Many of you know that I am going through a rather dramatic pregnancy. My friend Sammy emailed me yesterday and sent me the link to a blog that describes what a family in a similar situation has been going through. I appreciated getting to hear a success story. I also thought it seemed like a good idea to be able to have a record of this experience for the future, and to keep friends and family updated on our situation.
The problems began the morning of December 26. I noticed I was spotting and called the doctor, who said it was probably nothing to worry about and to call back if it got worse. That evening the bleeding was worse, and having had 2 previous miscarriages I was sure I was losing the baby. Joey and I headed to the ER and waited for the bad news. We were shocked to find a healthy, active little boy kicking away on the ultrasound. (And shocked to learn as early as 13 weeks the gender of our baby).
I was told that I had a subchorionic hematoma, and that it is one of the main reasons for bleeding in early pregnancy. Doctors are not quite sure why these occur, but the guess is that it has something to do with a minor problem during implantation. There is a tear between the wall of the uterus and the water sac, or between the placenta (made by the baby) where it joins the chorion (the mom's side). This results in bleeding and a clot of blood forming. The majority of women with these will go on to deliver perfectly healthy babies. Many subchorionic hematomas will actually fully resolve, although not all do.
We read a lot of stories of women diagnosed with SCH. (It occurs in about 1% of all pregnancies). There was varying advice about how to deal with them. All of the women were told to take it easy and not to lift anything, and about 1/2 were put on modified bed rest. We decided not to risk it and I went on modified bed rest. Joey's mom was a lifesaver and flew out to stay with us for as long as needed. Our friends in the ward were absolute angels and brought us literally dozens of meals, cleaned my house on a weekly basis, took my kids on play dates, and came by just to visit and lift my spirits. I am astounded and deeply moved by the amount of service our family has received during the last 2 months.
As we read the experiences of other women with SCH, we started to realize that my bleeding was a lot heavier than most experience. Many had a large bleed or two, and then light bleeding or spotting for about a month at which point it ended. I finally stopped counting my "big bleeds" which would occur with only 1-2 days in between. Big bleeds where within a matter of seconds I would gush enough blood to fill a super-pad, and overflow down my legs before I could make it to the bathroom. About half the time I bled like this I would have contractions that would come regularly for a few hours as my body tried to get rid of all of the blood. Each time this happened I was getting more discouraged. I had been bleeding non stop and was worried about my blood loss, and thought there was no way I was going to be able to keep this baby.
Through it all, we knew we were in the prayers of many friends and family members. I had some special moments when I knew without a doubt that my Heavenly Father was aware of my situation and felt great peace. I tried to hold onto those moments and came to recognize that a large amount of faith depends on our decision to exercise it. I was doing the things I knew I should. I read my scriptures... I prayed (constantly). I guess I thought faith should just kind of appear for me. And while those things are a part of faith, and definitely helped mine, I finally understood that faith meant I had to make a firm decision to believe and act on those reassurances I had from my Heavenly Father. It meant every time I began to sink into a depression about my situation and my fears about my baby making it, I had to grab hold of myself and shake myself a little, and banish those thoughts from my mind. I had to move forward and truly believe that everything would be okay. To have a cheerful spirit and TRULY turn everything over to God.
Finally a month into my bleeding I noticed it was slowly getting better. I went 4 days without a big bleed. Then my bleeding became more like the final days of a period. It began to turn into more of a dark red/brown color, which the doctors said meant I was mostly bleeding out old blood. I began to feel hopeful that things were going to be okay. We made plans for me to move to Utah early, since my 2nd trimester bleeding and the large size of my SCH put me at high risk for preterm labor. I waited impatiently for my 20 week ultrasound, which I felt sure would show a dramatically smaller hematoma.
To be continued.
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