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MY PREGNANCY AND GRIFFIN'S BIRTH
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THE FIRST BLEED
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I was 14 weeks pregnant when I discovered thin pink blood upon wiping.
I
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immediately fell apart and panicked, sure that I was going to lose this
baby that I had wanted all my life. I had expected that if any thing was
going to go wrong, that it would happen in the first 12 weeks, that was
what everyone always said, after 3 months you are home free. My husband
took me to the emergency. I was given an internal exam, however the doctor
said that he was going easy on it since he did not want to disturb the
placenta if it was low lying. A heartbeat was detected and was strong and
healthy, the baby was not in distress. Many 'maybe's' came out of the Dr.'s
mouth... "possible late miscarriage", "possible cervix irritation" and
"possible placenta previa" .
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I knew what pp was but not what it meant for my baby and I. The next day
I went for an ultrasound and the pp was confirmed, and that my placenta
was completely covering the cervical os. I was instructed to stop having
sex (intercourse and orgasms) for the duration of the pregnancy. I was
also told
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"NO EXERCISE OF ANY KIND, NOT EVEN BRISK WALKS".
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WHY THE BLEEDING?? From what I UNDERSTAND from my doctors: Usually the
placenta will attach itself at the top/side of the uterus. With PP, the
placenta attaches itself at the bottom, a part of the uterus that is not
meant for this kind of 'demand'. The bottom of the uterus changes shape
and stretches and expands throughout your pregnancy, preparing for the
growth of the baby and for the baby to move down closer to delivery. The
placenta can lift or tear away from the uterus during these 'shape changes'
causing bleeding.
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Yes, the placenta is the life force for your baby, where blood and nutrients
move from your body to theirs, but if you bleed THIS IS YOUR BLOOD, NOT
THE BABY'S. When the docs told me this I felt much better.
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My Dr told me that 90 percent of pregnancies begin with a low placenta
and that often by 28 weeks it has found it's way back up near the top of
the uterus where it should be. (I should point out, that I thought this
meant the placenta would 'MOVE', but it actually means that as the uterus
grows and expands, the placenta will 'appear' to move upwards, it does
not actually move, but follows the shifting of the uterus.) If this were
not the case with me, I should expect a c section delivery since a vaginal
delivery would be impossible, risking the lives of myself and the baby.
My next ultrasound was scheduled for 28 -30 weeks. During this time, I
was never given an internal exam and all pressure on the fundus was limited
to the top, very little poking and prodding near the bottom so as not to
disturb the placenta.
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THE SECOND BLEED
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My pregnancy carried on from there without further incident. I continued
work (acting and teaching drama to children, light house work, no lifting,
etc.) until 23 weeks, when, after no exertion whatsoever, I stood up from
my chair and felt blood gush. (I tell you this to show that blood can come
at any time, there is no need to think that you 'did anything' to cause
the bleeding, however take the careful precautions none the less.) This
'gush' was the same feeling, and as much blood as a first day heavy period.
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Kevin (my hubby) drove me to the hospital (about 20 min away) in about
9 * minutes. They rushed me right on thru to labor and delivery. (Although
I did not know at the time, they thought I was going to deliver, and brought
me right to this ward. This is a precaution they take in order to be ready
for an emergency c
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section.) My blood was typed in case the need for transfusion. (never needed).
I was put on an iv drip. An ultrasound showed that the placenta was running
down one side of my uterus, across the cervical os and growing back up
the other side. The baby was in no distress and growing at fine and normal
speed. However, the nurses told me honestly that if the baby were born
now at 23 weeks, there would not be a lot they could do for him. Right
now they were concerned with my health and blood loss. Since arriving at
the hospital, I had felt 4 'gushes', the last 2 being described by the
nurse as "Nothing at all, not to worry!" I was given a shot of steroids
specifically for helping the baby's lungs to mature faster, although the
docs said that at 23 weeks, it may be too early for these to make a difference.
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After 2 hours, I stopped bleeding entirely, but was still confined to TOTAL
bed rest, with bed pan use only. I was admitted over night as they do not
release pp patients unless they have stopped bleeding for 24 hours. In
the morning I was able to get up and go to the washroom, where I panicked
again at the site of brown discharge. I was told this is the old blood
from the episode clearing itself out. I was released 24 hours after admission
with instructions from the Dr on call: "no sex, no exercise, bed rest as
much as possible, no lifting, no sneezing or coughing. (If I were to get
a bad cough I was to take a powerful cough medicine to prevent it.) I found
out later from my OBGYN, that these were EXTREME instructions, however,
it was not hard to avoid sneezing for the rest of my preg, and although
it probably would not have made any difference, it made me feel better.
Also, I was told I MUST keep my bowel movements regular and soft, as straining
to have a movement would also threaten the placenta. In hindsight, this
on-call Doctor in the hospital may (all my other Drs agree) have leaned
to far to the side of caution. My own Doctor was telling me to go ahead
and keep working. I chose to err on the side of caution and quit my job,
restrained ALL sneezes (for 9 solid weeks!) and spent a lot of time laying
down.
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After my discharge from the hospital, I was referred to an obgyn, a specialist
with a lot of experience with pp. He was a little less cautious, warning
only against sex and exercise, however he did drop 2 bombshells:
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#1. I would have to be admitted to hospital at 32 weeks for the duration
of the
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pregnancy since the risk of bleeding becomes greater then. Apparently,
the uterus begins to expand at the bottom, increasing the chance that the
placenta will pull away from the uterine wall. I would be in hospital under
observation in case I began to bleed again (according to this Dr, the bleeds
would get worse each time, that I should expect bleeding, not to freak
out, it was all part of placenta previa). So, I prepared for a 4-6 week
stay in hospital. This Dr planned to do an amniocentesis beginning at 35
weeks and as soon as the lungs of the baby were mature, he would perform
the c section.
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#2. There was the remote chance that the placenta would have grown into
the uterine wall, making it impossible to deliver/remove, causing life
threatening bleeding. The only option if this were to occur would be to
perform a hysterectomy. He assured me that this would be a last resort
and only if it were to save my life. In his career he had only ever had
to do this once. I was asked to sign a release form stating that I gave
permission to perform the hysterectomy "IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT" I knew
that I could accept this occurrence but ONLY if the baby in my womb right
then survived.
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THE THIRD BLEED
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Again, no episodes until 29 weeks, when a thin pinky wipe again meant another
trip to the hospital, another admission and all the same precautions as
above. At this point the staff were positive about my baby's chances if
born now. However, this bleed was not nearly as bad as the 23 week one
(never a gush, only the one wipe) and none of us were really expecting
the baby to come, all monitors and ultrasounds showed the baby was fine
and the placenta still down south. At this time I was given a second shot
of steroids for the baby's lungs. I had received the first shot at 23 weeks,
but at that time, the docs thought that would be too early to have made
a difference. I was discharged again the next day after no bleeding. Home
again and on the couch, cooking the baby. At 30 weeks + 3 days, I found
'old brown' blood on a wipe. This did not scare me nearly as much. As my
husband and I were on the way to the hospital for prenatal classes anyway,
I dropped in to tell the nurses on the pre-delivery ward (a place I had
come to know all to well by now). They surprised me by saying they though
it was enough to admit me again. Another shot of steroids.
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This time I did not get to go home.
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My obgyn came in the next morning and said that 3 bleeds was just too many
for him to feel comfortable sending me home.He wanted me in now for the
duration. To tell the truth, I was relieved, I never relaxed at home, worrying
about another big bleed when Kevin was out, or not getting to the hospital
on time. Going into the hospital for (what I thought was going to be) 5-6
weeks was not difficult for me. I had quit my job and had no other children
at home. I was given passes to go to restaurants or movie theatres across
the street from the hospital. I know that this ' incarceration' is not
as easy for other ladies, especially those with children at home. On Sat,
June 8, the Dr on call gave me a tour of the nicu and the OR.
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On Sunday, June 9, I had brown spotting and was put on bed rest again in
my hospital bed. (Up till now I could visit my new pp friend Monica in
her room, go for walks around the ward, walk tot the nursery, the TV room,
and 3 hour passes to go across the street. Here I was back in bed).
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I remember worrying out loud to a nurse once that what if I started the
BIG BLEED in the middle of the night. She said "oh, don't worry, you will
wake up. That is one thing about being pregnant...you know that you are
NOT supposed to bleed, so whenever you do, you notice it!!"
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Funny we should have this conversation.....
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At 6am on Monday June 10th I woke up feeling a 'gush', buzzed the nurse,
who immediately came running with Maalox (I had wicked heartburn and asked
for it at least every 4-6 hours, so she naturally assumed.....) but alas,
this was not a heartburn issue. Sudden flurry of activity. Fetal monitors,
some medicine that I cannot remember the name of to calm down my slightly
growing contractions.... COMPLETE WEIRD MAJOR ALLERGIC REACTION!!!....Suddenly
I can not keep my eyes open...everyone in the room seems to be 4000miles
away, I am slurring my words, my blood pressure is low, and I am sooooooo
dizzy although I am laying down. In the event of surgery, they have told
me nothing to eat or drink......NOT EVEN MAALOX!!!!! HEAVEN FORBID!
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Another shot of steroids (but who knows if they made any difference...with
Griffin being born the same day).
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Ok, I am going to be a bit more graphic now. This bleed was a gush about
every 3 min or so. enough to soak a pad in less than an hour. I mention
this since that was something that my doc focused on a lot when we discussed
how much blood there had been in my previous episodes. Apparently he worried
only when you could soak a pad in under an hour.Well, my bleeding quit
at about 1pm, for at least a few hours, the nurses allowed me to eat then.
3 GLORIOUS WEDGES OF WATERMELON FROM THE GODS before I started bleeding
again around 3. By 6 pm my baby's heartrate was getting too fast (little
did I know that this is dangerous too...I thought it was just a low heartrate
that was worrisome). And so at a few minutes past 6 pm on the first day
of my 32nd week of pregnancy, the decision was made to do an emergency
c section.
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Even Bigger Flurry Of Activity. Signing forms that authorize docs to perform
a
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hysterectomy if I won't stop bleeding was the absolute hardest part (this
never had to happen thankfully). Catheters were inserted, IVs and blood
pressure finger monitors. My Darling Darling Hubby, who had come in the
morning, left when I quit bleeding and rushed right back when I started
again, was suddenly trying to make frantic phone calls to moms and moms
in laws all the while being instructed on how to get into scrubs and wash
up. Bless his heart he made faces at me thru the window of the OR while
he was changing to make me giggle and relax.
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C-SECTION TIME
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Now let me tell ya. I was not concerned about having a c section, heck,
they could have ripped Griffin out my left nostril and I wouldn't have
cared. Just let him be OK. But I know there are many women out there who
are sad to not have a 'normal' birth. My first bit of advice, change the
word normal to 'vaginal'. You are spared the contraction pain but make
up for it in major surgery pain during recovery afterwards, and otherwise
there are not many differences. I was able to be awake for the birth (this
may not always be the case, depending on the seriousness of the bleed).
At the moment that they brought Griffin out of the womb, they dropped the
surgical screen so that Kevin and I could see Griffin born.
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It is true, I have not experienced a vaginal birth, but I cannot imagine
that the joy of seeing your baby born that way could be any greater than
what I felt at that moment.
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I was expecting a 3 1/2 to 4 lb. baby. Griffin was 5lbs exactly. He scored
9 on both apgars. He was breathing on his own. This may have been due to
the steroids I received (3 shots over the 10 weeks) or, as I read in What
to Expect the FirstYear by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff and Sandee
E. Hathaway, BSN © 1989: "Babies who have undergone severe stress
in the uterus, usually during labor and delivery, are less likely to lack
surfactants (a detergent-like substance that gives the lung surfaces their
elastic properties) as the stress appears to speed lung maturation."
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I could not hold Griffin right away since he had to be rushed to the NICU,
but Kevin held him up to me and I touched his wee wee cheek and I am bawling
my eyes out at this moment remembering.
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I held him for the first time at 11 hours old. He was in an incubator on
oxygen and an IV in his head (a precaution for possible infection so they
tell me). On Griffin's second day of life he started to go backwards. There
was talk of transferring him to the larger hospital and venting his lungs
to add some surfactants, but after 2 days (during which we could not hold
him) on his back with an IV in his umbilical cord to monitor blood gasses
better, he proved everyone wrong, and turned back around.
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He has been like this all of his life. Every time I begin to worry about
ANYTHING, he immediately does or does not do what ever it was I was pulling
my hair out about.
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When Griffin was 6 days old, they removed his IV, on day 7 he graduated
to the bassinet and room air. We tried breast feeding on day 4 - it went
slow. He could not stay awake since he spent all of his energy working
those little lungs. So he stayed in hospital to eat and grow. He nursed
every second feed, but was tube fed every other one, to make sure he got
a proper meal, to build up his strength.
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On day 21, June 30, 1996 my darling pickle came home to his father and
I.
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He has me wrapped around his tiny little finger and there is no where else
I would rather be. (2/15/99)
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