ANGELA JENNINGS

My name is Angela Jennings and I live in Mobile, Alabama. My husband, Richard, and I got married May 13, 1999. We found out that we were pregnant in August 99, we were ecstatic. I went in for my first OB-GYN appt. to confirm the pregnancy, and everything else that goes along with your first appointment. Everything was going fine, then one day when my husband was at work, I noticed that I was spotting. I told myself that nothing was wrong, but in the back of my mind I was freaking out. My husband got home a few hours later and I told him about it, then I called the doctor. She told me that it probably wasn't anything to worry about and that spotting is common. She told me that since it wasn't heavy that I could just wait and come in the following day for my scheduled appointment, but that if the spotting got worse to call her.

Well, that put me at ease somewhat. So I went in for my appointment, and she sent me for an ultrasound. The techs didn't tell me anything, nor show me the monitor. They told me that my doctor would call me shortly. So I went home thinking nothing was wrong, I figured they would have told me if there was. My doctor called telling me that all they saw was an empty sac, but we would try another u/s at the end of the week.

I went for the other u/s and the techs still didn't tell me anything, nor show me the monitor. They told me to go to my doctor's office, so I did. She then told me that she wasn't sure what was wrong, but all they saw was an empty sac. She suggested a d&c or the shot of MTX and I declined both, after all I had to talk to my husband first. I told her that I would call her.

I discussed this with my husband, as well as my mother, and sister. We all felt the same, we thought that I should go for a second opinion mainly because the doctor couldn't tell me what was wrong. I told my doctor that I wanted to wait and have another u/s, which she agreed to. They still saw nothing but an empty sac. I waited longer for another u/s, I didn't want to believe that there was no baby. Still, they saw nothing.

Well, one night in November I started bleeding and cramping really bad. I couldn't even move because I was in so much pain. My husband called the doctor for me and told her, she told him that if things got worse to call her back. I continued to bleed and cramp terribly and then started passing tissue. It was horrible. I almost passed out from all the blood loss, my face was ghost white, I couldn't even stand on my own. My husband, not knowing what was going on and scared to death, made me drink some orange juice and I threw that back up. I couldn't sleep because of the pain....I thought Iwas going to literally die.

It all happened so fast that we couldn't call the doctor, my husband was at my side the entire time. When I talked to the doctor the following day she told me to come in. She said that I had a natural miscarriage and had this 'I told you so' attitude. That was the last straw for me. I was changing doctors ASAP!

That afternoon I called and scheduled an appointment with another doctor, highly recommended by friends. I got my medical records and looked through them before going to see the new doctor. I found that my former OB-GYN lied in my records, noting on two separate occasions I came in with the flu--I was never sick through out my pregnancy! And she also noted that the night my husband called her she told him for us to meet her at the ER and that we refused. I was livid when I read this.

After talking with the new doctor and after he read through my records, he said that it sounds like a molar pregnancy. I had never heard of this before and he couldn't offer too much information. He suggested a d&c and I told him ok. On November 10, 1999 I went in for the surgery absolutely terrified. He assured me that this was a routine surgery and everything would be fine. I was still scared though, I had never had to have any type of surgery before that.

The surgery went fine and he told me that he removed A LOT of tissue and it turned out to be a complete molar pregnancy. I had to go for weekly blood tests for a little over a month. Then it went to monthly blood tests, and now I am at blood tests every three months. I had my last blood test on August 1 and he told me that after the test in November we could try again.

All of the information that I have found has been through the internet. In my research, I found this group. The women here are wonderful, I can't say enough good things about them. They have given me hope and reassurance that I will go on to have a healthy, normal pregnancy. For these women I am thankful, if it weren't for them, I don't know how I could make it. I have noticed a tremendous change in myself since I have joined this group, and I know that it can only go uphill from here.

Richard and I had already chosen the names for either sex and according to research, most complete molar pregnancies are females. So this page is dedicated to our daughter, Lilith Starr.

RECENT UPDATE: We found out in September 2000 that I was pregnant again. It was a few months shy of my waiting period and we were both really scared, nervous, but yet happy. My dr. had me come in to confirm the pregnancy by blood test and I went for a couple of HCG checks to be sure things were progessing normally. I had an early ultrasound to detect a heartbeat and to be sure that there was no molar tissue. Everything looked great and the dr. told me I had nothing to worry about, but after experiencing a molar pregnancy, it's hard not to worry. I had a wonderful pregnancy and enjoyed every minute of it. On June 5, 2001 our daughter, Colleen Marie Jennings, was born. She is a miracle. You can see pictures of her at www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/cmj.