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August 2016 Moms
HeyStVincent
member
placenta previa vs placental abruption (TW)
HeyStVincent
member
So, Sunday night I spent a couple of hours in OB triage at the hospital where I'll be delivering. I sent myself there (and called my OB on the way, who agreed I should go there) after I developed heavy, painless bleeding on Sunday night. And by heavy, I mean heavier than anything I've ever seen with a period. This came as a shock because last Wednesday I had an ultrasound and it looked like my SCH had resovled.
Ultrasound in triage showed baby boy was fine and super active. Good heart rate, good development. The doctor could find nothing that indicated where all of the bleeding was coming from. I was discharged and told to follow-up with my OB in the morning to schedule an appt for that week. My appt was supposed to be tomorrow (Weds), but today at work I had another heavy bleed, this time with a couple of quarter-sized clots. I called my OB back and they had me come in right away.
The doctor I saw today still sees nothing concerning other than my placenta being "low" in the uterus. She said the edge of my placenta looks like it's near the cervix. She said that could be the cause of the bleeding (placenta previa) or it might be a small placenatal abruption. She said if the abruption was very small it wouldn't show up on U/S. I am now on a serious activity restriction and have to go back to my OB everytime I have a big bleed (which, at this point, I feel could be every other day). My mom is going to come from out of state to help with my one-year old since I'm not supposed to be lifting much and my husband is never home, and when he is home he's working.
The OB I saw today (not my usual OB) was not very encouraging, which is fine - I want my doctor to be realistic with me and appreciate that. I know bleeding like this in second trimester is associated with worse outcomes, but she stressed that I am at a higher risk for miscarriage. Has anyone been through this or do you know anyone who has been through it? What was the outcome? How was the problem managed? If you're willing to share, I'd like to hear it all (the good and the bad).
Thanks for your time and any words you have to share.
Edit: I should add that I am 17 weeks pregnant tomorrow (Weds)
Ultrasound in triage showed baby boy was fine and super active. Good heart rate, good development. The doctor could find nothing that indicated where all of the bleeding was coming from. I was discharged and told to follow-up with my OB in the morning to schedule an appt for that week. My appt was supposed to be tomorrow (Weds), but today at work I had another heavy bleed, this time with a couple of quarter-sized clots. I called my OB back and they had me come in right away.
The doctor I saw today still sees nothing concerning other than my placenta being "low" in the uterus. She said the edge of my placenta looks like it's near the cervix. She said that could be the cause of the bleeding (placenta previa) or it might be a small placenatal abruption. She said if the abruption was very small it wouldn't show up on U/S. I am now on a serious activity restriction and have to go back to my OB everytime I have a big bleed (which, at this point, I feel could be every other day). My mom is going to come from out of state to help with my one-year old since I'm not supposed to be lifting much and my husband is never home, and when he is home he's working.
The OB I saw today (not my usual OB) was not very encouraging, which is fine - I want my doctor to be realistic with me and appreciate that. I know bleeding like this in second trimester is associated with worse outcomes, but she stressed that I am at a higher risk for miscarriage. Has anyone been through this or do you know anyone who has been through it? What was the outcome? How was the problem managed? If you're willing to share, I'd like to hear it all (the good and the bad).
Thanks for your time and any words you have to share.
Edit: I should add that I am 17 weeks pregnant tomorrow (Weds)
Re: placenta previa vs placental abruption (TW)
TW**
I know one person who had a placental abruption, but she was 41 weeks along. She bled out so quickly that the doctor said she would have died if they hadn't called an ambulance. So, hers was a full placental abruption vs small.
I was reading about this last night, in one of the many many books I bought. The book was called "YOU having a baby." This book had one of the better explanations of both situations, how they differ, and what it can mean. It was just the right amount of snark to temper the fact this is really scary information, and it actually covered abnormal situations in detail. I've found a lot of books tend to focus only on the happy things, with a nod towards "oh, and labor sucks"
Thoughts and prayers to you and the baby, hope all is well.
https://www.amazon.com/YOU-Having-Owners-Healthy-Pregnancy/dp/1416572376