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, March 20, 2013

34 Weeks


Our sweet baby boy turned 34 weeks today! When they are preemies, they still talk about them in gestation age. In the outside world, he will be 3 weeks this Friday. I can't believe it has been three weeks already. It has been one rough road to say the least. As I get further and further from the trauma of it all, it doesn't seem so bad.

I have a new friend, I decided we are bosom buddies, who is going through the bed rest stage right now. She has percreta, and is about 21 weeks along. We have never even met, but I find myself thinking about her constantly. Wishing so bad that I could go and sit with her through this tough trial. I wish I could help her with her children. I wish Trever could sit with her husband and help him through the fear, the heartache and the sleepless nights of worry about his wife and baby. I wish I could sit and hold her hand through surgery. (Although I never want to know what my surgery was fully like. So I would have to close my eyes and put in ear plugs.) I wish I could drive her to her endless appointments and help her through her recovery. ( however, that is good husband and wife bonding time. You've never seen love until you have watched your husband empty your bag of pee over and over, drain your abdomen of its groosome and smelly fluids, help you scrub down in the shower, and even shave your legs so you feel like a woman to some degree.) That's love!!

Anyway, I just wish I could be there for her. She is an amazing woman. She has a beautiful blog http://toddnjenifermoss.blogspot.com/   Check it out. You will be inspired. She is a woman of much 
strength and faith. Her faith was such a comfort to me while I was going through it all. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers the next couple of months.

In local news... I went to visit with my medical plumber again today. I was having clogging issues with my catheter. I have a new one now and we are ready to roll. Seriously... My drainage issues have got to be as old and annoying to read about and the Jodie Arias case! So sorry to keep bringing it up. Surviving Accreta goes so much further than just making it through surgery alive.

Caleb looked so different today when I saw him. I think it's that his skin is really filling out now. He is gaining weight nicely. He is up to 4 lbs 8 oz now! He is looking more and more like a new born. I got to sit and snuggle him for a while. Trever is so sweet to let me be a baby hog when we go. We tried latching on today. He didn't care for the taste at all. Haha. No kidding he started to suck and then made this completely discussed face as he rubbed his tongue on the roof of his mouth. As if he was trying to rub the taste off his tongue. I think I may decide to be offended. Lol. We will keep trying. He is only taking a couple millimeters by mouth each feeding. The sweet nurses keep working with him but he doesn't want much to do with it. 34 weeks is usually when they start getting the sucking reflex, so he is doing fine. I do wonder however if he is being lazy and not caring to put in the effort. It's so easy to have it just go down the tube and into his stomach. We had a little chat today about it. I told him his sisters really want to meet him, and that I wanted him home by Easter! I would put in the work to be better at pumping so he can have better tasting milk, if he would try harder to take the bottle and be a big boy. We will see him again tomorrow, so we will see if my pep talk worked. :)

Trever and I went to Target today for a few minutes. As I am walking in, I had my catheter tucked into my purse and the tube hanging out of my pant leg. So attractive right? I couldn't help but wonder what people were thinking when they saw me. They see this younger woman driving around in an electric scooter with a tube hanging out her pant leg. What were they thinking my story was. I started thinking about other people and their stories. People who seem to be just fine on the outside. What are they dealing with? I have become very aware of  others since living in the hospital. I am shocked and amazed with the things people have to live with. I've always tried to be courteous to others... But lately I've wanted to be extra kind to those I pass in the hallway at the hospital or in the isle at the grocery store. You never know who is carrying around a huge burden or a tragic story. This Easter season, will you join me is trying a little harder to go out of our way to talk to someone. To put our arm around someone... That is my goal for this month. To listen to those little promptings to say or do something. No matter how embarrassed I may feel.





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6 comments:

  1. The Richins FamilyMarch 21, 2013 at 1:48 AM

    Jennie,
    I appreciate all this you have been journaling. I enjoy reading it, though I don't always post a comment. I wanted to see if the NICU nurses will see if you can put on a breast shield to nurse? My Premee baby was so used to the bottle that he wouldn't accept my breast unless I had a breast shield on. Yes it is a pain to put it on before you breast feed, because you have to do one step before you nurse but to me it was so worth it. All i wanted to do was breast feed my baby.

    Keep pumping and saving your milk.

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  2. jeniferMarch 21, 2013 at 6:49 AM

    You're so sweet! Thank you for your kind words. When you ended up with percreta I felt awfully guilty- like God is letting you endure this so I will know what to expect. I'm sorry that your hard times are my preparation, but thank you for living and enduring so gracefully. I honestly feel your pain and can hardly wait for you to get better so I can say to myself-- she did this, you can too.

    Easter is a great goal! And, even if you aren't here watching my kids, it is nice knowing that somewhere there is someone who has LIVED through the climb I'm just starting. The hard part is mental anyway. So, thanks for walking this path with me.

    Heal up and get that drain out and dump that awful catheter and get your sweet baby home and then when life is hard for me tell me over and over that everything is going to be ok. Deal?!! Thanks friend!

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  3. Derek and EmilyMarch 21, 2013 at 7:10 AM

    After I had Jackson, I kept having blood pressure spikes. The doctors were worried that the spikes would trigger seizures so I was suppose to remain as inactive as possible, but I was going stir crazy so my mom took me to Costco. I was using one of the motor carts and this older lady started following me around. After a few minutes I guess she decided I didn't look sick enough to use a cart so she came up to me and told me that she needed the cart so I had to get off. I tried to explain to her that I was having blood pressure issues and needed it, but she kept telling me I wasn't sick enough and that she was sicker and should have the cart. I told her she was welcome to use it when I was done. So for 20 minutes she trailed around after me mumbling. I got into the car and just laughed because there is nothing else I could do. That taught me a lot about how quick people are to judge and yet how it didn't matter. I needed to do what I could to stay healthy even if other people didn't understand. It doesn't matter what other people think. You are the mother of your children and you need to protect your health for them. Be a proud survivor and place your health above the thoughts of others.

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  4. KaraMarch 21, 2013 at 8:35 AM

    I love reading your thoughts and experiences, Jennie. Your courage and optimism is very inspiring. :)

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  5. kimberlinaMarch 23, 2013 at 2:53 PM

    Jennie, what a trooper you are! You are such a strong woman. I related a lot to this post and it brought back so many memories of my pregnancy, delivery and post-partum healing with Maija. She was born at 34 weeks, right where Caleb is now. We struggled with nursing, and she, too, was so used to the "easy" bottle that she screamed her head off when i tried to nurse her. I felt so rejected as a mother. It was very painful emotionally, but I look at her now at 8 yrs old and see what a healthy, strong, beautiful girl she is. I'm amazed that was her beginning. This time will soon be a memory filled with gratitude, joy and sadness. Hang in there! This too shall pass!

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  6. BriannaMarch 13, 2014 at 12:22 AM

    Hi, my name is Brianna Evans. I've been reading your blog, and have to tell you that I wish I had found it a year ago! I was diagnosed with placenta previa and percreta in February of 2013, at 23 weeks. After a few weeks of hospital bed rest, my placenta abrupted in the middle of the night so I was rushed to surgery. That was March 5, only a few days after you! I spent 7 hours in surgery, hysterectomy, bladder, ureter, and bowel reconstruction, 30 units of blood plus many blood products (almost died), 2 days unconscious, 5 in the ICU, and a month more in the hospital, including another surgery 3 weeks later to repair a big fistula and a blood/urine pool in my abdomen and further repair on my bowels. My son was in the nicu for 3 months. So many of the things I went through are the same as you, so I feel like I'm there with you as I read. I don't know why I take such comfort reading other's stories, but it helps me in some way. I had never even heard of this condition till I had it, and I feel better knowing I'm not alone. I'm also reading Jenifer's blog. I feel like I know you two, and that I'm connected somehow. I also share your religion! I live in Utah, near Salt Lake City. I would love to meet you someday, a fellow sister in the gospel and percreta survivor. Hugs, and I hope I keep reading more good on your healing process as I get farther on your posts.

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