My Story

Usually I just post pictures and fluff. I like it that way. Keep things in my life a little private and my very private husband likes it that way. :) Thought I would write a shorter version of "my story." It is still really LONG! But if you have the time and interest. . here it is. . . .

This pregnancy started out as normal as any of my others. Sure I was tired, but what women isn't tired in the first trimester? First appointment (17 weeks) ~ Check. Ultra Sound (20 weeks) ~ Check. My placenta implanted a little low but I was told 90% of placentas move away from the cervix by 32 weeks. I was told no need to worry. We'll do another ultra sound. I thought, "YAY for extra baby pictures!!" It wasn't a week later and I started bleeding. I had "spotted" in early pregnancy before, but nothing like this and we weren't in "early" pregnancy anymore.

Tim and all the kids had piled in the ultra sound room. We saw our baby. We felt her moving. We talked about her and how blessed we were to have a baby coming to our home. She was real in our family. Heck she even had a name, at least her "in the womb name." "GUS" is what we called her.

I went in for an appointment/another ultra sound that day. Heart rate was normal. Baby looked great. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The doctors told me to go home and take it super easy. From 21-26 weeks. . .I did just that. I did a lot of sitting. Every once in awhile I would push it. . .Instead of sitting on my couch. I would "sit" at the water park. Or "sit" at the park down the street. "Sit" in the backyard and watch the kids play. "Sit" at the beach. I did a lot of "sitting." The best "sitting" this lady could do. I would give me a metal in "sitting."

At 26 weeks I continued to have bleeding and massive blood clots and that is when the hospital visits started. At hospital visit 1 I was given 2 steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs "just in case." Anything that I considered out of the ordinary for this pregnancy usually landed me in the hospital and when I wasn't there I was on strict bed rest at home. Between my mom and Tim it was STRICT!! They didn't let me get up for anything. At one point the docs diagnosed me with placenta previa. After one hospital stay my doctor told me, "placentas don't have feet and don't walk, but as the uterus stretches there is a chance that the placenta will in fact move away from the cervix. Week after week I held on to the hope that my placenta would grow feet and move and my world would return to somewhat normal. I would have even settled for the "sitting" phase. In my mind I just knew that every time I had a major bleed the placenta had moved! It hadn't.

Appointment after appointment it was the same information . . . which in my mind didn't help much. It meant nothing to me. I found too much information on the Internet about a condition I wasn't even sure I had. The Doctors recommended bed rest. . and. .we hope we don't see you back in the hospital again . . . etc. . . Never any real answers. And honestly I just don't think they had the answers. At 31 weeks I had hospital stay 2, I was given morphine pills to stop contractions. Which thank goodness did stop them and eased the bleeding. Physically i felt like I could do anything, but emotionally and mentally this pregnancy had taken its toll. After my 3rd hospital stay (34.5 weeks) and a series of morphine injections (3) to again stop labor. This lady was spent. I was emotionally done.

Two days later I came to the hospital for my weekly ultra sound and bi weekly NST (Non Stress test). As soon as I arrived in labor and delivery I was greeted with warm faces that had become my friends. . . I broke down. I kept thinking. . "what am I doing. . . compose yourself Shauna. . you're not a crier." I don't cry. But with so much going on with my body and so many unanswered questions I was a wreck and apparently I am a crier and just so you know I do cry. I cried and shared my concerns with one of my past nurses and boy did she take action. She had my doctor in my room so fast. They did a full work up. . . and a complete ultra sound were they found that my placenta apparently does have feet and had moved away from the cervix, but still no real answers to why all the bleeding and clotting. The next day I woke up with more extreme bleeding and clots. We decided to go in to the hospital yet again. And that brings us to where we are today. . .

Two of my six doctors said. . if they had to put their finger on the situation they would say that my placenta keeps tearing away from the uterine wall . . not all the way just enough to cause clotting and bleeding. . .that temperamental thing. Thank goodness my body clots really well or we would have prob had a baby long ago or no baby at all. The reality is that the doctors really aren't 100% sure what is going on. I just hope and pray every day for a healthy baby and a quick recovery. Is that possible with a c*section? I've had a c*section with the twins and they are brutal, but if that is the safest path to get our baby here I'm on board.

Good news!! My c*section was moved up today to the 20th. Gus and Jacq will share a birthday. I'm sure some day Jacq will not think that is so cool but right now she is so excited for "GIRLS" birthday. :) I love that girl!