Last night (Monday) I took my final for my human growth class and left feeling pretty damn good about it. I came home and learned that my cousin finally got the funds she has been waiting for and is set to move into the most adorable early 1900s house downtown in less than two days. We were/are so elated! B and I laid in bed and congratulated each other on getting through the last almost four months with four house guests and surviving. WHEW! B made a margarita in front of me, I smelled it, and wished I could have one myself. Then I turned into bed and slept well.
During the day (Monday) I had a pain return. Last week I was treated for an infection which I was certain was the source of the pain, but alas, it came back and I was worried. Fast forward to this morning. I called my midwife and told them what was going on. They asked that I come in right away. I wasn't too worried. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Then. THEN it took the midwife almost FIVE WHOLE minutes to find the bean's heart beat. DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH THAT SUCKED?! I didn't start to worry until she said something like, "Well, if we don't find it then you get an ultrasound!" Not 30 seconds later the little turkey finally made itself known. Healthy 150BPM. She checked everything else out, took some swabs and was still puzzled. We decided an ultrasound was a good idea. The pain I've been having starts in my belly button and travels straight down. All the way down. It's sharp and very uncomfortable. Could be muscles, even after the results of the ultrasound. Who knows.
So I worked some more, ate an awesome Caesar salad, and walked back over to the clinic. And I must say....I LOVE that my midwife is across the street from the hospital. Plus, I see them almost every day. I love it. B met me for the ultrasound. He was not with me the first time around 13wks so we were both a little excited. Baby looks amazing. It was being very quiet and relaxed. Healthy heart beat again. Measuring well. The "oh shit" moment? I noticed that my placenta was laying flat below the baby (as seen in this photo):
I am no ultrasound expert, but the thought crossed my mind, "Is my placenta covering my cervix?" I brushed it off since the tech had been talking to us about everything the entire time and didn't mention it. Then at the end she asked if I'd had any bleeding. Nope. None. Now, I know why. I waited to talk to my midwife while the tech made her notes. She confirmed I do have another weird infection so new antibiotics were prescribed and then, the bomb: I have a complete placenta previa. This means exactly what I suspected: my placenta is totally covering my cervix which means I am at a very high risk for bleeding, especially as the baby grows more. I have been restricted to only doing light jobs and tasks, no heavy lifting, jumping, etc.
Since it's still early, there is a very good chance the placenta will move away from the cervix as the baby and my uterus grows. However, if it doesn't, then I'm looking at an automatic c-section. This scares the hell out of me. Actually, all of this is scary. The bleeding in PP doesn't usually start until the middle of the 2nd trimester and can result in moderate to complete bedrest. I am trying to stay hopeful and pray that it will move away in time for me to have a normal vaginal delivery without any bleeding complications along the way. The hard part is that I just know too much. I did a huge case study on this exact diagnosis for my med term class. So please send happy thoughts and prayers that all will be well and that the placenta will move. Physically, it doesn't actually move...it moves with the growth of the uterus. I'm just hanging in there and staying positive. So thankful for an otherwise very healthy baby.
1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Well, I can't eat ice cream anymore, but it used to be cookie dough. Now, I can only eat the lactose free vanilla bean which is good, just not the same.
