due date: March 19, 2002 

 

I'm 41 years old with a wonderful hubby and 3 year-old at home. I'm 28 weeks pregnant; this has been a very comfortable pregnancy and I've enjoyed being pregnant -- as opposed to my first, when I had hyperemesis/g for 5.5 months and excruciating pubic symphesis! I did get gestational diabetes at 6 weeks but have a great team of nurses helping me I have a magnificent high-risk ob/gyn. At 11 weeks they did a vaginal ultrasound to confirm my due date. I remember the doctor mentioning that the placenta was low-lying but he said it was nothing to worry about and I completely forgot about it. At 21 weeks, I had another ultrasound for the anatomical survey and the baby was behind my navel so they couldn't get all the stats they wanted and rescheduled me for 2 weeks later. That u/s revealed complete placenta previa and came with the instructions of no intercourse, no karate training, no exercise, "bouncing" and I have to take it very, very easy. Of course, I was stunned and had no questions because I was speechless. My doctor said we'd get another ultrasound in January to see if it moved and if not, we'd discuss issues like blood replacement, hysterectomy, etc. I went home, told my husband and tried to get some rest. 

 

The next morning, I got on the internet and researched pp and had the good cry I should have had the day before! I had no idea placenta previa is so very serious! I've tried to adhere to my doctor's instructions but being as I don't feel "sick" it's difficult. I have a lot of self-consciousness about asking for help when I feel able-bodied and of course, my 3 year-old doesn't understand why I can't pick her up and why her kisses to my tummy don't "fix the boo-boo." I've only had one very minor bleed (I wouldn't even call it a bleed) when we had friends over all day last weekend to make tamales. I thought I was sitting all day but the up 

& down of greeting friends must've been too much and at the end of the day I noticed my toilet tissue and urine were an "off color," darker than usual and smelled coppery (like on the last day of a period). That was enough to scare me back into bed for the next day to rest! I do notice that when I overdo it right now -- which would not normally be considered overdoing it, I get excruciatingly tired. I don't remember being this tired with my first pregnancy and my iron's good (12.5) so I'm assuming it has something to do with the placenta previa. Is extreme fatigue a symptom others are experiencing? Some days I feel like I can barely function! I also have low pelvic pressure and pubic pain when I don't take time to rest with my feet up in the afternoons. My next ultrasound is January 4th and follow-up with Doc is January 15th. I'll keep everyone posted and you're all in my prayers.

At 18 weeks I had my first ultrasound and from this was diagnosed with complete placenta previa, with the placenta lying at the posterior. Did a little research but had had no bleeds up to that point and so I just decided to take it day by day. Went for my second ultrasound at 27 weeks (still no bleeding) and was told that the placenta had moved slightly but nothing significant. Went for a third ultrasound at 32 weeks and was told that I now had marginal pp but that it was still too close to my cervix for a vaginal delivery. At this point the doctor finally decided to order up a transvaginal u/s and at 36 weeks my placenta had apparently moved far enough away from my uterus that I will be able to deliver vaginally. I am now 37 weeks and feeling fine.

The baby is apparently above average size with the head down and the doctor is astounded that I have never had any bleeds. Throughout this waiting period my doctor has been on the side of caution and very informative. I hope that this is encouraging to newly diagnosed pp's. Good luck to all, Kathryn

due date: July 20, 2002 

 

This is my fourth pregnancy, I have a daughter who is five and we have had two misscarriages before this pregnancy. Last week I went for my first ultrasound at 14 weeks and everything looked good. We were so exstatic that my body held onto to a pregancy this long and that the risk of losing it was all but gone. Since I just into my second trimester I am starting to feel so good, and then my doc calls to tell my that I have PP. I can't sleep, can't smile, can't stop shaking. I am doing better now that I've done a little research and now that I've heard some stories where the placenta shifted upwards, which is what my doctor said would likely happen. I'm just taking it easy for now, I think that I would do anything to save this pregancy, and I have to go for another u/s in two weeks. I'll keep you posted. Just keepin my head up for now, and praying alot.

Born Aug. 28th 2001

This being my 4th pregnancy and as all the other ones were fine we opted to not get an ultrasound for insurance purposes.( This was the only one we didn't have insurance )Well God was surely watching out for me. I was busy all summer taking care of my other 3 and going on vacation. We flew to NH when I was 6 1/2 months along. all this time my pregnancy was fine. I had also been helping my aunt get ready for her daughters wedding, planning showers, etc. Still nothing unusual, then on the night of the shower, August 28th it all happened.(I wasn't doing anything yet so it seemed like I was gonna be pregnant forever. And I sure wasn't excpecting this!!) I had been on my feet all day getting ready, making fruit bowls ,decorating and all that last minute stuff. It was around 6 PM and I was trying to tack some balloons in the ceiling. I was reaching up when it felt like my water broke, I ran to the bathroom and much to my surprise it was bright red blood.I started shaking and hollered for my cousin to get her mom. She came running and I tried to get off the toilet, but I just kept bleeding, so I sat back down.At that time I started hemmorhaging and I got really nervous because I couldn't remember the last time I felt the baby move.My aunt called 911 and the ambulance came, by then I was passing big clots and was shaking. They put an oxygen mask on me and laid me on the kitchen floor, Took my blood pressure and put an IV in.My uncle had called my husband and he came over.(a friend took the other 3 kids for us, my sister was flying out to help, but wouldn't be arriving until the 1st of September) He arrived when they were loading me in the ambulance.It was now about 6:45. On the way to the hospital the baby started to move, so I was quite releived about that. we got to the hospital and they quickly did an ultrasound and found out I had complete previa. So off to the operating room(this was rather scary since I had never had a surgery of any kind)at 8:18 out came Shiloh James w/ an apgar score of 8 and 9. Pretty amazing, the nurses all called him the miracle baby. we were in the hospital for 4 days and I didn't even need a transfusion.(I had been taking iron faithfully during my pregnancy).

So now my little guy is 5 months old and growing like a weed.And I thank God for taking such good care of me during my pregnancy( the more I read about pp the more I'm amazed I had no bleeding until then) and protecting my little angel.

This is an update to my previous story. Seven weeks have passed since I was diagnosed with placenta previa. I am now 25 weeks along. Fortunately, the placenta has moved north and is now just low lying. However, unfortunately, I have a rare condition called placenta diffusa (or placenta membrancea). The incidence of occurance is about 1:20,000 - 40,000. The placenta is very thin and covers about 75% of my uterus. The placenta covers the back, sides and front of the uterus with a little over the fundus BUT no longer over the cervix!

Most placentas are pancake shaped and about 20 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm thick at birth. In placenta diffusa, the placenta is much thinner and can be as large as 40 cm in diameter at birth. Similar to placenta previa, there is high incidences of bleeding through out the pregnancy and during labour. In about 30% of cases, the placenta will not separate completely from the uterus after birth due to the large amount of implatation area. Some of the problems I could face are intra-uterine growth retardation, pre-term labour and antenatal and postnatal bleeding.

I am fortunate that I do not have placenta previa anymore- many placenta diffusa cases do which really complicates the condition.

So, I will be signing off from this website and wish good luck to all previa Moms for a good pregnancy out come.

Best Regards, Lynda