My mom had died of cancer when I was only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. She'd had a history of bleeding for a period of three or four weeks at a time. So, the first time it happened to me, I was alarmed. I had bled for eighteen days straight. In my mind, I thought, okay, this is it, here it comes. But, I made an appointment with a doctor in Tulsa immediately. When I went to this doctor, I found out that it was not cancer, but, instead, I was pregnant. I was tickled pink!! I wanted another baby. The doctor I had gone to broke it to me that he no longer delivered babies. So, then, I had to find a new ob-gyn. I asked around and decided to go with Dr. Tom Coburn, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which would be a little closer to home than going to a Tulsa doctor. I couldn't get in to see him right away, but, took the first available appointment. By the time I got to see him, I was almost four months along. I was pretty stressed that I hadn't had any pre-natal care for the first three months, but they assured me it would be okay.
When I first arrived at Dr. Coburn's office, the nurse began taking my vitals, and decided to see if she could hear a heartbeat, since I was almost four months along. I first found out that Morgan had a heart issue, the first time the nurse listened to her heart rate. She didn't tell me, I just knew. I could just tell by her reaction and her repeatedly counting the heartbeats. She left the room, went to talk to Dr. Coburn, and he then came in, examined me, and told me that since I was nearly four months along it might be a good idea to go ahead and get an ultrasound. He had the nurse call the hospital and arrange for me to go over for an ultrasound immediately. I went across the street to the hospital. They immediately took me to the ultrasound equipment and began the procedure. After the ultrasound technician did what he was supposed to do, he left the room and brought back three or four doctors. They all kept watching the screen and counting the beats as they watched their watches. I asked questions, lots of questions. I knew. But, they wouldn't tell me anything! I was SO infuriated!! They said they would send the video of the ultrasound to my doctor after the radiologist read it, then, my doctor would contact me with the results. I still kept questioning as they shushed me out the door. I asked if something was wrong with the heart. They still refused to tell me anything!! I knew. I went home and told Morgan's dad there was something wrong with the baby's heart.
The next day, my doctor called me and confirmed my suspicions. He told me that the baby had a full heart block, or Bradycardia. He also told me that there were four or five diseases, in the mother, that typically could cause this to happen. He wanted me to come back the next day for bloodwork, to test to see if I had one of these diseases. The only one I remembered hearing was Lupus. Several years earlier, a good friend of mine had told me, while my mom was dying of cancer, that I had Lupus. She had been diagnosed with Lupus, and recognized my symptoms. She told me I had several of the same symptoms she'd had. I disagreed and told her I didn't have it. I didn't know anything about it, and refused to believe that I had the some kind of disease. Well, lo and behold, that's what it actually turned out to be. Lupus. Seriously? This disease in me had caused my baby to have a full heart block. What a horrible revelation. I felt so bad that I had caused this to happen to my unborn baby. The doctor also explained that the baby would most likely have to have a pacemaker implanted soon after birth, maybe even immediately after birth.
My doctor also immediately referred me to a high-risk ob-gyn in Oklahoma City, as well as, an ultrasound specialist in Tulsa. Thus, began the long journey of traveling to three different doctors in three different cities. Almost every week I went to one of the three doctors taking care of me. My aunt Retha started going with me at some point soon after that. There were a few times I went by myself, but, most of the time, she accompanied me to every doctor's visit. Morgan's dad went with me, maybe twice. Thank goodness for my aunt Retha. I don't know what I'd have done without her. She was a lifesaver.
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