Hello All,
I'm new to the forum and am happy to have found you. I'm 37 years old and 19w pregnant tomorrow with a baby boy. I've been on home bedrest for nearly 5 weeks now (strict bedrest the last 4 weeks). I was surprised at 14w with bright red bleeding and lightheadedness, and thought it was a miscarriage. The ultrasound showed that the baby was doing fine, and that I had placenta previa. A subsequent ultrasound at 15w showed a hematoma in addition to the previa.
At first, my OB was optimistic that the placenta previa might resolve as the pregnancy progresses. My latest ultrasound at 17w2d showed no hematoma, but no progress with the placenta previa (in fact, the previa was clearly shown as complete). The doctor is now anticipating this will be a condition I have throughout the pregnancy. If I stop bleeding for 2 weeks, the doctor said, we can talk about increasing my activity level somewhat.
However, I've been bleeding virtually every day for the past 5 weeks. Usually it's dark red / brown blood, but that took a frightening turn around the time of my anatomy scan at 17w2d. The day after the scan, I started bleeding pretty heavily, bright red, which lasted for 3 days. I monitored it under consultation with the doctor and then finally went to the hospital on the third day. Baby was still doing fine, my iron and blood count levels were good, and I was told there is nothing to do but rest at home, at this point.
I've continued with moderate, dark red / brown bleeding every day, throughout the day. I'm coming to terms with the fact that I may be on strict bedrest throughout the rest of this pregnancy. If I can make it to 36 weeks, I'll have a c-section at that time.
I have a vivacious 19-month-old daughter. I work full-time, and I'm fortunate to have a job that has allowed me to work from home during bedrest--though it hasn't always been easy to concentrate, with the emotional ups and downs of this condition. We also have a wonderful nanny who has continued to look after our daughter during the week. So I have been able to do the strict bedrest pretty well, to keep up my usual work schedule from home, and there has been relatively minimal disruption to our daughter's life. I'm trying to focus on all of the positives right now, and often this is enough. But I also cycle through periods of fear and sadness over the sheer uncertainty of this condition and the pregnancy as a whole, and how difficult bedrest has been (I've always relied on exercise to help me deal with stress, and it's really hard not to have recourse to that right now). Like I said, I'm grateful to have found this forum and to be able to hear your stories, as well.
