Countoff Days 3, 2, 1 – Previa Problems

To be totally honest, I had an episode of bleeding over the weekend that DrGav told me to expect.  After the ultrasound in the hospital, they found a pocket of blood and clots just behind my internal os.  His opinion is this is due to my placenta previa moving.  After his diagnosis and letting me know it would happen, about 8 hours later I bled red with clots and then brown spotting and then after a day it stopped.  “OK” I thought, “Good riddance, now I’m done with it.”  They are now classifying this now as a partial previa.  I guess if I am lucky it may move entirely away from my cervix and all bleeding will stop. 

Day 3 was uneventful really.  I just relaxed, watched some TV and did a little writing.  So boring, that I decided to combine it with another day, but that ended up being complicated.

On Day 2 the morning and afternoon were a little dull.  I put myself on a fairly strict bed rest because I had my 2nd class for the Labor and Birth Preparation Multiples in the evening.  I went to the class, it included a little more of the same lame DVD, but it did cover a few things I found somewhat useful in talking about hospital intervention and pain medication policy.  Instead of the 2.5 hours it took, I could have just read it in a FAQ and asked about 2 questions, but that’s just me.  I was uncomfortable and eventually tired and cranky.  I just wanted to go home.  A few hours after I got home, I started to feel crampy and even had a couple of strong contractions.  I went to bed, laying on my left side and drank a couple of glasses of water.  Every hour after midnight I would have a couple of contractions, not enough to go to the hospital, but enough to concern us. I could feel both babies squirming away, with the one on the bottom really having an acrobatic circus in there. Finally at 4:30 am I had some bleeding, it was same as the weekend and after that and since all contractions have gone away. 

I called my ObDoc first thing in the morning on Day 1, they got in touch with DrGav’s office and I was in for an ultrasound in the early afternoon.  The ultrasound confirmed both babies seemed to be doing fine, had nice strong heartbeats.  Placentas seemed fine too and the lower one was moving some more.  A new clot and amount of blood was sitting behind the cerclage stitch (it was still holding strong) but it does make an environment where blood can pool and then clot.  If there is enough to irritate the uterus, that is what cause the contractions.  I am back on medication to prevent contractions and hopefully this bleeding will stop soon.  DrGav will see me again on Tuesday and said that if he sees any more bleeding that makes him concerned, he will check me into the hospital just in case.  He congratulated me for getting to week 24, but reminded me that these next few weeks are critical for the babies.

I didn’t want to just write about doom and gloom and worry.   I didn’t want to keep my mind in that place, so I just skipped blogging and reading.  I found that this doesn’t really work.  I miss giving and getting support.  I’m glad I finished my first important countdown.  I am happy I have made it at least to week 24, but the worry will continue to be with me for many weeks to come.  I will take things extra extra super easy.  I put myself on modified bedrest, I stay on the couch all day until MrBeep gets home.  I am alone most all of my waking hours and I am so lonely sometimes. It’s hard not to dwell on fear and problems and worry.  I try to keep positive and optimistic. I talk to the grrl monsters when they are wiggling around, I let them know how hard I am trying to keep them safe. Now only 14 more weeks to go. ;-) As the universe continues to spin and time ticks forward, I will see each day as a blessing, each week as a triumph.