My name is Jennie. I'm a wife and a mother. I have been married to the man of my dreams, Trever, for 9 wonderful years. We have 5 beautiful daughters who fill our lives with joy and excitement. We just had our 6th child. Our son Caleb.

I was diagnosed with a rare condition called Placenta Accreta along with Placenta Previa. Accreta is a condition where the placenta attaches to the scar tissue in the uterus. It will often continue to grow to deeper tissue (increta) and even through the uterus attaching to other organs(percreta). I ended up having an 11 hour surgery, including a hystorectomy, and bladder repair. I received 7 units of blood and blood parts. (This is a lot of blood loss for my surgeons, but minimal blood loss to those who are not as experienced in these deliveries. I spent 36 hours in the ICU after surgery. I have also had many other complications afterwards including another minor surgery 2 weeks later. These complications are somewhat normal for the type of surgery I had.

I had a team of specialists doing my surgery. Obgyns, Gyno-oncologists, trauma surgeons, urologists and anesthesiologists. This team has specialized in techniques helping with minimal blood loss. Those with accreta , loose large amounts of blood because the placenta cannot detach naturally at delivery.

My goal is to help save women's lives by giving this terrible condition a voice. So many are ignorant to its fatal attack. Doctors and women alike, need to be educated about Accreta. Many have never even heard of it. The numbers are on the rise because of so many women choosing to have c-sections when it isn't necessary. Not all women can avoid it, but many can. Please help me give Accreta a voice, by sharing the information in this blog. (There are numerous posts with information on Accreta as well as the Accreta team who took such great care of me.)

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

30 weeks!!

I am wide awake this morning with excitement. We made it to 30 weeks!! Part of me wondered if we would make it to this day. Especially after our scare last week. I can't tell you how incredibly happy I feel right now.

This pregnancy has been such a long one already. Not to mention a bit of a roller coaster.  Today is a good day to share this story. It's almost comical...

-4 weeks pregnant... I took a pregnancy test and as I was taking it, I started bleeding. Assuming that I was starting my period, I put the test on the counter and left the room. Hours later, Trever came home from work and went to go get cleaned up. He called me into the bathroom. Holding " the stick" he says is there something you need to tell me? Replaying the days events in my mind and having no clue what he was talking about, said um, no? He quickly caught on that I had no clue where he was headed with this, he held the stick out further, allowing me to catch on.  I said, oh yeah I took a test. (Still confused at this point why he would make a big deal about something like that. It wasn't like him.) seeing that I still wasn't getting it, he just stared at me with a huge grin on his face waiting for me to get a clue.   Then it hit me... Oh wait, we, what? We are? Oh it was hilarious. He was the confused one now. He thought I knew. Lol ahh, had to be there.

-5 or so weeks pregnant... I was continuing to spot and it was getting a little nervous that is was miscarrying. I made an appointment with my doctor and went right in. The ultra sound showed no placenta. Just a thickening of the uterus. They drew blood to check my HCG levels, though he was convinced the pregnancy didn't take and I would officially miscarry soon.

-a few day later... I got a call from the office confirming that my numbers were extremely low and it would all be over soon. They wanted me to follow up in a few days to make sure everything came out ok.

- 6 ish weeks... I went back in to the Dr. The ultrasound showed something quite unexpected. A little tiny sack has formed! But guess what... No baby. He was shocked to see progress but said sometimes the placenta will grow but no baby will form. It could be that I wasn't as far along, but with my levels so low, it was just not likely. He wanted to see me back in 2 weeks.

- 2 weeks later, about 8 weeks pregnant.  We do another vaginal ultrasound and to our surprise...2 sacks and one baby! WHAT? Not what either of us expected at all. He concluded that I had either been pregnant with twins and miscarried one, or I got pregnant twice in a week. I think it's the 2nd one. He said my body would just absorb the empty sack and all will be normal again. Though Trever and I really wondered if it actually was twins still.

- a few weeks later... Another ultrasound. This time, as promised, the empty sack was gone and we only had one baby and one sack.... All was back to normal.

This story ended up longer than I thought. Lol. So I'll post the rest for you tomorrow.
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3 comments:

  1. NicoleFebruary 20, 2013 at 7:25 PM

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  2. SuzannahFebruary 20, 2013 at 11:43 PM

    Oh I wish I knew the end! How funny about how you found out you were pregnant. What a crazy and memorable way find out together. I hadn't heard that before. I am still shocked at this pregnancy of yours. It is quite the miracle! I will admit it isn't ideal, but it was an unlikely adventure to begin with, and look where you are now. The Lord is amazing. Look at this fantastic story He is writing through you and your words. I love you Jennie. Keep us posted!

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  3. ShawnaFebruary 21, 2013 at 9:38 AM

    Yay for making it to 30 weeks! Thinking of you and praying for the best possible outcome! Thanks for keeping us updated :)

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