One Day at a Time...

Right around now, just 2 short years ago, Shane and I were going through one of the scariest times in our lives. Here's what I wrote in our old website on Jan 22, 2007...


"So, things have not turned out exactly the way we pictured them today. I know that all of you have probably been checking and re-checking our website, so I'm sorry that it has taken this long to get it updated. The most exciting thing that we learned through all of this is that we're having a BOY! But, aside from that, it has been a pretty tough couple of days. I woke up on Sunday morning around 6am and was bleeding pretty badly. We called the emergency number for my doctor and were told to go the ER at the hospital where my doctor would (eventually) deliver the baby. This is a little bit away from our new house, but Shane drove 100 miles per hour to rush us there. Once we got all checked in, they took a ton of blood and gave me an IV. At this point, we were pretty scared and just hoping for the best. The ER doctor came in and did a small ultra-sound, which was enough to tell us that there was still a heartbeat. They did a pelvic exam which basically confirmed that I was bleeding but that I was not dilated at all. The hospital called in an ultrasound tech so we had to wait for awhile for her to get there to have an official ultrasound done. They wheeled me up to labor and delivery and did a very detailed ultrasound. The good news was, the baby looked great. He was moving all about and kicking a ton. His heartrate was good and he did not appear to be under stress.
After this, we went back down to the ER and waited over an hour for the results. The ER doctor paged my regular dr (Dr. Wendell) and discussed everything with him, which is what took so long. They diagnosed me with "complete placenta previa" which means that instead of attaching to my uterus, the placenta (that the baby is in) attached to my cervix and is completely covering the opening that the baby will need to get out of. I was sent home on strict bed rest since I had my early morning appointment with Dr. Wendell scheduled for this morning.
Here's the run-down of what my doctor said this morning. I do have the placenta previa, but it is extremely rare for it to cause bleeding prior to 20 weeks (I'm 19 weeks this Wednesday.) They did not see any blood near the placenta in the ultrasound today, which is a good sign. He is hopeful that the bleeding is cervical bleeding which is unrelated to the placenta previa. If it is cervical bleeding, it should slow down and stop soon. I'm on bed rest this week for sure, and maybe some of next week. He said that once I go back to work, he would recommend half days only and EASE back into things. He is concerned that if we get the bleeding to stop, that it could return. On the other hand, if it is the placenta previa bleeding (again-which is rare at this stage) then I will probably continue to bleed and he said that would mean real trouble for the future of the pregnancy. He said that at this point, we don't know for sure what the cause is, but that my body will tell us over the next few weeks what is going on.
Best case scenario is that the bleeding will continue to taper off, stop and stay gone. If that happens, then I should be able to carry the baby to term and have a c-section. If the bleeding continues to happen, our goal is to at least get him to 26 weeks. I have another appointment in two weeks, and then another ultrasound in 4 which will put the baby close to being viable outside the womb.
We know that all of you will be concerned when you read this, but please know that we are very positive about this. We have a ton of pictures of our bouncing baby boy and expect nothing less then to have him home with us this summer. We believe in the power of prayer and positive thinking and will be doing lots of both.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. "

Looking back on these months and how terrified we were, it's just amazing to see how far we've come. For those of you who are new to us and our story...it was the placenta previa causing the bleeding so early on in my pregnancy. But, by 24 weeks it had completely moved and I was able to deliver vaginally. The Doctor did believe that my complications early on did cause me to go into early labor and deliver Logan at 36 weeks. But, how lucky we are...

I'm so grateful for how everything turned out, but I can't help but remember how scary that was for us...I always struggle to stay positive against the rain (or ice) and cold this month. I'm trying to eat well and work out, which seems to help. (I've lost 5 pounds since Christmas!) But, still I can't help but look forward to warmer temperatures and the promise of spring.

Posted in: on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at at 10:43 PM