Lip service

Well, I've had a really, super easy pregnancy thus far. I am 33 weeks today. My first trimester wasn't bad at all- only a little queasiness here and there and I was super-tired for about 6 weeks. The second trimester flew by like a breeze. I was active and even ran a little in my 5th month. The only trouble there was a few too many pounds gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but really, who doesn't gain 2-3 pounds that month (but, add that to the normal 4 pounds of pregnancy weight gain...). All of my vitals, tests, check-ups and ultrasounds have been outstanding. "Nothing to complain about," says Dr. Kyle at every visit. So far, my 3rd trimester hasn't been too challenging. I am slowing down a little and get winded pretty easily. It is really hard for me to sleep now because I've always slept on my tummy, and that's impossible now. But everything is progressing very well and apparently I look really small still (yay!).

So, of course, there has to be one really freaky thing to make this pregnancy unique. Somewhere along in October, I developed what I thought was a cold sore on the inside of my lower lip, except it didn't hurt and never ruptured and healed. It looked like a blood blister for about 2 months and didn't do anything. Dr. Kyle looked at it and said if it was still there a month later at my next visit he would refer me for a consult. Sometime in December, my lips were really chapped and the thing ruptured and just kept bleeding. Being that I work in a vet clinic, we cauterized it with silver nitrate. It healed up and looked normal (for being a weird bump on my lip) and Dr. Kyle gave me a referral to an ENT and I made the appointment. Then, for no reason at all, it started growing, proliferating, and bleeding frequently. After it bleeds, it gets a serum crust and then that peels and it bleeds again. It has seriously tripled in size in the last 3 weeks and is just gross. Oh, and highly noticeable, because everyone asks me about it and stares at it when I'm talking. As if I hadn't been self-conscious about my lips my whole life.

Diagnosis: pyogenic granuloma (which is neither pyogenic nor granulomatous, for my vet friends), aka the pregnancy tumor or lobular capillary hemangioma, affecting less than 5% of the preggo population. SERIOUSLY?!?!? Hormonally influenced, and should go away following delivery. However, it's become very bothersome and grotesque and may be past the point of regressing on it's own, which would be about 4 months from now. So, I will be having it surgically excised tomorrow morning. As in, out-patient surgery with the hospital gown, wheelchair, and really large medical bill. And the only reason she couldn't just laser it or freeze it off was because I was pregnant and needed to be closely monitored. I think it's a little bit overkill, but I appear to be getting great patient care and my doctor is very thorough and everyone has had great things to say about her and, more importantly, her surgical skills. So, I give you an update tomorrow and let you know how all of this goes. If you're lucky, maybe I'll get some before and after pictures taken. Hopefully, my already oddly-shaped lips won't end up too disfigured. :)