In December 2018 I made a crazy discovery – and that is that doctors are not always right. A doctor misdiagnosed my pregnancy and almost made me lose my child! I found out I was pregnant at the end of November 2018. A few days later while using the restroom, I noticed bright red blood in the toilet and so I quickly rushed to the ER assuming that it could’ve been a miscarriage.
At The ER
The first thing that went wrong was that the nurse did not know how to operate the ultrasound machine. She told me to “bear with her” as she was still getting used to the new machine. I noted that as red flag because her ultrasound picture was later going to cause two different gynecologists to think my embryo was 7 weeks old! (it was actually 5 weeks)
She did not see a heartbeat and was told me it was probably a miscarriage. She also said that she had been through as miscarriage herself and knew how difficult those emotions were to handle. I was sad, of course, but I still had hope that my gynecologist would say otherwise.
The First Appointment
The next day I went to “Dr. Evil’s” office. When I went into his office the first question he asked me was if it was a planned a pregnancy. I told the doctor that we planned to keep the baby since it was a pleasant surprise.
He took one quick look at the ultrasound pictures transferred over from the hospital and said that I had lost the baby. I immediately began crying a river.
He looked surprised that I was upset and then drew his chair up close to me and started telling me that this happens all the time. He said it was the body’s way of getting rid of something defective and that it might be happening for a reason.
The second red flag was that he then suggested that I get a D&C procedure done two days following that appointment.
After I was able to calm down I asked him if we could do another ultrasound just to make sure. What he said SHOCKED ME. He said that there was no use in doing another ultrasound because the hospital’s machine was very good. He said that if I reaaallllyyyy wanted to get another ultrasound done on the day of the D&C that I could get it, but he was “very pessimistic” about it. This man was trying to convince me that this baby was gone and that there was nothing else to do but look forward to the procedure of removing the embryo!
The Sadness
For the next 3 days, I was a mess. I could not focus on work. This was during the beginning of the month of December, and because I work as a staff accountant, this was the busiest time of the month for me! Needless to say, I did not perform well at work. I could not eat and I would burst into tears randomly at the thought of losing this baby. I had not yet agreed to getting the procedure done yet but the next day after that appointment the admins were calling from his office demanding payment.
Because I was in such pain, I decided to start praying. I remember asking God why, why did I have to go through this? Why did He allow me to lose my baby? That is when, all of a sudden, I had an epiphany. What if I WAS NOT going through a miscarriage? What if THAT particular doctor was wrong? Have other women gone through a similar situation? Should I get a second opinion? Why are my symptoms stronger?
All the questions above led to me to start researching this situation online. I leanred that many other women have gone through that same experience. Doctors misdiagnosed their miscarriage! I even saw a Youtube video about this one girl’s story! I promptly scheduled another appointment with a new gynecologist.
The Miracle
I was nervous when I got the second doctor appointment at the new office. This was it. This was where I would find out the truth. I would either leave that office super happy with a miracle story or crying because I did in fact, lose this baby. I brought the doctor up to speed with the back story.
She explained that pushing for a D&C (dilation and curettage – other wise known as the removal of tissue from the uterus) was very odd because at such an early stage in the pregnancy, there are other methods of removing the embryo such as letting it pass naturally or through taking a pill.
She mentioned that at her office they wait until the patient is at least 10 weeks pregnant to do an ultrasound due to the risk of not seeing a heartbeat yet! She saw the ultrasound picture from the hospital and said that the baby did in fact look 7 weeks old and that it probably just stopped developing.
My eyes swelled up with tears but then I said firmly, “I do not believe that I have lost this child. My pregnancy symptoms keep getting stronger by the day and I would like to do one more ultrasound to confirm”. She agreed to do a final ultrasound although I could she was hesitant.
The ultrasound technician was asking me about my story and basically trying to emotionally prepare me for a miscarriage. To her and my surprise, there it was – a heartbeat!!!
My baby was ALIVE and WELL. I can ever verbally explain the happiness that I felt at the moment. To top it all off, it was my BIRTHDAY. It was the best present that I have ever received.
I wanted to share this story is not because I don’t want you to believe in doctors (lol). There are amazing professionals out there that love what they do and put their all into helping their patients. Unfortunately there are also desensitized doctors that make it only about business and do not mind telling someone that they lost their baby if it is going to make them a few extra bucks through a D&C procedure.
One lesson I got from this experience was the fact that through prayer, my question was answered. I am not going to preach to you, that is not my style but I will say I that it was only when I prayed, that I was able to think outside the box and believe for a miracle.
I learned is to believe in myself. When I first mentioned that I wanted a second opinion to my friends and family who had heard the news, they actually felt bad for me. They thought I was in denial. Even my boyfriend thought that maybe I was just having a hard time accepting it.
Its important to listen to that inner voice. A mother’s intuition is very powerful. I believe that we need to be in tune with out bodies and pay attention to the signals. That entire week while I was grieving, I was also getting very nauseous and all of the other symptoms were getting stronger. That one other reason that I kept doubting that I had actually experienced a miscarriage.
I hope this story has inspired you. I can understand the pain of loss through a miscarriage and I can empathize with every mama who has gone through that or is going through that. Never give up. Pray and believe in yourself and maybe you might see a miracle as well. And if not this time around – maybe next time.
Love, Gilly.
