Meagan's Story - Placenta Previa and bi-lobed placenta

5 Day old embryo

My first baby boy was born in 2011 via c section and I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2012 which required a D&C and removal of my one working (or not maybe lol) tube.  IVF was to be our only option to conceive. 

I started my IVF journey in November 2012 and discovered I was pregnant in December.  I started bleeding at just 3.5 weeks and was put on modified duties. A scan at 6 weeks showed a happy baby with a strong heartbeat.  I was still spotting and my dr told me to take it easy and continue pelvic rest (which I had been on since 4 weeks).  At 9 weeks I was at work and had a significant bleed and was convinced that I had lost the baby.  An ultrasound showed a happy baby who was growing perfectly.  I did 15 weeks of bed rest and at my 12 week scan I was told I had a placenta previa that was not likely to move.  When I saw my ob he said it was not previa as it was too early to diagnose and told me to just keep taking it easy and see him every 3 weeks.  I continued to spot but continued life as normal.  My 20 week scan showed that my placenta had not moved and was bi-lobed and completely covering my cervix.  The MFM sonographer and my OB both said it was unlikely to resolve.  It also revealed that we were having a little boy. 

At 21 weeks my section was booked for a month before my due date- I would be 35&4.  Just 5 days later I had a bleed.  I will always remember the day as it was our wedding anniversary.  I rang my OB (it was 5pm and he was grocery shopping lol) and he had me go straight to the hospital.  Bub as checked and was happy and I was admitted for  monitoring and spent a week in hospital and another week at home on bed rest.

I saw my OB at 24 weeks and we discussed steroid injections and what to do if I had a massive bleed as I was an hour from hospital.  He prepped me that if I had another bleed I would not be leaving the hospital until baby was born.  I started steroid injections at 30 weeks and had one a week.  At 33 weeks I had another scan with the MFM which showed I still had CPP but no Vasa was detected (we already knew this as OB has a ultrasound machine in his office so we were seeing it every 2-3 weeks).

On 11 July 2013 I arrived at the hospital for my scheduled section, which was to take place in the main theatre.  I met my OB, a special care nurse, the pediatrician, anesthetist and the heap of others who would be there for the birth of my baby.   The anesthetist had blood on standby and discussed that they would let me be awake but would put me under if needed after baby was born.  Hubby was with me and at 9.35am our beautiful baby boy Fletcher James was born weighing 6lb12. 

Baby was taken off to be cleaned up and checked out and I laid there anxiously listening to the sounds of my OB.  After a little while (it seemed like forever) he announced that he was happy.  Placenta had come away easy and bleeding was minimal.  I was taken to recovery while baby was taken to special care for some breathing issues.  

My first feed

Fletcher was put on CPAP and I got to see him on my way back to my room.  It was a shock to see him but the nurses assured me that he was a great size and would be fine.  I was checked every 30 minutes for the first 5 hours and then hourly for the night to monitor bleeding.  I was up early the next morning, showered and off to special care to see my baby. 

Fletcher in his humidcrib

Fletcher was off CPAP within 24 hours, in an open crib day 2 and allowed into my room by day 3 during the day.  We were released together day 6.  My pregnancy was not how I would have planned it but the end result was worth it- Fletcher is perfect!  We have decided that we have two healthy amazing boys so our family is complete but I still question if maybe Fletcher's pregnancy was different we would have had another.