TWENTY FIVE WEEK TERROR

You may have read the post about Placenta Previa and all the risk factors. Well, until August 8th I knew these things but had no idea what I was facing. Some people have a previa diagnosis and it resolves. Others, like myself, have a previa diagnosis that just seems to get worse. After my 23 week appointment I learned that the placenta had not moved and the likelihood of it moving at this point wasn't good. However, the specialist only gave me a few restrictions; pelvic rest, no heavy lifting and limited physical activity. So, I went about my merry way in life. I still did a lot, but I listened to the doc too (except for the very occasional picking up a 2 year old).

To end our summer of fun we traveled to Bracketville, TX to visit Mark's Grandad. We had a great time being with some of the Rogers family. The girls had lots of fun swimming and riding the golf cart. After Bracketville we made a trip to Arlington so that Mark could work and the girls and I could have some more quality time with Jeff and Allison (who were visiting from NYC). The girls only get to see them a couple of times a year so we soak up every minute we can with them. Anyway, we arrived in Arlington on a Tuesday and had a relaxing evening. Wednesday was the planned day of fun. Yummy desserts were made and swim bags were packed to go over to a cookout at Allison's parents house. We went, we ate, we swam, we had a great time. That night after getting the girls to bed I watched some funny shows with Mark's Dad and then went to bed around midnight.

I slept until about 1am when I was awakened by a sensation to use the restroom. Much to my alarm it wasn't the right sensation, I was actually bleeding. I immediately woke Mark up and said, "Mark, wake up, I'm bleeding." He jumped up but thought it was going to be a similar to a small bleed incident I had at 21 weeks. He got up and followed me to the bathroom where we quickly realized this was much much much worse than what we had experienced at 21 weeks. As I instinctively decided to lay in the tub, he called our doc in Abilene. Dr. T told us to meet him at the ER, thinking we were still in Abilene. We weren't, we were in Arlington. He said, "get her to an ER." At that point I was starting to feel like I was going into shock. Everything was in slow motion, and I felt like I was worlds behind everyone around me. Mark decided it would be better to just call 911. I couldn't stop being scared that my girls would see the horrible scene. I just knew the ambulance and fire truck would wake them up. I was actually more worried about them than I was about me at that point. Why, you ask? Well, I could feel Hunter moving and I wasn't having contractions so I knew I wasn't in labor. I knew what was happening wasn't good, but feeling my little guy move gave me some teeny tiny comfort. So, I went to the next thing on my worry list and started worrying about the girls. Four EMT's and an ambulance ride later I was being admitted to Medical Center Arlington.

I stayed in the ER where they worked to stabilize me and get me hooked up with IV sites. They also prepped me for a 25 week c-section delivery. The OB Hospitalist  came in and told me I would probably deliver and gave me all the risks and information. We were speechless. Who in a million years after two almost perfect to term vaginal deliveries imagines themselves in this situation? No. One. Right before they moved me to Labor and Delivery they gave me a steroid shot. The shot was not for me. The shot was for my 25 week old baby's lungs. His little lungs that don't know what to do out of a Mommy's tummy.  After about 4 nurses tried and finally got an IV site they started to transport me. When I got to L&D a team of nurses got me hooked up to Magnesium Sulfate. Again, not for me. It was for my tiny baby boy's brain...to prevent bleeds after being delivered at 25 weeks. By this time it was about 3:20 am. I had been bleeding for almost 2 hours. That's not good. So the talks of a blood transfusion started. I'm really not sure what time it was or what really happened after the Magnesium Sulfate started but we waited in the wings of delivering our little boy for quite a few hours. At some point I stabilized and they stopped the talk of emergency c-section, at least for the moment. The next day was filled with high risk doctors, Neonatologists, OB's, Nurses and Perinatologists coming to give me info and ask me lots of questions. It was insanity. A good long 24 hours I never want to relive and wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (which happens to be Mylie Cyrus right now).

So there's all the terrible stuff about the story, but there were A LOT of blessings too. I'll list some of them...
1) We were in DFW...Abilene can't take a baby under 30 weeks in the NICU so IF I had delivered there my baby boy would have been transported here.
2) We were only 10ish minutes from a great hospital
3) My girls NEVER woke up to all the commotion. Did I mention we were all sleeping in the same room? Yep, we were. Angels surrounded their little sleeping bodies and kept them sleeping until morning.
4) We were in Arlington with Mark on a work trip, and I wasn't at home alone. Mark travels a lot and it's not standard for us to go with him. I can't even wrap my mind around this event happening had I been alone with the girls in Abilene.
5) Jeff and Allison were in town and dropped a lot of plans to help us out and take care of our girls.
6) My OB in Abilene prayed with Mark on the phone as he waited for the ambulance
7) The bleeding stopped and I stabilized
8) Hunter is happy and healthy in his womb. He is growing strong and endured no trauma or stress from the blood loss. He is perfect.
9) Hunter got some steroids for his lungs and some Magnesium Sulfate for his brain
10) We have families that will do anything for us.
11) We have been COVERED in prayer, gift baskets, food, visits, and cards. People love to help others in need and in this season we have a lot of need. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those who have supported us and lifted us up.