I was diagnosed with a low-lying placenta at my 20-week scan. They said not to worry they normally move up. Well, of course, I'm not that lucky. I kept getting this pain on the right side where my ovary would normally be. I thought it was normal until I woke up gushing blood. I was 26 weeks and my husband was on a business trip in Kazakhstan! Panic and terror! Luckily, my friends rushed me to the OR and thus started the bad phase of my otherwise perfect pregnancy. I was in and out of the hospital five times with bleeding. Anemia and horrible back pain were the result. I was lucky enough not tohave needed a blood transfusion but it was pretty close!Total bed rest. I lived on the third floor of an apartment in London, England (no elevator) and I had no family there to help at all! My husband travelled a lot and let's just say I was constantly terrified I'd lose the baby. I had tried for two years to conceive him, so the stakes were especially high. All the bleeding aggravated my uterus and cause me to go into early labor. I took drugs to control them (horrible side effects)and had the steroid shots to boost the baby's lungs. I constantly felt my body had failed and couldn't function properly. After all, I had had no periods, then trouble conceiving, now this. What was wrong with me? In the end, I somehow managed to make it to 38 weeks and the placenta had moved up enough that vaginal birth was an option (albeit an iffy one and one that I begged to have a chance for). After 12 hours of nonproductive labor (2 cm - whoopee!), I decided I was too hungry and tired to go on and opted for the c-section. As they lay me on the table, I started hemmoraging! That baby was born so fast I barely had time to realize what happened. My sweetheart Aleksandr Grant was born and my husband was priviledged enough to cut the cord (after scrubbing up with my doctor). The caesarean was the best part of the entire pregnancy and gave me a new faith in doctors. They handled it so wonderfully that I no longer regretted not having a vaginal birth. The aftermath of my pregnancy has had such an effect on my life. I am so grateful for my ''Sasha''. He is the joy of my life. Unfortunately, I am terrified of getting pregnant again. I am interested in hearing from those who've gone on to have a pregnancy -normal or complicated after p.p. I still feel ill every time I see a pregnant woman and I still look at my underpants every time I go to the bathroom expecting to see blood. And every time I hear about another woman who had a 'perfect' pregnancy, I hate her! But after talking with so many women, I've come to realize that we're the normal ones, it's those that don't have complications that are abnormal!

As of March 14th, my story is just beginning - I am beginning my 20th week and was just diagnosed with complete placenta previa one week ago (no bleeding so far, knock on wood). The ultrasound was a few days before that and such a thrill, and my whole pregnancy has been going very well; I guess I was feeling smug. 

When the doctor called and said I have pp, I was not too concerned at first - hadn't read much about it yet. She said not to worry too much but stop having sex and to go straight to the hospital if I have any bleeding. My husband and I became very concerned (and frustrated ...) and started reading everything we could, including this website. I quickly realised how lucky we are to have a doctor who warned us right away - but began to get increasingly anxious! Hubby has been totally supportive but between us we started worrying about my every move - using stairs, reaching for the top shelf, tying my shoes, lifting anything, walking briskly, all those ordinary things suddenly seemed tinged with danger. I could feel my muscles shrivelling! So I spent the weekend mostly lying down, getting depressed reading about premature babies etc. etc. Today we finally saw the doctor, armed with a long list of questions, and she was very reassuring. Said the pp is posterior (thank heavens - this means the c-section wouldn't be as risky and can be a bikini cut), not likely to move but who knows? I probably shouldn't fly across the country to visit my Mom for Easter as planned, which is really disappointing but we had figured this out on our own. If I get stuck with bedrest it will probably be in hospital, yuck! I told my husband he will have to bring me all my meals if this is the case. 

The hardest thing so far is the worry. I hate to think that my baby might not get to have the whole lovely nine months it should to get ready to enter the world. I want to give it the best chance in life! Also, I was having such a blissful pregnancy, and now I seem to have lost that serenity -- but am trying to regain it. One friend suggested I should just view it as normal parental worrying. My very best friend is a dula and she has given me all kinds of wonderful advice and support. I think everything will work out okay but as everybody here knows, it's scary and lots of things can go wrong. 

I'd just like to end this first installment by saying how grateful I am to everybody else who has shared their stories, they really help! My doctor admitted there hasn't been much scientific research (because it's so rare, she said!) -- so all these stories are doubly important in giving me and my husband guidance in what to expect. 

********************

Update (4/19)

As of today I have completed 25 weeks of pregnancy and still no bleeding! 

Having known about pp for about 6 weeks with no complications yet, my 

husband and I have calmed down and begun to enjoy our expectant state 

again. This was enhanced by a happy visit with the doctor last week, who 

was impressed by the large size of my fundus (25") indicating a large baby, 

and also by the baby's activity - he's been getting very busy in there, and 

he showed off for her so much it was hard to find the heartbeat! 

 

The doctor advised I should plan to stop work at 36 weeks (or before if I 

have any bleeding). Our obstetrician will do the c-section at 38/39 weeks 

if all goes well, with our maternity doctor assisting. This pleases us 

very much as we like and trust them both. We are looking forward to seeing 

the ob. (who has ultrasound equipment in his office) but that won't be 

until 28 weeks. I should explain that in British Columbia, one sees a gp 

who specializes in maternity (or just a regular gp) on a regular basis, and 

ob/gyn's are reserved for special cases. We already had one because he 

helped us with our fertility treatment, but he referred us to the maternity 

doctor when we got pregnant (our regular doctor doesn't do deliveries). So 

now we have two doctors and they're both good, a treat! 

All that said, we're still very much running our own show re. my activity 

level; I'm resting more than the mat. doctor requires. I usually lie down 

for awhile when I come home from work (somehow the bed looks very inviting 

at that time anyway!) and sleep in late on weekends. I haven't been doing 

any aerobic activity other than walking, and most of the time I don't walk 

briskly either -- as I get heavier I feel less and less like doing so 

anyway. Also I avoid standing or being on my feet for long periods of 

time, and I put my feet up every chance I get. I will just have to not 

worry particularly about fitness until I have given birth! That said, I am 

trying to keep up some muscle tone by doing the exercises recommended in my 

pregnancy books. 

 

Speaking of books, I have to recommend an excellent one I found called 

"When Pregnancy Isn't Perfect: A Layperson's Guide to Complications in 

Pregnancy" by Laurie A. Rich (1993: Penguin, New York). The author is a 

scientific journalist so she explains everything really well. There's a 

chapter on pp, one on c-sections, another on surviving bedrest, etc. 

 

Another great resource is Sidelines Canada National Support Network -- 

there is a US version as well. It's a support group run for and by parents 

who have, or have had, problem pregnancies. You can find it on the 

internet. They will match you up with somebody who's had a similar problem 

to your own, and then you have an email buddy (or phone buddy) who can give 

emotional support. My buddy has been wonderful already, though we've only 

been in touch for a few weeks. She's even advised me about baby supplies 

-- I'm stocking up now just in case I get put on bedrest. 

 

So -- that's my news, everything's going well and I'm just trying to think 

positive and mentally prepare myself in case of bleeding. I'm getting 

organized at work and at home. And now it is Easter and my Mom is visiting 

(we were going to fly out to see her but of course we're not allowed to 

travel now). She and my husband are making sure I have a relaxing little 

holiday while she is here! 

 

******************** 

Update (7/11) 

 

36.5 weeks, still complete pp, and still no bleeding!!! It looks like 

we'll make it until the scheduled c-section, knock on wood. I have to 

thank my wonderful husband for doing most of the cooking, all the cleaning 

(though not to my standards of course), fetching me endless glasses of 

water, and for saying all the time "Lie down now!" I'm getting to be 

incredibly slothful, but I guess the baby will change my lazy ways in a few 

weeks and it will be a long time before I get this much rest again. 

 

When we saw the obstetrician a few weeks ago, he was very pleased with us; 

it was only then I realised how much he had expected real problems for us. 

Well so did we, I really mentally prepared myself for a long bout of 

bedrest! But as it turned out I was able to work right up to the end of 

June - taking one day off a week and telecommuting another day. Now I am 

keeping as lazy as possible, though doing a bit of shopping still for the 

baby. It is hard to be missing out on summer, as we live in a condo and 

have only a teensy balcony, and I can't go for walks in the park. But the 

c-section is scheduled for July 18th, and hopefully I'll be able to begin 

short outdoor walks a few weeks after that. 

 

One thing we're not thrilled about, the ob. has scheduled an amniocentesis 

to check on the baby's lungs the day before the c-section. He says there's 

only about a 5% chance they won't be totally ready - after all, the baby 

will be 38 weeks by then! - but he still wants to do one. Our maternity 

doctor and the nurse who taught our prenatal classes both agree with us 

that this really isn't necessary, but the ob. is very strong on wanting 

this. How can we say no when it is all about producing a healthy baby? Of 

course it will be uncomfortable, but we are more concerned that it might 

spur on labour, or that if the lungs aren't deemed ready, that I'll go into 

labour waiting for the delayed c-section. If that happens I might have a 

bleed, and also I might not be able to have MY obstetrician and MY 

maternity doctor in attendance, I might not even get to be awake! I'm 

trying not to worry. It will be so perfect if it all goes according to 

plan - I'll have a spinal, be awake, my husband will be right there, and 

we'll both be allowed to hold the baby right away while they stitch me up! 

I'll let you know how it all turns out. 

 

Good luck to everybody else, 

 

Susan 

 

********************* 

Update (11/24/00)

On July 17th we had the amniocentesis as planned, and everything looked fine -- except the baby seemed a bit smaller than originally predicted. (I was also very relieved that for me the experience was painless and easy.) So we went ahead with the c-section next day, and it was a wonderful experience! I really can't regret missing natural childbirth too much, because it felt as special as could be to feel the baby being lifted gently out of me, and to see him held up, wailing and covered in vernix, looking as if he was all painted up for some exotic ritual. Very soon he was checked out and bundled up, my husband held him on my shoulder, and he stopped crying!

due date: June 15, 2000 

 

Hello my name is Nicki & I am 27 years old & pregnant with my second child. My first a son who will be 9 years old in 2 weeks. I didn't have a well pregnancy with my first, I was gestational diabetic & have chronic asthma not to mention that my husband was in the army & in Saudi Arabia for my entire pregnancy & I was all alone for it all. Anyways it finally took my husband & I 9 yrs. to get pregnant with are second and are son was tickled pink he is finally going to be a big brother & my husband & I feel so over joyed The first 3 mo. of this pregnancy I seemed to have vomitted constantly loosing 15 1/2 lbs. And the doctor was never able to find a heartbeat mentioning that it could be related to my tilted uterus so she had an u/s preformed at 14 1/2 weeks they found the heartbeat & baby was perfect stating my due date was rite on. I started to develop a lot of pelvic pressure & pain so at my next dr.s visit I had mentioned it so she again ordered a second u/s which was predormed at 23.4 weeks the u/s tech stated that I had a "low lying placenta" me not knowing what that meant thought I would just call the dr.s office for the results in a couple of days (I also found out that we were having another boy)& ask about the results so on that following fri. I called & the nurse said that everything was just fine with the baby, due date still the exact same, so I said what about the low lying placenta & she said she would have to get with the dr. & call me back on mon. So she did I being at work my husband home took the call & she told him everything seemed fine. So at my next dr. appt. after my vitals were taken by the nurse she said you might make a mental note that you need to get another u/s at 34 weeks so I said what for & she said for that low lying placenta so I'm thinking o.k. So when the dr. entered I asked about this other u/s I would be having & she said it's just a precautionary thing just look at it as another chance to see your baby a lot of u/s are fun to have when your pregnant & then said with the growing uterus it tends to pull the placenta up with it & that was that. So I was talking with my sister that weekend & she had given me a book about pregnancy I has scamming thru it & happened to find a one page article about low lying placentas (placenta previa) so I was pretty much in shock about what it said I then got on the computer at work & found this web site & have been in love with it getting on it at home & work daily. I am now 28.1 weeks today & don't go back to see dr. For another 2 1/2 weeks & I am really mad I have a lot of questions for her to answer not to mention that I still have alot of pelvic pressure & at times like after a long day I feel as though I can't walk from the pain. I feel after reading dozens of these other lady's stories that they're waiting too long to do this next u/s to monitor this placenta, 34 weeks isn't giving them much time if steroid shots or donating my own blood is needed in the following few weeks to come if c- section is needed. I can't belive my dr. isn't really thinking that this could turn out to be a big deal & if it wasn't for my sisters pregnancy book & me falling across this web site I would still be clueless, & in shock if this thing isn't going to correct itself. So far to this day no bleeds thank god & pray that I don't expierience that part of this complication. Thank you for letting me get this of my chest so to speak & if anybody wants to lend any advice please do!! I will update after my next appt.

story: Hi everyone, my name is Shirree, I am 35 years old, this is my husband's and my first child, and we live in beautiful New Zealand. I was so pleased to find this site, before I was uninformed and scared, after reading the stories here am still scared but now informed which I think is much better! 

I was diagnosed with a low lying placenta at 20 weeks by ultrasound scan and was told don't worry, this is common at this stage of pregnancy and 9 out of 10 placenta's move up out of the way by the 3rd trimester, we will check what is happening with another scan at 30 weeks - that was it! no other advice. I took my doctor's advice (to not worry) and to be honest I had never heard of this condition before so I had no idea what questions to ask - after reading this site that soon changed! 3 pages of questions for the specialist whom I saw at 30 weeks !

I had the 30 week scan last Friday and was so surprised when I was told I had complete placenta previa - apparently it had not moved at all since the 20 week scan. I have been very fortunate and have had no bleedng at all which I believe is quite unusual for complete previa. My husband and I were quite shocked as we were certain it would have moved (as we had been told to expect). The radiologist was very serious when telling us this, I asked a few questions but was told to speak to my doctor - who I was seeing 2 days later. I was quite concerned though and phoned my doctor straight away, she already knew as the radiologist had just phoned to tell her, she said that there is still a chance the placenta will move but if it doesn't I will have a c-section at 38 weeks, to phone her if I had any bleeding and she would see me Monday.

It was after this I went home and found this site, and learnt so much, had quite a few cry's at some of the sad stories but am grateful none the less for the information. 

I saw my doctor as planned, she has referred me to see a specialist obstetrician as her knowledge is limited, in fact I got the feeling I knew more than she did ! as a lot of my questions were answered with "you'll have to ask the specialist for an answer to that". Saw the specialist today and don't quite know what to think, he was very nice and knew all about pp, but he doesn't want to see me for another 6 weeks,when I will be 36 weeks, is this too long? he said that since I haven't bled, I am unlikely to so there is nothing to worry about. He said to go about my life as normal just no sex, orgasm's ok tho! He also says there is a chance the placenta may move up as although it completely covers the birth canal, it is the tail end of it so it may be able to move. There is hope! I do feel better after seeing him, but as many other women I have read about here wonder, is he too nonchalant?

I am a bit apprehensive about the next 6-8 weeks and would love to hear from others in the same boat. Best wishes to everyone in the pp club! (7/2/99)

********************

Update (8/30)

Hi again,

Well I had another u/s at 30 weeks and was told am complete pp, another u/s was scheduled for 36 weeks but my specialist said it is very unlikely to move now and to prepare for c -section at 38 weeks. 

Surprise! u/s at 36 weeks (am now 37 weeks) shows placenta HAS moved, it is now sitting just in front of the OS. Told I can have a vaginal birth after all! also told I am having a big baby - AArGH!

Still no bleeding at all!

Specialist said that there is still a risk placenta may cause probs during birth but he hopes baby's head will get into the birth canal before the placenta, and don't worry they can have me in surgery for emergency c-section within 5 minutes - this is supposed to reassure me? 

Or, I can choose to still have planned c-section at 38/39 weeks.

Also, placenta is anterior and always has been, previous diagnosis of posterior was 'a mistake'.

Another u/s is scheduled for next friday 20 Aug. 

Husband and I are worried and very confused, so have decided to get 2nd opinion with another specialist in a few days. So will let you know the outcome.

Thanks for all the support and good luck to everyone else with pp!

*********************

Update (5/4/2000)

Hi to all the worried placenta previa mums out there.

I just wanted to update my story, (it's only been 7 months!!).

I had complete placenta previa (anterior), which was diagnosed at 20 week scan, didn't know anything about it, in fact, had never heard of it. Then I found this site - a godsend!

I was one of the lucky ones and didn't bleed at all whatsoever, I also corresponded with another complete pp mum who also didn't bleed.

My beautiful son was born at 39 weeks gestation by elective c-section on 30/8/99, perfectly healthy and apgar of 10!!

My ob. felt it was safe to let me go to 39 weeks since I had had no bleeding episodes.

We are besotted with our son Jack Brody Lawson as I'm sure all parents are!

Just wanted to reassure you all that although it is scary having pp, almost all outcomes are happy ones, I am proof!!

Thinking of you all, keep smiling!

Shirrees

story: My name is Jen Szklarek and my story has a happy ending. I thank God for our miracles and realize now how lucky and blessed we are. I am sharing my story for two reasons. First, I wanted to prove once again that there is hope! Second, I recently thought about having another child and wanted to share what the experts said about having another baby after a placenta previa condition.

I am the mother of three wonderful children. I married my highschool sweetheart when I was eighteen years old. We were determined to graduate from college on time, even though we were going to have a baby. During my sophomore year, in 1989, I gave birth to our first daughter. Her birth was a challenge and I ended up in an emergency c-section and she was then rushed to Riley's Children Hospital in Indy for her recovery. She had some complications from going through a very rough birth. She is now a blossoming, perfect eleven year old! My first miracle. After her birth, I was told that all my children would have to be C-section. I am 5'2" and my husband is a whopping 6'5" and our babies would all have a potential for being large. 

Well, we achieved our goal and graduated from college on time. We settled back into our home town and in 1992, my second child was born on my 22nd birthday! What a wonderful experience! I went into the the hospital for a planned c-section and shortly after my son was born. He was perfect. The second day of his life our doctor discovered that he had VSD, ventrical syptic defect, a hole in his heart. My second miracle, the hole in his heart closed during his third year of life. 

My first two pregnancies were not planned, which that is an entire different story! My last pregnancy was planned. It was fun to actually try to get pregnant and have it happen when I was excepting it! It only took one month! I was so excited to see the pregnancy test come out positive, I ran into the local McDonald's to see if I was pregnant! I guess I need to work on my patience, I only live one mile away from that McDonald's! 

My pregnancy was going great. I was due at the end of March. I was half way through teaching my fourth grade students and was planning on making it all the way until Spring Break. When I went back to work after Winter Break, I was bragging to everyone how great I felt! I went to the doctor after school and told her how fantastic I was doing! The next morning I woke up and I thought I wet my pants. I went to the bathroom and was shocked by the red! I was unusually calm and asked my husband to please get the children where they need to go because I had a problem. My doctor told me to go to the hospital and my husband met me there. I was wheeled into an ultra sound room and they performed the ultra sound. At this point I was 27 weeks pregnant. The nurse would not let me get up and told me to lay flat on my back, I was getting a little nervous. A doctor came in and told me that I was going to be admitted to the hospital and that I had complete placenta previa. I was told that I would need to stay in the hospital until the baby was born. He then told me all the scary details about this condition. All I could think about was my classroom at school that I left a mess! I was not organized and definitely not ready for my long term substitute! I tend to be one that needs things done perfectly! Then my mind shifted to my family and my home! How would things get done? 

After a week in the hospital the doctor made an agreement with me. He said that I could go home if I had a babysitter. I needed to have someone who could drive me to the hospital if I had a bleed, he said that with complete placenta previa, the baby and I could lose all of our blood in five minutes and calling 911 could be too late. He also wanted to make sure that I had someone to take care of my needs so I wasn't getting up. I was allowed to go to the bathroom and take a quick shower every once in awhile. Looking back on this, I can't believe that I worried about my job! My family, my life, and my prayers are the only thing that I should have been focusing my brain power on. 

Everything was going great. I was following the rules and family and friends were so supportive! Yes, everything went just fine without me being in charge! We had people bring more food than we could possibly eat, I had different friends volunteer to come spend the day with me to help pass the time, I had family members insist on giving their blood so I would have blood in case it was needed for the baby and I. The doctor highly recommended that I had at least six units of blood on reserve. 

My next problem happened when I was 32 weeks pregnant. I had another bleed that soon stopped, but did require another trip to the hospital. Two days later, I woke up and I was actually alone for the first time! My husband took the kids to daycare and then was heading to work, my mother (who was my main sitter unless I had a friend scheduled) took the morning off to go to breakfast with some friends. I had a friend scheduled to be to my house about a half an hour after my husband left. I should have known that would be the exact time of my big problem!!!! It was like someone turned on a faucet, it wasn't the "GUSH" I had heard about, but it was a steady flow. I called my neighbor and she said she would meet me in the driveway, I was in white pj's (Yikes!)and they were a mess. It was useless to change because it was coming to fast, so I grabbed some towels. As I was running down my stairs my husband walked in. He was in shock! He said he had a weird feeling and so he swung back to check on me before he headed off to work. We were off to the hospital, driving way too fast! Melanie Christine was born after an emergency c-section, I was almost 33 weeks pregnant. She weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces, which was very good! She was whisked to NICU with undeveloped lungs. All those painful shots from the home visits from the nurses didn't seem to do their job! She spent about 2 weeks in NICU. She got stronger each day and so did her lungs. She went home and weighed about 4 pounds 6 ounces. They said it was normal for them to lose a little weight.

Melanie is now a healthly, happy four year old. I honestly did not comprehend how serious complete placenta previa can be. After doing a lot of investigating, I now realize how lucky and truly blessed we are. My advice: go seek information from a high risk team of doctors, research, take every precaution that is possible, and prey. Bedrest through a pregnancy is so minor compared to the life of a child. Follow every rule! My gift from God is worth every second I spent laying on my back! 

Additonal Note: My doctor did not recommend any further pregnancies for me. I made the decision to have a tubal done at the time of my c-section. Four years later, I am now 30 and I have to admit I have regretted the decision. My husband told my to go see a specialist and investigate. I drove several hours to meet with a specialist from Indy. He said that he could fix my tubes or I could do invetro. He said that I had a great possibility of becoming pregnant if that is what I wished to do. 

Although, he said that after reveiwing all my records, three c-sections, with the last ending with a complete placenta previa, he discouraged me for trying. He said as my doctor he would be very nervous about it and if he was my husband he would not allow it. He shared statistics with me and I did leave there thanking God for the three healthy kids I do have. The statistics were way to high for me to risk my life and a baby's life as well. The three children I have need a mom. My condition is unique with the fact that I have had three c-sections and a lot of scar tissue built up. 

My heart goes out to everyone with this condition. Mother's with placenta previa are in my prayers! Best of luck to all! Cherish your miracles!