So it turns out that Homestyle Midwifery has a waiting list, and in addition to that, they are actually leaving St. Luke’s Hospital and spinning off into a private practice. They’re sending me more information, but I’m afraid it may mean they’ll no longer offer the services I was most interested in (i.e. the combination of anesthesia & on-site neonatal care with the option of water birthing). We’re on the waiting list regardless, but things no longer look as promising on that front.
In addition, the doctor phoned me back this afternoon, saying he’d found the report from the ultrasound I had done a month ago, and he has “a couple of concerns”. The baby looks fine, but apparently I have a low-lying placenta and a fairly large ovarian cyst. He wants to do another ultrasound ASAP to see whether either of those issues seems to be resolving itself. He mentioned that in ninety percent of cases, an anterior low-lying placenta will move itself to a better position without any intervention, and similarly the cyst may just go away, so neither issue is a major freak-out thing. I am freaking out to a minor degree. Sam is not freaking out at all.
They’re sending me the ultrasound requisition form in the mail, and I’ll have to call the hospital to schedule an appointment sometime after that, so I may not have any updates on this front for a week or so.
My parents should skip the next paragraph as it has to do with S-E-X, and I’m not sure you’re old enough to be hearing about these things.
The doctor told me three times to refrain from “vigorous intercourse”. I didn’t ask him what the difference between vigorous and sedate intercourse is, but of course now I’m wondering. Don’t be getting into any fancy slings? No cowgirl style? What does that even mean?
UPDATED TO ADD: So I’ve done some quick Internet research, and I’m no longer worried at all about the low-lying placenta. Apparently it’s plenty common in the second trimester, and almost always it’s no longer an issue by the time the baby’s actually born. I haven’t had any bleeding or any other indication that it might be a real problem.
The cyst will only be trouble if it ruptures. The doctor specifically told me that the cyst was fluid-filled, with thin walls; at the time that meant nothing to me so I didn’t include it in the post. However some Internet reading on ovarian cysts quickly revealed to me why he’d been so specific about that — it means my cyst is not cancerous. I didn’t even know I should be worrying about that, so I don’t really get to feel relieved, but hey, it’s good news anyway I guess.
If the thing ruptures it really would be bad (that’s apparently very painful, and can trigger preterm labor) but I found plenty of stories online from women who had cysts all through their pregnancies and were fine. It’s odd, but one thing that actually makes me feel better is that I tripped and fell flat on my face on my way home from getting that ultrasound last month. And if that didn’t make the cyst rupture, then probably it’s not gonna rupture! This is my thinking, anyway.
And, who knows, it may have already been reabsorbed into my body by now. But even if it’s gotten bigger, fed by the pregnancy super-growth hormones, there’s no reason I can’t have a normal pregnancy and delivery. I read a post from one woman who had a cyst the size of a grapefruit by the time she gave birth, and it didn’t cause her any complications. They just took it out afterwards with a relatively minor surgical procedure. Apparently if you get a c-section they can even grab the cyst at the same time.
