Jul 24, 2015

My hospital stay for placental abruption

This post contains a lot of details.  I had a lot of people asking questions, so I thought I would share with you how the last week has gone.  I have intermixed this post with some maternity pictures that make me smile.  

Monday, July 13th:  I went to my routine OB visit.  Everything looked great and the baby sounded fantastic.  I was growing at a good rate.  

Tuesday, July 14th:  I went to Maternal Fetal Medicine.  They did an ultrasound on me to make sure that my placenta was not growing over the scare of my previous c-section.  There was question about this at 20 weeks so they wanted to check it at 34 weeks.  Everything looked great there!  We tried to get a 3D picture of our sweet babe, but she had both hands up by her face the whole time.  Then when it came time to take the 3D picture she put both feet down by her head, with that came the umbilical cord.  So there were 3 things covering her face.  She really wants to keep us on our toes.  However, we got to see her little nose in 3D.  Her nose looks just like her sister's nose! 

Wednesday, July 15th:  I started to have bleeding.  Not a lot, but some.  (Rewind to about 1 month ago....I had bleeding and my OB thought it could be placental abruption.  So at that time she gave me steroids to help baby's lungs develop faster.  When that happened she told me to call anytime I saw ANY blood.  So I did)  I went in for a stress test and the baby looked great.  However, I was contracting.  They were not bad enough to alarm anyone at this point though. 


Thursday, July 16th:  This is the only day I did not go to the hospital.  The bleeding had slowed immensely.  

Friday, July 17th:  I had quite a bit of blood with other fluid come out.  I called because I did not know if it was my water breaking.  I was in labor and delivery for 12 hours that day.  My water had not broken, but I was contracting very frequently.  They tried everything they could to get them under control with no luck.  They finally got them lowered and sent me home.  At this point I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced.  During all the contractions there was no change in the cervix.  Since they did not know at this time what was going on they would not let me eat the whole time I was in labor and delivery.  I ate 3 hours before going into the hospital.  So when I left there that night at 11 pm I had not eaten for 15 hours.  I was starving.  


Saturday, July 18th:  In the morning I had blood clots coming out and I kept watching them.  I thought that maybe due to the amount of times my cervix was checked to see if it had changed that I had irritation from that.  At about noon I had contractions that were about a 5 on a scale of 1-10 in pain. These contractions came every 2-3 minutes.  However, I got them to stop and calm down.  I did call the doctor at this time and told her everything that was going on.  She told me to watch the contractions and to come in if they kept going or if I filled a pad up in 30-60 minutes.  A little after dinner, Hannelore and I were getting ready to go outside and make a fairy garden and I felt some blood gush out.  Without going into major detail I will say there was a lot of blood involved.  There was one clot alone that was the size of 2 half dollar coins.  So....I came back to the hospital.  

The nurses were alarmed with the amount of blood that was coming.  They checked my cervix to see if the blood was coming from the cervix or if there was blood outside the cervix.  It was coming from the cervix.  They also checked to make sure I wasn't dilated any more...and I wasn't.  They pumped me full of fluids and the OB called the doctor at Maternal Fetal Medicine.  They both did not feel comfortable sending me home.  So I spent the night in the hospital.  I was hooked up to monitors all night.  One monitor was to make sure baby girl was OK.  The other one was to track my contractions.  Needless to say, I got 2 hours of sleep if I was lucky.  It was a rough night.  The contractions during all this were anywhere from a 5-6 on the pain scale.  

Sunday, July 19th:  The doctor came and visited me and said they both still did not feel comfortable sending me home.  They wanted to watch me another night, but that I could go over to postpartum.  That way I am not hooked to monitors all day long.  They still had to monitor me and the baby every morning and the baby at night.  I was on bed rest with bathroom privileges.  These bathroom privileges did not include a shower.  I was quite upset about that.  This day was the hardest of all.  I was very emotional because I didn't have a lot of answers yet.  The doctors were thinking the placenta had pulled away again, but weren't sure.  They didn't know when to tell me that I could go home.  

Then to top it off I had contractions anywhere from 2-6 minutes apart for 2 hours.  We couldn't calm them down.  They were a 7 on a scale of 1-10.  The whole time tears were streaming down my cheeks.  It was horrible.  They finally slowed down.  I was very emotional this day as well.  I cried most of the day.  

When the night came my husband was getting ready to leave to go get my daughter at my parent's house and I started bawling.  It is so hard being away from my family.  I feel bad complaining about it because I know it could be much worse.  I am in the best care I could be.  This is the safest place for me and my baby, but it is still so hard.  



Monday, July 20th:  I went to Maternal Fetal Medicine for an ultrasound.  They were hoping to be able to see the abruption.  This can only be detected on an ultrasound about 20-30% of the time.  So we weren't very optimistic, but we were hoping of course.  They couldn't see anything.  There is a large part of my placenta that the baby is covering.  So the problem could be behind her.  

This is when I was told that they did not feel comfortable with me leaving until the bleeding had stopped for a full 24 hours.  I was bummed, but I wasn't surprised.  On this day my doctor gave me wheelchair ride options so my family and I could go take a walk around the pond.  I was happy for that and it gave me something to look forward too.  I got to see my daughter in the morning and then that evening my husband brought her by and we took our walk together outside.  It was a time in my life that I was very happy.  I was with my family and although I was in a wheelchair I felt normal.

That night I got to help Ryan get Hannelore into her PJ's and read her a bedtime story.  Then I got to say a prayer with her and tell her goodnight.  Although it was hard to watch them walk out of my room I was very happy I got to be a part of her bedtime routine.  By the time I went to sleep I had not bled since 2 pm.

Tuesday, July 21st:  I started bleeding again at 6 am.  I was so upset because I only had 8 hours left before I had hit 24 hours.  I bawled in my bed for a good 30 minutes.  I was devastated.  After that I fell asleep for a bit and woke up feeling a little better and ready to face the day and the adventures that came with it.  I got to take a wheelchair ride again with my family.  The bleeding this day stopped at 2 pm again.

Wednesday, July 22nd:  I started bleeding again at 6 am.  Again I was upset.  There was no bleeding after 6 am.  I stayed in the room all day this day.  My mom, dad, little brother, and little sister came over and we played a game.  It was nice to have all of them plus my daughter and husband in the same room.  It felt a little more normal.  They also brought me a dinner I have been craving for weeks.

Thursday, July 23rd:  I started bleeding at 3 am!  I was 3 hours away from 24 hours.  Again, there was a lot of crying.  I don't like this waiting and wondering.  I honestly think just having a date that I would be allowed to go home would be better because then I would know when I will be leaving.  I had a lot of visitors and a lot of help this day.  It was nice to see some people that I haven't seen in awhile.  Again this day I didn't leave the room.  There was no bleeding since 3 am.

Friday, July 24th:  I checked at 3 am and there was no blood!  I made it 24 hours.  I went back to sleep completely satisfied.  Then when I woke  up there was blood at 6 am.  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't cry because I just was numb.  I felt like there was no way I would go home until the baby is here.  Later I was approved to take 3 wheelchair rides a day and I can walk the halls of postpartum.  So my husband, daughter, and I went outside to the fountain and had dinner.  Then I walked around the halls with them after we were done.  It was wonderful.  This night when my daughter left she was so sad and kept saying, "I want mommy to come home."  I feel so helpless.  It is hard for me to not have ANY power to help her.

Now we will see what tomorrow brings.  It is my fear that I leave and then the bleeding starts up again after I leave.  That will be devastating.  Only time will tell.


I want to conclude with some things that I have learned through this experience:

1. I have some of the best family and friends a woman could ask for. I am beyond blessed.
2. Don't try and control life. I try and when things don't go the way I had planned (for example this week) I tend to lose my mind. However, that doesn't help anyone. So I have been trying to focus on my blessings.
3. My dad helped me see this one: I am in great hands and being watched over by amazing doctors and nurses. In today's world and the technology we have no matter what happens we have some great resources to make the outcome of this situation the best it can be.
4. I am very thankful for my sweet and supportive husband for taking care of our beautiful daughter. I am grateful for my beautiful daughter that is handling this beyond well for a sweet 3 year old.
5. Smile no matter the circumstances.... Every day is a gift.


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4 comments:

Unknown said...

This is great thing to do. It is something that I wished I had done (writing everything at the time that it happens and then the memories aren't foggy. I LOVE your last picture, especially Hannelore kissing the baby!! Thank you for sharing your ordeal and feelings. I love you so much and I really believe that you are learning what is important in this life (and the life to come).
Love, Grandma Steinfeldt

The addict in me said...

Hang in there! It'll all be worth it when its over!!

Shambray said...

Thanks Grandma! I love you!

Shambray said...

Thank you! It sure was! Thank you for your kind words!

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