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- I started to experience brown spotting for
several weeks, which turned to bright red and
became quite heavy. I was hospitalized at 17 and
a half weeks and was there for three weeks.
During that time, I had severe bleeding, was
diagnosed with a large clot in the base of the
placenta, and had a few contractions.
Fortunately, my hemoglobin count came up after a
blood transfusion, and at 20 and a half weeks
they are allowing me to be at home. While the
bleeding continues, it is less than it was, and I
am modifying my activities. They say strict bed
rest does not really help. Because they admitted
to me that there is nothing they can do at the
hospital that I can't do at home, they've allowed
me to be home as long as I come in if the
bleeding increases or there is pain. I've
experienced mild cramping with the bleeding, but
nothing extreme. If I continue to bleed after 24
weeks, they told me I'm in until the baby
arrives. Does all this sound consistent with what
you know about placenta previa? (6/5/99)
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- Update (6/19/99)
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- Unfortunately, we've lost the battle.
Notwithstanding a successful blood transfusion
and tons of prayers, our daughter, Bronwyn Claire
was stillborn on the 6th of June. They could not
stop the labor. She was only 22 weeks old and a
little over a pound, so she didn't stand a
chance. The bleeding was very heavy for several
weeks, and finally my body just could not hold
onto our precious girl.
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- It is hard for us being here without family,
although, since we've lived here for a little
over a year, we've been blessed with some
wonderful friends.
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- You are more than welcome to share my story on
the internet, but it has such a tragic end, I'm
not sure it is what newly diagnosed moms want to
hear. The one thing that is important about my
story, however, is the timing. Apparently, less
than 1 percent of pregnant women have bleeding
like this between 15 and 20 weeks. Mine started
at 17 and a half, and ended with Bronwyn's
stillbirth at 22 weeks. There was no requirement
of strict bedrest here in NZ, which I shall
always question. I was just told to
"relax." Even at the hospital, I was
not encouraged to stay in bed. They told me I was
there merely for monitoring. It may have been
simply, that there was nothing that could be done
in my case. But, if you have others with similar
questions, I would tell them to have
- complete bedrest, if for their own piece of mine
if for nothing else.
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- We desperately want to try again once we are
able, and once we are assured that we won't have
to go through this event again.
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- If you think my story would help someone else be
more prepared than I was, please do print my
story. I know that Steve and I just weren't
prepared, because we only heard positive stories.
It may have helped us, had we known how things
could turn out.
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- Subsequently, we learned a lot about what should
happen with stillbirth. Fortunately, our doctor
was wonderful, and we held Bronwyn and took her
picture and took home hand and footprints to
remember her. At the time, it was not something
we wanted to do, but now we are so grateful. It
would be good for someone in danger of stillbirth
to be prepared for what they should do to help
with the grieving process.
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