I Survived

I survived. I survived natural childbirth 13 months ago. So, can someone (anyone) explain to me why I panic for my prenatal blood draw? I had my 17 week appointment yesterday and was a wreck all morning long! I am 31 years old and in tears driving down the freeway to my appointment. I have to call my Mom at work to sooth me. I know it is busy hour for her, but I call anyway. It is a 911 emergency! I ask her to tell me, “You can totally do this. You will be fine.” I don’t think it helped, for I almost started hyperventilating down the freeway and could barely see through my blurry eyes. I soon realize I am white knuckling the steering wheel. I let go and my hands were cramping. A needle has this much control over me?

I survived. I survived the waiting room. I make it to my 2:00 appointment seven minutes early. I give the Maternal Care clinic kudos, for they are always timely, well, except for today. They give me an extra 20 minutes to think about the blood draw. I can barely sit with any ease as one-by-one other pregos are called in before me. And I think to myself that all of these women have their blood drawn and are all fine!

I survived. I survived the weight check. I have gained 3 lbs. I started in on the poor nurse how this was possible with asking her to check my chart. I wanted a comparison of this week to my 18 week appointment when I was pregnant with Kaden. As soon as the midwife came in it was the first topic I wanted to cover. We dissected my diet; I dissected my diet. Fruit juice has to be the culprit! The midwife told me that at almost 18 weeks I was actually under the average gain by about 5lbs. Oh, okay, this is great news! Amazing how all the sudden this silly tidbit gave me comfort.

I survived. I survived my blood draw. I explain to my nurse that less is more a.k.a. don’t tell me anything just get own to business and get what you need. A midwife comes over noticing I am nervously slapping my flip flops against the bottom of my feet as I am sinking lower and grasping my arms. She offers to hold my hand. Screw bravery and embarrassment. I gripped her hand and told her to start talking. We reviewed the diet plan and discussed our upcoming ultrasound. She asked me to follow her breathing pattern.

I start getting hot. I hear the nurse say, “Slow down your breathing.” The midwife soon says, “Nicole in through your nose and out through your mouth. You have to slow down.” I am taking shallow quick breaths. The voices start to become gibberish. Uh-oh, spots are floating in front of me… It is over when I wake up. I am the 3rd fainter in the nurses (what I would guess looooong) career. I call it a success. The leach took all she needed. The mission is accomplished

Now, I just have to survive one more draw in two months (roughly nine weeks and more precisely 60 days). This test didn’t go so well when I was pregnant with Kaden. The sweet drink didn’t settle, so up it went on the walls and down all across the floor. Eck. I can’t wait to survive that one, yet again.