This pregnancy was different than Amelia’s in almost every way, more nausea, exhaustion, all the normal stuff. It was normal and different until last night. Last night I started spotting. Of course the same emotions we dealt with while expecting Amelia came right back to us, devastation that we were dealing with spotting again and fear of the unknown.
I called my OB first thing this morning and they asked me to come in as soon as I could. I am Rh- (b- blood type) and any sign of spotting/bleeding indicates that they need to give me a RhoGAM shot. I had them with Amelia at 8 weeks, 26 weeks and the day after she was born because she was Rh+ so that part wasn’t a big deal. It’s just a shot in your bum that stings like crazy for a few minutes.
When we got there they told us we’d have an exam with my doctor and they asked if we would like to wait around for a while and have an ultrasound…ummm, yes. In the interim I had an exam and there are no further signs of bleeding were found.
I got my shot and signed up to be part of a research study for Rh- women. They’re hoping to be able to identify a fetus’ blood/gender type early in pregnancy to be able to eliminate administering the RhoGAM shot in Rh- women carrying Rh- babies (there’s no need if the fetus has the same blood type). If you’re Rh- and carrying a Rh+ child you have a higher chance of miscarriage, pre-term labor or labor complications…RhoGAM shots eliminate those concerns for the most part. The study is simple for me, they have to draw blood every 4 weeks between now and 20 weeks…which they have to do on me anyways so it’s not a big deal. I say if anything helps another mom/baby down the road then I’ll definitely do it!
We finally finished with the shot, exam, paperwork, etc. and went in for the ultrasound.
This is the second time we’ve gone through this, the second time we’ve had to wait and wonder if our baby was still there, still growing and thriving, that its little heart was still beating so rapidly and beautifully. The tech started the ultrasound and immediately I saw a baby that looked like it should look at 10 weeks, right where I am, it looked perfect…now where was the heart beat? She moved it around and we saw that awesome little flicker. RELIEF and answered prayers. My faith in God was renewed with my precious miracle Amelia and it is once again renewed with this little one. We saw the beautiful healthy heart beating at 160 BPM (yes, I know that’s a girl-range heartbeat for you old wives tale lovers). 
The tech continued the exam and found the culprit, a subchorionic hemorrhage…yep, the same thing I had with Amelia. So, for now I’m on somewhat restricted activity. No heavy lifting and resting as much as possible…holiday shopping should be interesting since I haven’t even started. We have a big wedding to shoot on Saturday so I’m a bit nervous and we’re hopefully going to hire an assistant to do my heavy lifting…ie: hold my camera when I’m not shooting.
We go back on the 29th for a follow-up ultrasound. Please pray that the hemorrhage will resolve itself (and NOT grow) and that our little bean will be 2 weeks closer to being a big plump newborn (ok, I know I have small babies, but I can dream of having a plump one). Just pray, that’s all I ask.
We’ll update as things progress.
