Coming to Terms with PP
Sharing more details of the situation of this pregnancy. Warning: it's a mouthful. At my 21 week scan, everything with baby looked normal but my doctor mentioned there was something that she wanted to bring up to me - my placenta was lying low near my cervix area. She didn’t want to worry me but she wanted me to be aware that this happens one in every 200 pregnancies. Nine out of ten times, the placenta will naturally move itself to the top and away from the cervix, allowing me to have a vaginal birth. She went on to say that in the case that my placenta doesn’t move, she will want to transfer me to another hospital that specializes in cases like this.
Weeks went by, and by the time I reached 31 weeks, my placenta still had not moved and was completely covering my cervix, therefore I was diagnosed with complete placenta-previa which requires a c-section, and advised to transfer to another hospital where they could monitor my pregnancy more closely.
In situations like this, I usually tend to pinpoint the root of the issue, like how did this happen and why. But there are really no specific reasons why placenta-previa happens or any solutions to it other than it just happens. (Side note: this made me also think about how many women in history have lost their lives to childbirth before modern medicine, at the same time so curious about how indigenous practices were handled in situations like this.) I felt like I had absolutely zero control of the situation. I left that appointment feeling defeated and helpless; I even had my own little mini anxiety attack, crying my eyes out to Noke about all the feels. Finally, after coming to terms with it, I decided I needed to put aside my own personal reasons and preferences and just do everything it took to safely birth this baby.
Along with gestational diabetes (which is something that actually can be controlled via food monitoring), my pregnancy with placenta-previa was then considered a high-risk; since the placenta is near the cervix, it is common to go into preterm labor (symptoms include bleeding) and that could be life threatening for both baby and mother. There is a high chance of severe bleeding, even after a c-section, which is why I am also doing something called an autologous blood transfusion where they take out about 350 grams of my own blood once a week for the next 3 weeks I am here - coming out to 1,050 grams of blood total. Did you know a woman could lose up to an average of 1,000 grams of blood after a c-section? I am also taking medicine for anemia, not necessarily because I am anemic, but to help produce blood flow in my system for when they are taking out and collecting blood each week. So the plan is to have all this "back-up blood" ready in case I need it post c-section. If that was a mouth full to read, imagine being told all of this in Japanese, lol. TBH, I am quite impressed with all the preparations going on ahead of time to bring this baby into the world.
Fast forward to today - we are on day 8 on hospital bedrest and I have been told that my c-section date will be at the end of the month. Baby's due date was supposed to be in late March, but now it looks like this baby will be arriving a whole month earlier, a late/preterm baby, which is also amazing and comforting to be already checked-in here in this hospital with a MFICU (Maternal Fetal Intensive Care Unit) that also includes the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). The goal is to make it to 36 weeks without heavy bleeding/going into early labor, so each week is definitely a milestone. It took me a while to be okay with this whole situation, but the longer I am here and have time to process my thoughts and emotions, I realize this is the best place to be cared for in my condition. Although you can never really fully be prepared for anything, I feel comfort knowing we are doing all we can with the situation at hand and what is to come.
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