Sunday, May 2, 2010

Baby News....

I guess it is time let everyone know that we are expecting another baby. I'm 16 weeks pregnant and we are very excited! It has been an eventful pregnancy to say the least. After a trip to ER on Easter Sunday, we discovered that I have a subchorionic hematoma in my uterus. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it is a blood clot that they think occurs as a result of bleeding during implantation of the egg, but the experts really aren't all that sure. It occurs in 1% of all pregnancies and there isn't a ton of information about it. The prognosis is uncertain. For some people, they continue their whole pregnancy with the blood clot and are able to carry the baby close to term. For others, the clot will dissolve and cause no further complications, usually by 20 weeks, and yet others the clot continues to grow and is detrimental to the pregnancy. At my last doctor's appointment on Friday, the ultrasound revealed my clot is about the same in size as it was at 12 weeks. I was already on lifting and exercise restrictions, but now the perinatologist and my OB have recommended I be on complete bedrest, at least for the next couple weeks. I've been on high dose anti inflammatory drugs that are supposed to relax my uterus for the past 48 hours. The baby is growing fine and is measuring right where it should be, so that is certainly encouraging. The major risk that we are trying to avoid with bedrest is the premature rupture of my water which is an increased risk with this condition. I go back to the doctor in two weeks where we will decide if the bedrest is working and also have another look at the subchorionic hematoma. My OB has already told me that I'm probably done working and will be on some sort of bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. While that is very daunting to think about, especially with a 2 year old, I know that I must do whatever I can for this little miracle to make it into this world healthy. Please keep our family in your prayers as this will be a difficult adjustment for us. I will keep you posted as things progress.