Monthly OB Appointment

This morning started off as a very typical morning, the alarm went off more times than anyone should allow, followed by lots of kicking until I finally got out of bed.  Once I was finally moving, I was on my way to my monthly OB appointment. 

When my OB arrived, we spent some time small talking and then it came time for the doppler.  For the first time ever, my OB was not able to immediately fine Baby's heartbeat.  After multiple tries, I could tell she felt something was wrong.  Just as I thought she was going to tell me that I had lost Baby, I felt a bunch of kicks.  She opened her mouth to say something and I cut in with Baby is fine, I can feel Baby moving.  She then performed an ultrasound and found the root of the problem.  My placenta is positioned in an abnormal way, therefore was blocking the doppler from the normal location to find Baby's heart beat at this stage.  On examination, it was discovered that my placenta is covering my cervix by about 50%.  This is a major concern, as typically by late second trimester, early third trimester the placenta is towards the top of the womb, therefore not blocking Baby's only route of entrance into the "real world." 

My OB and I spent a great deal of time talking about what this meant in regards to both Baby and my health as we move forward in the pregnancy.  I learned quite a bit that I had no idea about today.  Apparently as Baby grows, the placenta can shift as it grows, so the placenta could move away from my cervix, stay where it is or cover my cervix completely.  My OB assured me that this is something at this point that we cannot do anything about and that there was no way that I could have caused this to happen, so it is just one of those fluxes of nature. 

The medical term for what was found is Placents Previa.  This complication apparently occurs in 1 out of 200 pregnancies, so not that terribly uncommon.  In speaking with my OB, this can be found more commonly in women who have already had a c-section.  I am having minimal side effects from this at this time.  My OB feels that the contractions that I have been having all along could in part be related to the placenta location, as well as the 2 times that Daddy and I almost went to the hospital due to the pain/contraction combination that I have had over the past month.  At this point both Baby and I are safe and doing just fine, however are now requiring closer monitoring, so are now considered high risk.  Things that we have to watch out for is sudden heavy bleeding.  The amount of blood loss is the concern with Placenta Previa, and if that were to occur, we would be admitted to the hospital and possibly given blood transfusions, meds to stop labor or sent into the OR to have a c-section for both of our protection dependent on how far along we are.

So, what does that mean to us right now... Well, I have been put on modified bed rest and lifting restrictions.  I am allowed to stand no longer than 2 hours at a time with a minimum of a 30 minute rest before standing again.  I have also been put on lifting restrictions of 20 lbs with one exclusion, I may carry Miles for no longer than 20 minutes as a time, with the recommendation of no longer than 20 minutes every 2 hours.  Thank you Miles for being such a peanut at 23 lbs that I am still allowed to pick you up!

This also means that unless the placenta drastically moves up in the womb, we are heading to another c-section.  I am fine with that, as I understand that in my case this will actually be our safest bet.  My uneasiness comes with the thought that they are not willing to let me go any further than 38 weeks at the current moment and I had wanted to make it to 41 weeks and 1 day for a few reasons:

1) At a minimum, I wanted to make it to my due date for Baby's development
2) I made it to 41 weeks with Miles and he still did not seem ready to "meet the world"
3) I really wanted to be at work on April 29 and 30 for the opening of the new hospital... As silly as that may sound, this has been a professional goal of mine for 7 years, and to miss it by a week is absolutely crushing.

I am now working hard to put these thoughts aside as I have to do what is medically recommended for both Baby and I now that I am experiencing the complication.