God Has a Sense of Humor!

The last few weeks in the Nichols house has been quite eventful and a bit shocking! I realized that God will do anything to get our attention and He definitely has a sense of humor. I wasn't going to share this story but I thought it might  help someone else and I did say I would be open and honest!

So here it goes....For the past several weeks my body has had a mind of it's own. I have had some subtle things that just didn't seem right. Being 40 and pre-menopausal, I didn't really think much about it. First headaches, almost everyday, off and on nausea, all day long, fatigue, weird cramps, back pain, a bloated stomach, and an abnormal  cycle. But, we have had strep and stomach flu in our house multiple times. So naturally I blamed Logan for making me feel yucky! Then one evening, before bed, during my shower I noticed that I had extreme sensitive (actually down right PAIN) in my breasts. I thought to myself, the last time I felt this I was pregnant. PREGNANT? What? That is silly I'm old and my tubes are clamped. The next morning I woke up with a strange feeling that I needed to take this serious.I told Billy, ok listen, I am 40 years old, my tubes have been clamped for 13 years and I think I am pregnant. Naturally, he thought I was crazy. I felt crazy just saying it! I knew it was impossible, but I have been pregnant before and I knew that the way I was feeling felt exactly the same way. The next several days I had all kinds of emotions, and just keeping it real here, excited was not one of them.  I have a son going to college, the last thing I thought I would be doing would be buying dorm items and a crib at the same time. Finally, I went to Walgreens and purchased the  EPT test...yep, haven't bought one of those in 14 years! I was amazed at all the new types, you can now know if you are pregnant about 20 minutes after intercourse (that is an exaggeration, but not by much). I took the test (secretly) and guess what...YEAH negative! 

Felt relief, but then felt fear, because of course the google search under "pregnant with tubes clamped" wasn't exactly comforting. Did you know that thousands, not hundreds, thousands of woman get pregnant with their tubes tied, cut, and burned! My were only clamped and the clamp is generally not "reliable" after 5 years. ( I don't EVER remember my doctor telling me that), and of course there was story after story of woman getting pregnant during the "change of life". Talk about a change of life, kids in college and one on the way....that would be a change in your life! So with my anxiety on overload and the cramps getting worse, I decided to go to the doctor for a blood test. The test showed my levels to be positive for pregnancy but very low, meaning a probable tubal. I had a choice to either go back in a few days for more blood work to see if the levels were going up, or go ahead and go to the E.R. and get an ultrasound and further testing. I opted to wait, and come back in for blood work in a few days. Yeah, that plan lasted for about 8 hours and then I went ahead to the E.R.  

When I was filling out the paperwork and I had to put reason for visit, I felt like everyone was staring at me, like how could you be pregnant...you are old! Then I thought, if I was in California, this would be normal! 

As, I sit in the E.R waiting on results and listening to the nurses tell me time and time again how they see this type of thing all the time. I just started laughing and I said ok God you really do have a sense of humor. I just wrote a blog telling everyone about how I was going to be a "empty nester" and how I was excited for the future with it being just me and my husband. But as I've told most of you before, I wake up every morning telling God to use me in any way he needs me and I will be completely obedient to his plans. Didn't think it would be this, but I did say "anything, and in anyway". I've learned from past experience, God is very literal!

After, many hours and many tests, the doctor concluded that I may or may not have gotten pregnant and it aborted itself in the tube, but one thing was diagnosed and that was that I had a hemorrhagic tumor on my left ovary, that was bleeding and my abdomen was full of blood. (hence the reason my stomach had been so bloated). They wanted to run one more test to conclude whether to do surgery immediately or if it could wait until the next morning. FYI....I had the BEST experience I have ever had in an ER, my doctor was incredible, the nursing staff amazing, and the care and bedside manners was like nothing I have ever experienced. I will never go anywhere else other than OU

So ALL that said to make a few points:

1. You CAN get pregnant if your tubes are tied

2. You CAN get pregnant, even during premenopause

3. And the best part of all....is God knows me, he knows me better than anyone, and he knows, like most of you, that I HATE to go to the doctor. So had he not got my attention, In a BIG way, I would never follow up to see what was going on with me. So what turned out as being the most freaked out, I've been in a long time, ended up being a true blessing, a blessing that literally could have saved my life. 

But then again...aren't ALL children blessings, no matter how long God gives them to you.

So thank you God for giving me this story to share, thank you for putting the doctors in my path to protect my body, and most of all thank you for your incredible sense of humor!

I will keep everyone updated on surgery info and biopsy results. Prayers welcomed! 

One more thing....for all of you reading this who have had a child unexpectedly at an older age or while husband or you were "fixed", I would love to hear your stories. I admire you, and I want everyone to know that although shocked, my husband and I would have been blessed and happy to be parents all over again.