In my last update, I mentioned how I've been holding my breath waiting for something else to go wrong. Well, it did. On Tuesday afternoon, I had another scary bleeding episode.
It happened very much the same as last time. I was sitting at my desk when I felt a sudden gush of blood. I ran to the bathroom and lost bunch more all at once. After 5 minutes or so, it slowed to a trickle and I was able to call my OB's office. The nurse checked with the doctor on call and advised me to go home and get in bed until further notice and go to the ER if the bleeding got worse. Luckily, that wasn't necessary and by Wednesday morning the bleeding had stopped.
It was definitely unnerving to have so much blood again right when I thought everything was going to be smooth sailing! I didn't panic this time, however, especially since I was pretty sure I could still feel the baby moving. While I haven't been 100% confident that it's the baby I've been feeling every time, I've noticed enough activity in that area that some of it has to be him...
I already had an appointment scheduled for Thursday afternoon, so Chad and I went in together. Dr. P. immediately went for the good ol' ultrasound probe (which I thought I'd totally graduated from weeks ago!) and started looking around. She quickly spotted a small clot sitting on top of my cervix, and noticed that I also have mild placenta previa (where the edge of the placenta is on top of the cervix). The previous SCH on the top edge of the placenta is also back; it's unclear whether or not I had a new bleed from that location or if it's still the original one that became visible again. Luckily the prognosis is good: the previa is mild and should resolve as my uterus stretches and the clots are very small. However, there's a good chance I'll have more bleeding episodes. Until the previa resolves, I'm to be on restricted activity and can't lift anything over 5 pounds. I have to stay on bed rest through this weekend and can go back to work on Monday if I don't have anymore bleeding.
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| Profile shot |
Dr. P. also did a thorough anatomy scan of the baby to look for abnormalities. She measured his neck, brain, and femurs and examined his kidneys, spine, face, heart, and umbilical cord. Everything looked totally normal! We were especially interested in the heart since we have an increased risk of heart defects since I was born with one. Right now the baby's looks fine, but it will be checked again later in the pregnancy as well.
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| Why hello, 3rd leg |
Stats:
Gestational Age: 17 weeks, 1 day
Heart Rate: 152 bmp
Baby's Weight: 7 ounces
My Weight: -6 lbs (!)
Gender: 99.9% boy
I lost 6 pounds over the last two weeks somehow (I would have thought the totally decadent meal we had at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse last weekend would have made me gain 6 pounds, not lose it!). While it's not concerning yet since the baby's weight is spot on, Dr. P. told me to start eating small meals every 2 - 3 hours. The problem is that I'm just not very hungry lately, so I forget to eat or nothing sounds appealing.
Anyway, my next appointment is in 2 weeks. I'll update if anything interesting happens.
