First Appointment

Teirney went with me to my first appointment with the midwife on August 4. Since we didn't know how far along I was, we were both hoping I would be able to have an ultrasound, or at least listen to the heartbeat, but no such luck. She just got my medical history, did an exam, and did labs. The midwife did want to schedule me for an ultrasound to ease some of my worry and to determine a due date, but she felt it might be too soon on that day so she wanted me to wait a few more days. Based on the date I got a positive pregnancy test, she thought I would be due somewhere around March 19, 2009. My ultrasound was scheduled for Tuesday, August 12. More waiting...yuck!

The midwife called me the next day when my labs came back due to the result of a thyroid test she did because of my family history of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. She said my thyroid itself is fine, but my TSH level was a bit higher than normal. The normal range is .4 to 4 and mine was 7.2. "TSH is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone. Its function is to stimulate the thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone, so a high TSH level usually indicates that your body isn't getting enough thyroid hormone. This condition is hypothyroidism. A too-low TSH level usually indicates the opposite, or hyperthyroidism." ("The TSH Story" -- Lois Summers.) This can usually be corrected by medication, but the midwife said she would need to refer me to an endicrinologist who has more expertise in this area. I'm still waiting for a call from that person to schedule an appointment.