Thursday, February 04, 2010

Bed rest: Weeks 23 & 24

I have been put on bed rest for a torn placenta! Can you believe it?!? I couldn't. Here is the story:

Last Thursday, I went to work as usual feeling nothing out of the ordinary. I get up from my desk every hour or so to stretch my legs and do some light walking to promote circulation. Well, around noon, I get up and I felt a big gush of fluid. My first thought was that my bladder must be weak and that I peed on myself. I went to the bathroom and looked at my undies. There I saw a ton of bright red blood! I totally freaked out. There were other ladies in the bathroom, so screaming was out of the question. I cleaned things up as best as possible and walked out of the stall. A very nice coworker was walking out of another stall as well and saw me and my tear filled eyes. I told her what was going on and she offered to follow me to the doctors office to make sure that I got there alright. I called the doctor and they told me to come in immediately.

Hubby met me at the doctors and they took me back for an ultrasound. The baby looked fine and they told me that my cervix was still long and the placenta was nice and high. I was still bleeding heavily, when I had a vaginal exam, so the doctor informed me that she would be admitting me to the hospital for observation. When I got to the hospital, I felt normal other than a mild cramping sensation. I was hooked up to all of the monitors and had my vitals checked - which were normal. The nurse came into the room after about 20 minutes and asked me if I was in pain. I said no, other than a mild constant cramping feeling. She said well your having contractions, so we are going to give you a shot of Terbutaline to make them stop. With baby only being in the 22nd week, I was so scared that if she delivered, she would not make it. The contractions eventually stopped and things were uneventful for the rest of the evening. The bleeding lessened, but the cramping remained.

The next morning, I was taken for an ultrasound. It was then that they discovered that my placenta was in fact low-lying and there was a small tare in it with several small clots by the cervix. They also noted that my uterus was still contracting. I don't know what they were looking at in my OB's office! With a diagnosis, I was told that I would shortly be discharged. My instructions are to be on bed rest for two weeks and to take a medication called Procardia, 3x per day, to prevent contractions. I have my follow up appointment next Friday the 12th. The hope is that the bleeding will stop and that my placenta will migrate upwards.

I am hoping that everything resolves itself and baby will stay in until term. I am so tired of laying down, but I know that it is in the best interest of Cailey.

10 comments:

  1. Great Post.....

    I found your site on stumbleupon and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!

    Thanks for sharing....

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  2. Oh I can imgaine how scary that was! You poor thing. Well it sounds like they have a plan and I am sure that having to lay down constantly is getting old quick but I pray it works and that she will stay safe and IN for much longer!! Praying for you - best wishes!

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  3. Hey Christina,
    sorry you got such a fright with this! Hopefully the drugs and bed rest will work-I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. I understand you might be getting sick of staying in bed, but remember it is all for a good cause :)

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  4. I have been on bedrest since New Year's Eve. The first week is the hardest. It can be tremendously boring and uncomfortable and frustrating. But I promise you, the first week is the worst.

    After that, it is easier to let go of work worries and house worries. There are still plenty of baby worries, but you are doing every thing you can by resting.

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  5. Here from LFCA. Good luck to you, what a scary scary thing to go through. Hopefully the medicine will do its job and your baby will come right on time, full term!

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  6. Over here from LFCA, keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. That sounds like such a scary experience, and I hope that you and Cailey stay healthy over these next weeks and months.

    Also, it is so awesome that you and your DH are high-school sweethearts!

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  7. Hold in there!! I was placed on hospital bedrest from 18 weeks due to my cervix shortening. I know how hard it is and more so how mentally draining it is, but think of the end result. Now legs up and crossed :-).

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  8. From LFCA and sending many prayers for Cailey!!

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  9. here from lfca. Your little papaya is too cute. I hope the meds are working

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  10. I just wanted to check in on you and let you know I have nominated you for a Bloggers award.

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