Can I just tell you how wonderful my doctor is! I started with him a couple years ago after my other OB/GYN retired which I am glad she did as I was leaving her anyway after loosing 2 babies under her care. Don't get me wrong I am not blaming for my for losses, however; I fought like heck with her after my first loss while I was pregnant with the second one for special test, treatment, care etc. but said she would keep a close eye on me and assured me it was a fluke and would not happen again. We'll it did, and it was exactly the same as the first time...my water broke in my 18th week and I delivered the baby born to Heaven in my 19th week. I know in my heart that things happen for a reason and for some reason God wanted his two babies back with him. I do believe she (the Dr.) could have done a better job at managing my last pregnancy though.
OK, back to Dr. Saenz...At my first appt. with him for my "annual" I was immediately impressed. He had taken the time to look over my chart before he walked in the room and actually had questions for me before I could start on my tyrant of questions for him. He asked me about my previous two losses and the details about them. He asked if I had seen a specialist regarding the losses. He asked if I was offered a cerclage. He asked ME all the questions I was asking my previous doctor! Long story short we had a wonderful conversation; I left his office feeling validated and no longer like a crazy person that lost two babies due to a "fluke".
His first course of action was for me to visit a High Risk Doctor who specializes in Maternal and Fetal medicine out of UCI for a consultation before I even got pregnant again to see if there were any steps that needed to be taken beforehand. Can you believe that! Here I fought and fought to seek consultation with a high risk OB WHILE I was pregnant with my second loss and the other Dr. refused me, now here is this wonderful new doctor suggesting that I seek consultation from a high risk OB before I even get pregnant. He even sent me to a fertility specialist after I was not getting pregnant after 4 moths of trying. You have to understand that while I am not fertile Mertile where when Jason breathes on me I get pregnant, it typically does not take us more that a few months to get pregnant. Long story short I ended up doing different test, having to take medication because my time of the month was giving me a world of trouble, and ended up at another specialist who discovered I had polyps in my uterus. My doctor scheduled me for out patient surgery and removed them. Shortly after that things got back to normal and eventually we found out I was pregnant.
Since the very beginning of this pregnancy my doctor has kept a very close eye on me in addition to sending me to the specialist out at UCI for cervical ultrasounds every two weeks. I have to add a note in here to say that getting an approval for my referrals was not always an easy task. On more than one occasion I overheard my doctor on the phone "fighting" on my behalf and never taking no for an answer.
During my visits to the specialist my cervical measurement had been up and down over several visits starting at 4.5 (very long cervix) down to a 3 (a good length) and then at 22 weeks I measured a 2.3 (pretty scary for me). Anything under 2.5 is a candidate for a cerclage. The high risk OB on call that day sent me straight over to the hospital to be admitted for a cerclage. She was concerned that if I did not have a cerclage (stitch my cervix closed) that I would not carry the baby to 24 weeks. Before I even reached the hospital Dr. Saenz had already called to check in on me. He was a student at UCI and many of the staff still remembered him and spoke highly of him. The cerlage was a success and I was ordered to be on bed rest.
Seeing how I was pretty much off my feet since about week 14 (and some even before that when I was spotting early in my pregnancy) this was not such a hard task. But it was a little different, this time around it was not a suggestion it was an order. Before I was allowed to do normal everyday things but was told not to over do it and to rest as much as possible. Now I was being told to stay on the couch with my feet up, no house work, no lifting, no shopping, no driving Peyton back and forth to school...nothing. I was ordered to be a glorified couch potato. Luckily my Mom was in town and stayed with us for the first week. My sister Kimbra stayed with us the 2nd week, and from that point on Jason's Mom has been with us a few days every week. Thank God for family! My Mother in law bless her heart comes over every Tuesday in time to pick Peyton up from school and stays until Thursday after she drops Peyton off at school. She runs my errands, helps with the house, dinner, and takes Peyton to baseball practice. What a blessing she is! Some of the parents at Peyton's school whom I have become friends with have made meals for us and send them home with Peyton which is always a nice treat. My team and fellow P&P artists all chipped in and had 19 meals from Desperate 4 Dinner prepared and delivered for us. Words can not express my gratitude for all of the loving people I am blessed to be surrounded by. My biggest support being my husband! He works so hard all day then comes home to take care of me. His weekends are spent taking Peyton to baseball then cleaning the house and doing laundry. He prays faithfully every day for my safety and the safety of this little one I carry inside me. He has to give me my shot once a week and bravely does it, although I do get upset when he hesitates LOL. The anticipation is worse than the actual shot! But he hesitates because he loves me and he does not want to cause me any pain. I've tried convincing him to let me poke him once with the gigantor needle so we can be even...Tee Hee!
It is now week 30 (7 1/2 months) into my pregnancy and things are going great. I love going for my doctor visit because he gets as excited as we do about this pregnancy. Did I mention that our doctor attends the same Mass as we do? So not only does he check up on me during my normal visits but on Sundays too :O). He also happens to drives by Peyton's school in the morning on his way to drop off his kids at their school down the street and has warned me that he better not see me parking my car at the church and walking Peyton to school...you know because of the bed rest thing. Only a few more weeks to go and I will be a free woman again, free to not have to ride in the "granny cart" at Target, free to shop at Stater Brothers, free to run an errand, and free to go to the movies. I have to be completely honest and say that I have cheated a little by not completely staying at home on the couch with my feet up. I have recently gone to my niece and nephews birthday parties and sat on my sister's couch while I was there, or gone to Peyton's baseball game and sat in a chair to watch...but always with Jason and never on my own...that's not too bad is it??? I told Jason one day that I just can't wait to strap this baby in her car seat and go ANYWHERE; I don't care if it's just to the grocery store.
