Curve Ball

(WARNING: possible TMI)

Welp, the last few weeks have been quite different than we had planned on.

On May 2, at 13.5 weeks, I suddenly started bleeding really heavy.  It was terrifying.  I thought for sure that I was losing the baby.  I quickly laid down and with trembling hands grabbed my fetal doppler (similar to what doctors use to listen to the baby's heartbeat).  Thankfully, oh so thankfully, the baby's heart was still beating nicely.  Unfortunately, I was still bleeding a LOT.  Reid came home quick and took me to the doctor after dropping Connor & Rhett off to wonderful friends.  After all the panic and tears, Reid and I were pretty emotionally spent and starving...so with a few minutes to spare before my appointment, we went through the McDonald's drive-thru for some ice cream (chocolate shake for me, vanilla cone for him) and a Big Mac to share.  Emotional eating at its finest.

My bleeding had slowed down, but not stopped.  We went back and the doctor did an ultrasound and checked things out.  It was nice to hear the baby's heartbeat again.  He found that my placenta is completely covering my cervix (complete placenta previa), and that is the cause of the bleeding.  Unfortunately, this condition comes with some nice restrictions.  I had to be on bed rest until the bleeding completely stopped (a few days).  Then pelvic rest, no lifting more than 5lbs, no exercise, no air travel, "take it easy", etc. until/if it migrates far enough away from my cervix to not be previa anymore.  He wasn't too confident that it will move in time for delivery, given how complete it looked, meaning C-section at about 37 weeks if all goes well (if I have hemorrhaging earlier on that can't be stopped I'll have to have an emergency C-Section at that time).  I know there is still time, and still a small chance for it to migrate, so I'm trying not to lose hope.

We were so happy that everything with the baby was ok!  So many scenarios had enter into our minds during that unknown period.  One of the biggest bummers is that we were supposed to leave on a wonderful 10-year Anniversary 7 day get-away to NYC 2 days later.  We had to cancel all the travel plans that we had worked on for months.  We had tix to see Late Night with Seth Meyers, and tix to see Jimmy Fallon's monologue rehearsal before the Tonight Show.  We had tix to see the Broadway musical, Newsies.  Ah.  So sad.

BUT...with all that disappointment, I recognized pretty quick how blessed we were that this happened before we left.  It very easily could have happened on the airplane, and would have definitely happened with all the walking we were planning to do in NYC.  That would have been an awful situation, and I'm so glad we didn't have to deal with it away from home!

Another amazing blessing is that Marilyn, Reid's mom, was flying in that night to watch our kiddos while we were on our trip.  Instead, she was here for 10 days to help me get the rest I needed.  She was incredible.  She cooked, she cleaned, she did laundry, she took boys to school and baseball, she finished unfinished projects, she left meals in the freezer for after she left.  I am forever grateful that I was blessed with such a wonderful woman for a mother-in-law.  She treats me like her own daughter.  I love her so dearly.

Since then, things have been interesting.  I'm 17.5 weeks now.  I have been taking it really easy, considering I'm usually a really active person.  I have good days and bad days.  I thought things were getting better, but the last 12 days in a row I have had bleeding, which is annoying, frustrating, and stressful.  I know another big bleed can happen at any moment.  This condition can be really unpredictable.  I have had to cancel future obligations, and will most likely have to cancel summer vacations.  I have an appt. tomorrow and hopefully can get some of my concerns addressed.  I will have an ultrasound soon too, which will hopefully give us some answers.  If it's still complete previa, I will probably feel more comfortable seeing a high-risk specialist in Billings for the future.  We shall see.

I was feeling really down and depressed on Sunday, just really feeling the weight of this condition.  My dear, loving husband, Reid, gave me a priesthood blessing of comfort that really helped calm my fears.  I know the Lord is with me, and is happy that I'm making this sacrifice to bring one of His precious children to the world.  It really is a small sacrifice.  I know things will work out.