Shots! Shots! Shots!

Not very many people (beside Ben) know how much I love Lil Jon!  For real.  I really enjoy running to his music and actually faithfully watched him on Celebrity Apprentice.  He's actually very well spoken and a legitimate businessman.  So when I was thinking about writing this particular blog, this song came to mind...

So now my dirty Lil Jon secret is out in the open - judge if you'd like.

Anyway, Ben and I went to Tampa General on Monday morning to meet with Dr. Louis about the Factor 2 and 5 clotting disorders.  My doctor wanted me to get a second opinion, and referred us to Dr. Louis.  Our appointment was at 8:45, but the paperwork that was sent to me indicated that we have to arrive by 8:15 because we are new patients.  The plan was to drive to Ben's office (on Harbour Island) and then drive together to TGH.  

Let me just say that driving south on 275 to downtown Tampa in rush hour was nuts!  I have no idea how Ben manages to do that every day.  I'm pretty sure I would have a heart attack.  We made it to TGH just before 8:15, but the parking garage was a little more complicated than I had anticipated.  We finally parked (thank goodness we took my smaller SUV and not Ben's truck) and walked over to the USF Health building.  

Thank goodness they also included a map and parking instructions with the new patient information because I was referencing that sucker like it was my job! We finally arrived where were we supposed to be and only about 5 minutes off the 8:15 time we were supposed to be there.  Since I had already completed my paperwork, it was pretty simple and the nurse took us back in to a private room (this place is HUGE!) where she took my weight, blood pressure, etc..  She said someone would be right with us for the ultrasound.

Like I previously mentioned, we weren't exactly sure what this appointment was all about but we excited when we found out that we would be seeing the baby again.  The ultrasound equipment at USF Health was WAY better than the one at our doctor's office. The picture was much clearer, but the baby was not cooperating with the camera (as per usual).

I'm never sure if the ultrasound techs can tell the gender, but I assume they can.  They have all been really careful not to linger in the obvious areas, but we literally have no idea what we are looking at most times anyway.  We did get the following pictures of the head and tummy and feet:

It's one thing to know that you are pregnant, but a whole other thing to actually see a baby on the computer monitor.  It's such an amazing/surreal experience.  Let me just say that this little guy or gal loves moving around inside there.  The little hands and feet literally melt my heart!  The ultrasound was much longer than we are used to, but I honestly could have laid there and watched the baby all day.  Unfortunately, that was not an option.  The woman printed a few pictures for us and then brought us back to the holding room to wait for the doctor.

Dr. Louis called us in to her office after a while and we began looking at the baby pictures again.  She said that the baby looks great and was really happy to see that I was still exercising and being active.  She said the one downside of women who exercise during pregnancy is that sometimes their babies tend to be on the smaller size, but that doesn't seem to be a problem with our baby.  Then came the bad news - she said that basically I have two mutations of the blood.  One gene in the factor 5 and one in the factor 2, it makes me slightly more at risk to form a clot than a person just possessing one gene.

So, she recommended that I begin administering shots of Lovenox once per day until six weeks postpartum.  I was happy that Ben was with me, because I didn't really expect to hear this news.  Dr. Wenk initially had said that it most likely would not be necessary until after the baby is born, but Dr. Louis specializes in maternal/child care.  Ben assured me that this is a "better safe than sorry" scenario and he will help me make it a part of our normal morning routine.

I asked the doctor what would happen if I had to have a c-section, and she said that as long as the c-section isn't planned the Lovenox is such a small dosage that it would not affect anything.  (Our plan is to avoid a c-section at all costs, but I know that in some cases it will not be an option).  She said that I had 33 good years getting away with not tending to this health issue, being on estrogen-based birth control (which I should have never been) and now it's time to face the music.  Dr. Louis also said that in the future, I have to be really careful about long car trips/plane rides or any type of activity that requires sitting for an extended period of time.

So the challenge now is learning out to administer the shots (Not the good kind that Lil Jon likes)!