22 weeks and bleeding. **thread contains graphic image**

[handbagsandholidays]

I'm 22 wks + 2 and currently on holiday. I woke up to a pool of blood yesterday and then passed a large clot the size of my palm shortly after. I've been admitted to hospital but still none the wiser as to what is happening and why. My cervix is closed and I've been given medication to help stop the bleeding. It appears to have decreased but I'm still spotting. Has anybody been through anything similar?

Title edited by MNHQ

On a totally unrelated note... I will not be having my waxing, hair cut etc that I had originally planned this weekend. Minor in the grand scheme of things but I do feel rather icky about it. I highly doubt the docs care about the state of my hairy legs but I'm less than impressed with myself. 😅

@handbagsandholidays oh bless you. It sounds like you are really having a bad / rough time of it all. I really feel for you. As for the pampering - totally get where you're coming from. Could you ask someone to bring in a razor and some shaving foam / a face mask / some nice body spray etc and just a few pampery bits so you can give yourself a spruce to make you feel a bit better?

And also... ask the hospital staff if they have an on-site hairdresser. The hospital I used to work at did - you might be lucky! Chances are "covid", but you never know.
Also, you may be in with a chance of being allowed to leave for an hour or something and see if there is a hairdressers really close to where you are? X

@handbagsandholidays oh bless you I hope you are ok, glad they’re keeping a very close eye on you and planning as best they can. Are they allowing your husband and child in to see you? Really wouldn’t worry about the hairy legs etc they will have 100% seen worse! I have my scan tomorrow morning, have to miss my kids sports day for it which I’m a little sad about but important scan as it’ll be first time they can view the placenta so couldn’t rearrange especially as the consultant is scanning me herself xxx

Following your story. You are doing brilliantly

Hope you continue to do well

Hello all,

I had another gush of blood with a clot at around 5pm followed by a few hours of regular tightenings. I started on magnesium sulfate and another course of steroids in case the contractions don't settle. I'm feeling optimistic as for the last hour they have been less intense and more irregular whereas before that my trade was showing regular patterns of 3 in the space of 10 mins.

Thank you all for handholding me and allowing me a space to write. @Jaaxe I hope you have some good news at your scan tomorrow. Sending you the best of luck. xx

Hello,

Still hanging in there and now 30+3 with a plan! I have a section booked for 33+5 and have been reassured that a full team of consultants and paeds will be in the room for the delivery. The magnesium sulphate calmed my contractions and things seem to be settling. I'm still on labour ward but hoping to be stepped down to antenatal ward over the next few days. I'm hoping that the rest of my stay in hospital will be uneventful so that I can make it to my planned date of delivery x

Hey @handbagsandholidays Glad you have a plan in place! Sounds like they’re really looking after you which is good! How are you finding being stuck in hospital? I had my 17 week scan yesterday with the consultants and so far they couldnt see anything that was concerning them but they will check again at 20 weeks but will just be a sonographer at that one. Did your 20 weeks scan not pick anything up? Xx

Glad to hear you're hanging on to that little bubba well, every day is a bonus at this point! Fingers crossed for a comfortable stay for you in hospital. Hope you're allowed visitors etc? X

@handbagsandholidays how are you getting on? Xx

Hi @Jaaxe, so sorry I'm not sure why but I didn't get a notification from your last post. It's been an eventful week following my admission last Thursday. The hospital I was at had a the neonatal unit close down as it was full and so I had to be transferred out to another hospital within the county as an emergency. It felt so alien to me and I was totally out of my comfort zone. The hospital I am now at operates under a different trust therefore the care is completely different. I struggled to get my head around it and was very emotional for the first few days spending a lot of it in tears. We underestimate how much of an impact our surroundings and comfort zone can have on our ability to stay calm and composed during times of stress. I'm on day 6 of being in this hospital and have now started to get in to a routine with visiting times, personal care and venturing off ward to the cafe downstairs for a short break and change of scenery. I've also become familiar with a lot of the midwives and HCA's which has been nice as it breaks up the day when they pop in. My c-section date has now changed due to the change in hospitals and moved to 17th August where I will be exactly 34 weeks. Less than 3 weeks to go!!

I'm so pleased to hear that your scan went well. It's good that they are going to double check at your 20 week scan. My 20 week scan didn't show the Vasa Previa or signs of accreta and was only discovered by an internal scan at 22 and a half weeks. Was your scan abdominal or internal? Xx

Aw @handbagsandholidays what a tough time you’ve had, totally can imagine how hard it’s been moving hospitals, how far away are you from your family? I bet you miss your little one. How’s your OH finding it all? You are being so strong though all this, what a woman….keep going!! Less than 3 weeks left and this will all be over and you’ll have your perfect little baby and your family back together again 💕 keep updating the thread when u can, really hope all goes as well.

yes the scan went as well as it could of, it was abdominal though yeah 😕 will have the 20 week one in 2 weeks but that’ll be abdominal too won’t it. Do you think I should book a private one and ask for internal? I just feel like the private ones aren’t as good for checking abnormalities, they’re more for the “experience” and enjoyment which tbh is lovely but I’d rather know if all is definitely ok, they might think I’m slightly odd asking for the probe tho 😂 the consultant said if all is ok with 20 week too that they will definitely scan me later on in my pregnancy anyway due to previous csections and my last csection my uterus being very thin over my scar so I’m at risk of uterine rupture later on too but I’m guessing this won’t be till 30 odd weeks xx

I can completely understand your concerns and worries. In all honesty, it was a private scan at ultrasound direct who first spotted it. I don't know if it was just me being lucky with an amazing sonographer but she was so thorough! Not all private scans are medical scans so it's always worth checking the fine print. In fact a lot of the companies use non-medically trained people as like you say, it's more for the experience. I wanted a medical scan so booked the anomaly scan with UD rather than any of the other packages they offer as I knew that they would have to check for any abnormalities in depth and provide a comprehensive clinical report. I must say the nhs didn't take it seriously when I presented them with the report as they just kept saying it probably wasn't that as it's very uncommon but I was insistent. I had further nhs scans at 24 & 26 weeks which essentially said the same as the private one but even then they kept referring to it as 'suspected' or 'presenting as' until after my mri at 28 weeks.

I would definitely voice your concerns if you don't feel comfortable and ask for an internal if you feel it necessary. There can be no harm in double checking. Xxx

Wow I just read this whole thread, so scary but glad you are doing ok and in the best place should anything go wrong.
Hope you get to your scheduled c section date and everything goes to plan.

@OP @handbagsandholidays how are you doing? X

Hope you and baby are doing ok x

@Finallyhadenough2022 @summerlovinvibes

Hello both,

So sorry for having not checked in... it's been a bit of a whirlwind of a week with baby's arrival on Thursday 4th August at 5:10am. He weighed exactly 4lbs at 32 + 1.

In the early hours of Thursday, I woke up to a gush of blood, followed by 3 further gushes. Upon examination, the registrar saw that one of my placental loves was starting to come through my cervix and so I was rushed to theatre as a cat 1 section. My son was monitored throughout and the staff were absolutely amazing! Due to the potential accreta, I had very much prepared myself for the fact that this could potentially be our last baby and as I was under general anaesthetic for the delivery of my first born, I was keen to be awake for the delivery of this baby provided it was safe for me to do so. The team agreed that they would also prefer for me to be awake as a spinal carries less risk than general anaesthetic and given that baby’s HR was not dropping we had a small amount of time to safely try and make the spinal a possibiiity. After 2 attempts, they were able to put in a spinal. My bleed was at 4:35am and my son was delivered at 5:10am.

The overall surgery took longer than expected as my placenta was indeed attached to my cervix and to previous scar tissue. This was not visible on the MRI and so I’m very thankful for a thorough care team who had prepared for the worst case scenario. Unfortunately not all of my placenta could be removed therefore they have had to leave fragments in. I'm being treated with antibiotics due to the risk of infection but alongside this I have planned management and regular review to check that the fragments of placenta have been absorbed. If not, I'm likely to require further surgery .

My son is doing as well as he can be for his gestation. He is requiring help with breathing but is only on high flow rather ventilation. We are now at the 72hr mark and he has already improved massively! We were able to enjoy our first set of cuddles today which was really emotional and he is starting to tolerate very small amounts of breast milk fed via an oral syringe. I hope his progress continues and that we can be reunited on the transitional care unit soon. I genuinely cannot fault the care that I have received. I don't know whether I've simply been fortunate with the wonderful midwives, doctors and nurses that have been involved in our care but the whole experience has been made so much less traumatic as a result of the people around me. I'm feeling so grateful as the complications I've had with my pregnancy could have been fatal if I wasn't in the right place at the right time with the right care team. ♥️

Congratulations @handbagsandholidays hope you get to the next stage very soon and then on to home!

Do you have a name chosen?

Oh my gosh @handbagsandholidays like you say... whirlwind. I was starting to worry / wonder if the baby had arrived as it had been a little while.... and that is amazing that he is here safely!

What wonderful care, I work in the healthcare world (GP surgeries) and hear about complaints and poor care time after time and so to hear someone be so positive about our wonderful NHS is really great. It sounds like they were all completely on top of everything and so quick to react the whole way through - those times of your bleed and delivery and being able to get a spinal in with 2 attempts is pretty impressive! And now giving the best possible care to your little boy.

Your post made me well up a bit thinking of all the mix of emotions you must be going through, especially with your toddler at home. And also post surgery for a c-section - none of this can be easy for you plus the fact you now have a tiny newborn.

I hope you get to enjoy more and more cuddles as the days go on and I hope that your little boy gains lots of strength soon,

Thank you updating us, sending lots of virtual hugs! Very weird messaging a complete stranger, but I'm currently 29+3 and have read your journey they whole way since your holiday. Hope you're ok xx

@handbagsandholidays

Congratulations to you both on your baby boy.
I hope you get better soon.

congratulations on the birth of your little boy, wishing you both a speedy recovery xx

Congratulations on the birth of your son. I hope you both recover quickly.

Huge congratulations to you OP! I hope LO continues to thrive and your recovery goes smoothly as can be expected. 💐

Wow what an amazing story. Emotional reading your update! Sending your little boy the very best wishes for his first weeks

@handbagsandholidays huge congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! So happy things are going as well as can be expected for the 2 of you and you were able to keep your uterus, that’s amazing. Hope your road to recovery is as smooth as it can be after everything you’ve been through and your little boy goes from strength to strength. So glad the hospital are looking after you so well! Will you both be able to be transferred somewhere closer to home soon? Xx