I want a viability u/s. I promptly got a call back from one of the nurses that I like talking to and she told me to come in for another blood draw that afternoon. Of course, I was working until 7pm so I had to figure out some way to leave for an hour or more! She explained everything I needed to hear and answered all of my questions. She gave me a timeline of when things would occur and helped set my mind at ease. The only thing that my doctor was not going to do was an early u/s. I understand that and I only had to wait until I was 8 weeks so not a huge deal, right? It may actually be better that way!
Here are my HPTs from 11DPO - 14DPO. Isn't it amazing how the lines change daily!?
All the very best....hoping you every happiness and everything goes well
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