My Hoof

I have a bone that is too long in my right foot. Because it's too long, I have a big bump on the side of my foot. It's not a bunion. I don't know why there is such negative connotation with that word, but I do feel like I have to point that out. Travis calls it my hoof. And he won't touch it. And for a man who is nowhere near grossed out by anything disgusting (he's a lab scientist, remember), this is saying something.

(I have really veiny feet.)

I scheduled a surgery to get it fixed in early September. About a week after I scheduled it I found out I was pregnant. I called back and cancelled. Well, it turns out I miscarried right before I would have had the surgery, but I was glad I had decided not to do it. Mostly just because it was two days before Peach Days. And what would I have done if I couldn't have gone to Peach Days?

Well, after the miscarriage I called back and rescheduled. This time for October 7th, a month to the day from when I had my D&C. Writing it like that makes it look creepy, but I'm keeping it. Anyway, we went in early on a Thursday morning all prepared for me to have my hoof removed. As they were taking my vitals, the nurses came in, shut the door and sat down. I got a little nervous. They told me my pregnancy test had come back positive. I laughed and told them that wasn't possible. I told them I had recently had a miscarriage and hadn't even had a period yet, and it must have just been the remnants of that. They told me they had tested it twice. I wasn't convinced, and I really had my heart set on leaving there with a normal foot. So I went out in the hall and called my OB's office. The nurse told me it actually was possible to be pregnant this soon. She told me to come in and have some blood work done. I left the surgical center semi-excited and semi-disappointed, and not sure what to hope for.

They drew my blood as soon as I arrived, and we sat for the half hour wait to get the results back and for my doctor to arrive. When they called me back, they told me the blood test had come back positive and my doctor wanted to do an ultrasound. At this point I was getting excited. I couldn't believe it. We weren't even trying, but weren't aware we might need to be preventing. I was a little nervous about what all this could mean for a baby. The doctor did an ultrasound and told me I was just a few days pregnant. In fact, due to the circumstances, I could pinpoint it to about the hour:). He said all he could see was a gestational sac, so we just needed to wait and give the baby time to grow. He asked me to come back in three weeks. Trav and I went to breakfast to celebrate. I was feeling happy, but cautious. After the letdown of my last pregnancy, I wanted to be careful. But since everyone expected me to have surgery, I couldn't keep it a secret from everyone. I told a few friends and my family, so I didn't end up with baby-sitters and dinner for having had surgery.

Just a side note, here are some of the texts received from Trav's family when we told them:

Jamey: Man, your boys don't waste anytime sending in reinforcements. Too bad about not fixing Katie's foot. (Or something to that effect.)

Carson: That's awesome. Sorry Katie still has a stupid foot.

Thanks, Price family, for your support.

The story goes on. A few weeks went by. One Wednesday morning I started spotting. I know from past pregnancies this is perfectly normal. A few hours later I started bleeding heavily. I called the doctor and they brought me in to see a different doctor, since mine was out of town. (Don't obstetricians know they're not allowed to go on vacation??) Since the circumstances around the pregnancy were so weird, I didn't have a due date, or a first day of my last period, or any of that. So the new doctor was a little confused. She told me my urine test was coming up questionably positive, then she did an ultrasound. Let's just say there was nothing there. She told me to go home and do another test. I think she thought my doctor was crazy for telling me I was pregnant. But I have a picture of that little sac, so I was pretty convinced. I came home, took another test, and it still came back positive. I decided to just wait for my next appointment with my doctor, which originally had been for my first prenatal appointment.

The next week I met with him. He did an ultrasound and another urine test. At this point I had bled for about a week and stopped. I knew I was not pregnant, just didn't know if I ever was or if I had lost another one. He confirmed to me that I had miscarried. That sounds much more awful than it was. If I had not been having surgery, I never would have known. I didn't have much sadness with this, just disappointment. I really felt like me being pregnant that fast had been an answer to my prayers. I think now that I needed to feel like I was pregnant for those few weeks to help pull me out of my funk.

We made the rounds once again of letting everyone I'm not having a baby. That was a joy.

So, at this point, I'm pretty over the whole thing. I need some time without crazy emotions to figure out what I want, and when I want another baby. I do want more kids, but am realizing now that emotionally I may need to hold off for awhile. I definitely feel much more grateful that I have the three that I do. And maybe they need more time with mom before we add more.

Moral of the story is: I'm not pregnant. Again. Barring a major slip-up, we may wait awhile.

But I am excited to get my foot fixed the end of November. Nobody wants a hoof. Travis always asks me if I want some hay or when my next appointment with the vet is. He thinks he's funny. Never mind the fact that he has skeleton toes.




All that being said, I'm doing fine. Still pulling myself out of the funk, but getting there definitely. I have a new niece coming and by the end of this month I'll have a normal foot. What more could I want?