A good thing

My sister, my son and I walked into the new doctor's office yesterday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere in there. I don't think I have ever been to a dr's office that made you feel comfortable. It had lovely couches that were actually comfortable and great parenting and pregnancy magazines and books all over the tables, and there was a great children's area filled with books and toys off in one corner. Not to mention the fantastic receptionist, who ended being my dr's daughter. She got me checked in and then actually talked to me. I have never had a conversation with a receptionist at a dr's office before. Wow, what a concept, nice people. She asked how my pregnancy was going and I explained about the previa and now placental abruption and my bleeding. She told me that she currently has complete placenta previa with her pregnancy as well. I was like really, wow. She then went on to tell me that she had it with her last one as well and even though she did not have bleeding she understood how scary it was. She said that her placenta had moved by the end of her pregnancy and she was able to have a normal delivery. She was encouraging to me and it made me feel right at ease. So all 3 of us waited in the waiting room for maybe 15 minutes or so before being called back. The nurse first took all my vitals. It's nice to know I have only gained about 11 pounds so far. :-)

Anyway, the dr finally came in and he got a brief description of what has happened in my pregnancy so far. Then he spoke with me a little bit answering my many questions about my situation. Then he said why don't we jsut take a look and see where your placenta is. In the room was already an ultrasound machine.(the best quality u/s I have ever seen in a dr's office before!!) It was great to have a dr actually explain all the things we were looking at and why it was important. He first wanted to have a good look at the placenta. He explained to me exactly where it was, and how much of it was attached, and where the abruption is. He also showed us where some blood was that was eventually going to come out, (which is what the spotting is that I am having) or he said it's possible it could be re-absorbed as well. He was quite optimistic about the outcome of this pregnancy after seeing what was really happening inside there. He encouraged me the baby looked great and yes, there is an abruption but there is about a 95% chance or more that the placenta will move as my uterus gets bigger to make room for the growing baby. That is great odds! We explained to him what kind of care I had been getting and the grim outlook my Kaiser dr had and that we really wanted a dr to be on our side and be optimistic and help us get through this and give us options rather than looking at the grim side of things. We told him that we go to church and in no way did we want to think about having to terminate this pregnancy. He told us that he was on the same page as we are and he is optimistic that things will be ok and this baby will make it. He was also very explicit with his instructions as to when and how much I can get around. Pretty much as long as I am still spotting then I need to take it as easy as possible, some movement is ok, but I need to not be doing much at all. Now if have like 3-5 days without any spotting then I can start adding a little more activity to my schedule but not lifting heavy things or anything like that. He said to understand that I will be taking it easy the rest of this pregnancy. No matter if I stop spotting or not, I will still need to rest a lot. And that is ok. :-) As we were leaving he shook my hand and told me God bless you.

You have no idea how good my heart feels today. I felt so good last night. The best I have felt in a month! It's really amazing how just having an optimistic dr can change your whole outlook on things. Yes, things are still pretty much the same. I do have a placental abruption and in and of itself is not a great thing but I feel like we can face this and overcome it rather than be overcome by it. Does that make sense? And yes, I still will be sitting on this here couch for the next 3 months or so but it doesn't seem so bleak. I guess I felt like I wasn't making a difference, that somehow no matter what I did, I could still lose this baby at any time. And to an extent I guess that is true with any pregnancy, but I don't have to dwell on that. All I need to think of is that I am doing the best thing for my baby by taking care of me and resting my body. I feel a little less cautious now about shopping for this little one as well. I was so reluctant to buy anything yet b/c somewhere in the back of my mind I felt that maybe it wasn't going to be. I understand I will still have those moments but at least I have reassurance that my dr is going to help fight for this baby. And that is what makes all the difference in the world to me!
Blessings to you all!