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| The only profile picture we could get of the baby today! The baby was facing my back and moving a bunch so it was a little tricky! |
I had my follow up scan this morning regarding the issues with my placenta and received good and bad news!
For starters we had the same wonderful tech as last time so she already knew we didn't want to know the gender and knew the concerns from the previous scan! That alone was a big relief! Having a good tech can really make all the difference when you are already a nervous wreck!
She started off by measuring the baby who is measuring right on track and is footling breech! (my babies flip around late and often so not a huge deal!)! My fluid and everything was all on track and I actually paid more attention this time and still didn't see any baby parts we are trying to avoid! That was a concern for me going in because I wanted to watch what was going on but still not ruin the surprise! I mean we've made it clear to 28 weeks I'd hate to ruin it now!
Next she looked at my placenta. I could already tell right away that it looked like it was still in the same position as last time. She measured and eventually confirmed that it hadn't budged at all. So I still have placenta previa. which means continued pelvic rest, light activity etc. This can cause bleeding in the 3rd trimester but many women make it clear to their c-sections with out any at all. We will just have to wait and see. Hoping for the later obviously!
After she checked the placenta position she checked all the boundaries of my placenta for signs of Accreta .
Placenta accreta is a serious pregnancy condition that occurs when blood vessels and other parts of the placenta grow too deeply into the uterine wall.
Typically, the placenta detaches from the uterine wall after childbirth. With placenta accreta, part or all of the placenta remains firmly attached. This can cause severe blood loss after delivery.
It's also possible for the placenta to invade the muscles of the uterus (placenta increta) or grow through the uterine wall (placenta percreta).
Placenta accreta is considered a high-risk pregnancy complication. If placenta accreta is suspected during pregnancy, you'll likely need an early C-section delivery followed by the surgical removal of your uterus (hysterectomy). (mayo clinic definition).
One of hallmarks for Accreta is placenta lakes. These look like black holes in your placenta and typically go hand in hand with placenta Acrreta. I could tell once she started looking around that there were several large ones that she was taking measurement of and my heart immediately sank. I asked if that was indeed what she was measuring and she said yes. I lost it for a moment and started crying. Thinking that this was NOT good news! She finished up and I honestly was thinking the worst. Knowing I was upset she said she would grab the doctor to come in and tell us what was going on to give us some peace of mind. I wasn't expecting this and was glad I didn't have to wait until tomorrow when my OB gave me the official results!
The doctor came in and said , that yes my placenta was still covering my cervix and hadn't moved at all and that he didn't expect that it would move at this point. Since its located where the baby needs to exit for a c-section he said delivery will be a little trickier. He asked who my doctor was and assured me she would no doubt be able to handle it and had some really nice things to say about her! He then said that it didn't appear like there was any Placenta Accreta. He had the tech do another ultrasound and showed me the clear barrier where the placenta was not invading the myometrium , or my bladder. He also explained how all the blood flow was typical for a healthy placenta and that it would look different if placenta accreta was present. I have obviously been worried about this more than the placenta previa for the last 8 weeks. and I can't even begin to explain the relief that things are looking just fine!! Because the placenta still remains below my previous scarring, placenta accreta cannot be ruled out 100% until actual delivery. But after the doctors thorough explanation of everything its not looking likely at all! I will meet with my OB again tomorrow and go over what the placenta previa will mean as far as delivery goes but I'm thinking as long as I don't have any bleeding things should be just fine!
I want to especially thank everyone who has checked in on us, prayed for us and had us on their minds through this!! I truly have felt such a sense of peace and calm and have felt your prayers! I'll probably update again after my next appointment tomorrow and the count down is officially on! only 10 more weeks until we get to meet this baby!
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