Looking for a shoulder to lean on

[Mommieof3monkeys]

A little background. I have 3 kiddos currently pregnant with #4. My youngest is a little over a year old. When I was pregnant with him I had a complete previa. I was nervous but I have a great doctor and he reassured me it was pretty common. At 35 weeks I had a placental abruption and was hospitalized until I delivered at 38 weeks. DS is fine, he did not have any complications from the abruption. I however was not so lucky, during my c/s it was discovered that I also had accreta and my placenta had grown into my bladder. This caused crazy amount of bleeding during the c/s, I almost ended up with a hysterotomy (sp?) because after 2 hours in the or the bleeding was still not under control. My doctor who I adore would not let that happen, he spent an additional 1.5 and ended up getting the bleeding stopped. I was so scared. I was awake for the whole operation and could see blood dripping onto the floor etc. After the c/s I continued to have an abnormal amount of bleeding and passed softball sized clots. I was terrified. In the end my doctor ended up getting things under control. This was a very tramatic experience and something I never wanted to repeat. Fast forward to yesterday.

I am currently 20 weeks with lo #4. I just had my 20 wk scan yesterday. Baby looks great and it's another boy however it was discovered that I have an abnormally large placenta. A placenta should cover 1 of the 4 uterine walls. Mine covers 3, it is 75% large than it should be. It is a large U shaped mass. It was confirmed by my doctor, the same wonderful doctor I had before that it is indeed all placenta. I am terrified. If I had these issues last time with a normal sized placenta, I cannot imagine what is going to happen this time. I am sooooooooo scared of dying during delivery. My kids are young and they need me. I cannot help but feel so depressed over this. My doctor is not terribly concerned, he just worries that it may develop into an accreta again and adhere to other organs. This freaks me out. He also said we will make sure to have extra blood products on hand. Has anything like this ever happened to any of you before?? I am so scared my doctor even said he has never seen anything quite like what I have.

If you made it through all of this thank you

[Docs Wife]

Hi mama I just went through something very similar. I also had a complete previa as well as percreta, my placenta was also larger then normal. I was put on bed rest of almost a month at the end of my pregnancy due to the fact that I kept bleeding. I had a scheduled c-section/hysterectomy planned for 34 weeks but started have severe bleeding that wouldn't stop at 33&4 days. I was taken back for an emergency c-hyst. I was placed under general anesthesia partly because I had just eaten. My docs were planing to have to transfuse between 6-12 units of blood, but I only ended up needing 4. I like you had some damage to my bladder and ended up needing to have a catheter in place for 2 weeks to allow it to heal. My recovery was surprisingly very similar to my previous c-sections. My docs were able to leave my ovaries so I have no issues there. If I had to make the decision again I would do it in a heart beat. I had a team of awesome Dr.s and after my discussions with them weighing the risks I 100% feel that we made the right decision for our situation and our family. If you have any questions or would like more details feel free to pm me.

[IsaacsMom2009]

mama. Your doctor sounds amazing, so I think you are in good hands.

[HGrace]

Just wanted to give you big and let you know I'm praying for you! I'm glad someone has already posted a similar story that ended well- we are all believing the same for you!!

[klevmomma]

I don't have any help / advice, but am sending you prayers and healthy vibes! SS you are dealing with this, mama. I think it is normal and okay to feel scared. Definitely talk to your care team and ask lots and lots of questions!

[meganne79]

Hugs mama! That is so scary! I had an undiagnosed accreta with my first DD which resulted in a complete uterine inversion at delivery. They were able to fix me and save my uterus but not before I nearly bled out. I had multiple transfusions, couldn't get out of bed for 6 weeks without feeling like I was going to pass out and severe PTSD as a result (I was awake too and have very vivid memories of the feeling of the blood pouring out of me and hearing it splash on the floor so I get you there!). Fast forward to my second pregnancy - it was completely uneventful as far as my placenta and uterus go. I was followed very closely by a MFM doc. who monitored my placenta for accreta etc. every few weeks. It is not a 100% guarantee as they are hard to diagnose but it was really comforting to know they were so concerned. Now this time around I have a complete previa with quite frequent bleeding so there is pretty serious concern that I have another accreta. If my placenta does not move/bleeding stop I will be scheduled for a section with likely hyst. as well.

Not exactly the same situation as you but I completely understand your fears! I'm terrified of leaving my kids motherless too and will be done having kids as I can't handle the fear another time. I would strongly suggest that you be VERY open with your providers about your fears. Ask tons of questions too. It sounds like they are already preparing for a tough delivery but it doesn't hurt to ask and know what they will do "just in case." It helps me to know that they have an OR on stand-by for me, extra blood products already pulled, and the anesthesiologist in the hall "waiting." It just gave me a little peace to know that everyone was ready if something were to go wrong last time. It will be the same this time unless a section is necessary.

Also, you are at a higher risk for another accreta but it depends on where your placenta adhered. I can promise your doc will be looking closely at that.

My other advise is find someone to talk to about your past trauma - preferably someone who specializes in birth trauma. I've had a lot of the PTSD issues that I thought I had worked through creep back up this time; especially facing a possible traumatic delivery again. Living in terror for the next 5 months isn't gong to be good for you or the baby and isn't going to change the outcome/process. Talking it through with someone will hopefully really help!

Best of luck to you and I wish you blessings for an uneventful pregnancy and delivery!

[MamaSarahMay]

Just wanted to let you know I will be for you Mama.

[Dean7698]

Just wanted to say I'm am so sorry that you're going through so much! Also to give you and send some your way!

[miraclebaby]

Sending prayers for you and your baby!