The last 2 weeks has been pretty busy and stressful in my pregnancy with my (complete) placenta previa.
When I was exactly 32 weeks, I started spotting a little and my the next day, it was still going on a little. I called my OB and they said, if you are bleeding at all, you need to go to the hospital right away. I left work during lunch and went straight there. I hung out in labor and delivery for 3 hours while I was hooked up to a monitor and baby boy was doing great. I received the first dose of a steroid shot to speed up his lung development in case he needs to be delivered early. My OB decided I shouldn't go back to work and to put me on "modified" bed rest. I got to go home and was told to go back for the second part of shot the next day. (Most painful shot ever. Seriously, the worst!)
I woke up at 5 am with even more bleeding and we went back to the hospital. The big decision was if I should stay at this hospital or transfer. If I stayed at Ohio Health and had to deliver, there was a possibility that baby would have to go to a NICU at a children's hospital. They'd send him to Nationwide Children that is over an hour away. I'd have to stay at Ohio Health and recover without him. Or they could send me to Akron Children's, where I could deliver, if need be, and he could stay there, too. That's also an hour away.
Josh and I decided to stay at Ohio Health for monitoring because we didn't feel we were in an emergency situation where he would be delivered soon. I stayed for monitoring for around 30 hours and was able to go home on strict bed rest. That evening, I had another bleed that was the worse one yet. We didn't go back because we knew I'd but be hooked back up to monitors and maybe put on hospital bed rest. The doctor told me that with placenta previa, I was expected to bleed or spot.
The real scare would be if there is a major bleed because I would need to rush to the hospital before baby or I lost too much blood. That's what I'm mostly worried about. What if that happens? What if no one is answering their phone? I need someone to drive me 20 minutes to the hospital and someone to watch the kids and Josh works 45 minutes from home. It would definitely be an immediate c section.
So far, I'm taking it one day at a time and counting every day without tearing my placenta as a major win. It's difficult to be at home and see all the housework that needs done and not be able to do it and also not really wanting to tell people to do it for you. But I'm trying to remember to stay on the couch as much as possible so my placenta isn't moving or rubbing on anything.
I don't know when he will arrive. I am almost 34 weeks now. Akron Children's said they recommend a c section between 36 - 37 weeks. My OB is thinking closer to 38-39 for a scheduled c section. I prefer to have him born as early as possible so I can start recovering and mostly stop worrying and get rid of this pesky placenta!
Each week, I have to go to my OB office to monitor his heart beat and movement. That's actually twice a week. He always does really well. And I get 1 ultrasound a week as well as meeting with the doctor. I'm going to try to remember to asked her when she will deliver him for me at the next appointment. This last one yesterday was pretty crazy.
Whew, if you made it this far, I commend you. It is nice to be able to stay home with Penelope in the mornings while my mom takes Oliver to school. Just wish it was warmer outside so the kids could play. I'm running out of activities for them to do that don't require much clean up, or leaving the house.
Hopefully the next post is still a pregnant belly and not a newborn picture!
