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.)

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Happy 9th Birthday Little Man

 As I sat across from this little man tonight for his birthday dinner at the Mandarin, and a flood of emotion came over me.

I don't let myself go to this place very often. Sometimes years pass by before I let my self feel and process. The trauma and emotion have the ability to completely take over and drag me to a very dark place.
9 years ago tonight, Trever was singing "our song" to me as we laid in my hospital bed trying to comprehend the possibility what life would be like for him and the kids without me there. The very real thoughts that this would be our last night together on this earth. My chances of surviving the surgery that I would have the next day were not great.
We had to talk about and make decisions that no couple should ever have to make. I had written my love letters to my babies for them to know their mommy loved them. We just laid there and cried until the tears ran dry.
The next day would bring me to the brink of death and back. I am so thankful my 12 doctors and surgeons brought me back. 11 hours of surgery left me so swollen, my hands looked like blown up rubber gloves. I was mutilated from the inside out. They did their best to put me back together again.

I had a tube down my throat for several hours after surgery breathing for me and suffocating me all at the same time. And a small little miracle boy that I would finally be able to meet 36 hours after birth. He and I spent the next 9 weeks fighting for our lives.
1 more surgery, blood transfusions, wounds that wouldn't heal and endless doctor visits for me. Underdeveloped lungs, and a host of preemie issues for him.
As I sat across from him tonight, the miracle of it all came flooding in. As I watched him chatting with his daddy I remembered a sweet experience I had while he fought for his life in the NICU, where I was blessed to know that he would live through it all. I suddenly realized he is half way to 18. Half way to when he leaves on his mission. 9 whole years have gone by. Years that we thought we would never spend together.
I am so thankful. Still so broken but thankful.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)