One year ago yesterday was the scariest day of my life! I was 29 weeks 1 day pregnant with my second baby girl, it was six in the morning and as I awoke I wondered why my everything underneath me felt wet and why I was dripping fluid. My first thought was " Oh no! My water broke, this is far too early! 11 weeks too early in fact." As I approached the bathroom in the dark I had no idea what horror movie like scene I was about to witness when I turned on my bathroom light. What I thought was amniotic fluid in the dark was in fact blood. Lots of blood. I literally awoke in a puddle of blood that had saturated my clothes, sheets and mattress and continued to drip down my legs on my way to the bathroom. There was blood everywhere! I let out a screech and began to cry. I was sure I had lost my baby. I said a quick prayer and asked the lord to watch over my sweet baby and to give me peace. I was quickly reassured by the kicks from my sweet baby and was overcome with peace that she was being protected. I called my husband who was still at work from the night before and then called my mom. My brother Mitch quickly came to help. I washed myself off and headed to the hospital.
I called the OB dept to let them know I was on my way and my doctor met me there. By that time my bleeding had slowed down and my baby girl looked good on the fetal monitor. My dr quickly did an ultrasound, ordered some lab tests, and said it looked like I was having a placenta abruption and that he would come back to take a better look with another dr in a little while. Listening to my baby's heart beating was the only thing keeping me calm that day. As long as I could hear her I knew she was alright. When the two doctors came back for another ultrasound the consulting dr quickly made the same diagnosis. He told me things didn't look good. My cervix was shortening and opening and I definitely had a good sized tear in my placenta. I was told I needed to go to a hospital with a NICU that could accommodate a baby this early and take care of me. I feel so blessed that I work in the OB dept. Babbi, Cathy, Linda, and Michelle took such good care of me. I was comforted when they cried and prayed with me as I faced the news of needing to be transferred and the possibility of having a premature baby.
Not long after the decision was made that I needed to be transferred to Seattle the ambulance arrived. Another comfort I found that day was hearing my parents good friend John's (a paramedic) voice at the end of my bed. I knew we'd be good hands. He, Rick and Jim took such great care of me and helped calm my fears during my terrifying ambulance ride. It was the most uncomfortable hour and and fifteen minutes but I was thankful I had someone I knew with me.
I made it to the hospital unsure of what my plan would be. The plan was to keep me pregnant as long as possible. Delivery would happen if I went into labor, or my baby or myself appeared to be in danger, and if I went an entire week with no active bleeding I would get to go home.
Over the days and weeks my bleeding would subside and then start up again. I came so close to being delivered that I was prepped for a surgical delivery 7 different times. Each time right at the moment they were ready to take me to the operating room my bleeding, or contractions would slow down or Mailey's heart rate would recover. Heavenly Father watched over my sweet baby and allowed her to continue to develop and grow inside me. After 4 weeks of strict hospital bed rest I was able to go home, still on bed rest. That sadly only lasted a few days before I was re-admitted to the hospital but at least it was in Ellensburg instead of 2 hours away from my family this time. After a few nights I got to go home again.
I spent two more nights at home and on April 6th I woke up very similarly to the morning of February 23rd. Bleeding, contracting and scared. That was the day my sweet baby girl came into this world. It was a long six week journey to get her here safely and I am so thankful that I get to look back on this experience knowing that my baby is perfect, and beautiful. Not as many woman who have abruptions are as blessed as I was. Some have lost their baby's life and some have even lost their own. I couldn't imagine our lives without this sweet, happy, and beautiful little girl. I can't believe she will be one year old in just six short weeks! I love you baby girl!
