Placental Abruption.

(warning...boring and probably TMI;)

Some of you know that I have been a little more useless than usual since about Friday. I developed a really strong pain in my left side, and have been having a hard time standing up straight. Or laying down. Or sitting, really.

At first I thought it was just my ovary pain again. I have had a cyst on my left ovary from the beginning of this pregnancy, and it causes some serious pain at times.

I wasn't sure, but this seemed a little different. More muscular, and absolutely unbearable. So I spent part of Saturday and part of Monday in the hospital with pain and contractions coming two minutes apart. Contractions are pretty normal for me in my third trimester, but they don't usually come 2 minutes apart. I tried to stay out of the hospital by taking terbutaline and vicodin at home, but that only works to a certain point. Neither of the doctors in my doctor's office were in town, so some strange doctor I have never heard of was on call. He just wanted to stop my contractions,(multiple terbutaline shots) shoot me with Demerol (which was lovely, I admit) and send me on my way until my doctor got back.

When my doctor finally came back yesterday, they found a small placental abruption on my left side that was causing all my pain and contractions. He decided to admit me, because these abruptions can cause major problems. They kept me overnight so they could compare ultrasounds and see if it was getting any better or worse. They also needed to monitor the babies heartbeat for a while, since a major complication can be fetal distress and death. The baby kind of needs your placenta to live, apparently;)

I had never had a placental abruption, so I needed to do some reading on the subject. It seems they can kill both mother and child, or do nothing at all;)

So I kept my reading to SMALL placental abruptions. It tends to cause contractions one right after another that don't cause you to dilate. That explains my constant contractions. SO I get to take terbutaline, which seems to make me a little crazy.

Anyhow, it can heal itself, stay the same, or tear further. My second ultrasound showed that it had stayed the same size. SO I am on strict bedrest(bathroom privileges) for a week, then we will check it again.

I am really optimistic that my body has the ability to heal itself, and it will get better instead of worse. I have a lot of things to do before this baby comes, so bedrest or a hospital stay aren't really going to work for me. In the meantime, keep in mind that I am taking my crazy drugs and I may not make a heck of a lot of sense. I may go back and look at this post and wonder what on earth I could have been talking about;)