A drop of blood

Monday I had my first blood draw.  It was a process I had quickly become used to during the miscarriage/ectopic experience in February.  The doctor had told me that when I became pregnant again, I should expect to have blood drawn every day to watch my Hcg levels for about 2 weeks. 

Since we were out of town when I discovered I was pregnant, and that out of town trip last substantially longer than we had initially planned, my blood draw was delayed until July 16th.  No one was worried about the wait - I guess the pregnancy "is what it is" and knowing on the 10th or the 16th wouldn't change much, unless I was having pain or bleeding.  They scheduled me for a 48 hour hcg test and set up my appts for Monday and Wednesday at 11:00am. 

Late as always, I rushed in to the doctor at 11:05, apologizing for my tardiness, and was sent to the lab without complaint.  There, I waited approximate 23 seconds...then it was my turn.  The poke was quick and "painless" - and I was off.  A short 5 minute visit (if even) for the 25 minute drive... I was realizing how soon this daily draw thing would get annoying, and fast!

Back home to work, and a busy day it was...  "Ring, Ring"....  It was 4:00 and the caller ID said Huntersville OB/GYN...

Not Good

Why would they be calling me unless something was wrong?  I was scheduled to come back in just 48 hours to do this again.  Did they really call to tell me the results?  Nah, there must be something wrong....

Immediately, the lady's voice put in at....well, I'm not sure if it put me at ease but it put me "somewhere".  It was so ecstatic-sounding, I had to assume she wasn't calling with bad news in that tone!  "Hi Judy, this is Tonya with Huntersville OB.  I was calling with your HCG results..."  A lot of confirmation garbage and we were on to the important stuff.  Her sentence, well, I'm not sure I'll forget it soon....

"Your levels were exceptional!  It actually came back at 51,663!  That is still pretty normal for a 5.7 weeks range, but we would like to get you in the office this week for an ultrasound to confirm everything looks good"

Ok, so just a recap.  When I did my HCG for the first time in February, it was 765.  See the chart below for and idea of where the standard range is for HCG levels.  According to my LMP, I should have been 6 weeks on the nose.  The level given to me was at the very top end of the 7 week mark!

That's a good thing, right?

The appointment and ultrasound was scheduled for Thursday and the second blood draw on Wednesday was canceled.