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Well, prior to May 3rd I had been in the hospital for 2 weekends with extreme pains in my stomach. Worried about the baby I stayed a few nights each weekend. The doctors did blood work, and 2 ultrasounds but they could not find anything that was causing my pains in my stomach. So on May 3rd, 2006 I went into the hospital for a routine Non-Stress Test at 10:30am. The nurse looked at the strip and noticed that I was contracting every 2 mins. She had asked me if I felt them I said that I did but they only felt like mild period cramps. So she called my doctor and he came rushing over to find out that I was already 4cm dilated. This being a concern seeing how I was due June 3rd, 2006. So they told me I was to stay at the hospital and see how things progress. He checked in on me a few hours later and looked at me and said, "You don't even look like you are in labor". I giggled at the time and told him I didnt feel like I was. So by about 2:00pm I was put into a birthing room and hooked up to that lovely little Non-stress test machine. By this time my contractions were getting a little more present but I was able to deal with them quite well. (No screaming from me.) So just before 3pm another doctor came into to check my cervix to see how far along I was, and her mouth dropped and told me I was 9-10cm, soooo... She broke my water. And let me tell you, there was ALOT of water, even she could not believe how much water came out. Just after the doctor broke my water my husband showed up. After she broke my water, the contractions really started to happen! Whoa. But, by 3:15pm I was pushing. I did not have time for ANY drugs. The cord was wrapped around my little girls head, but as I pushed her out, they thankfully were able to cut the cord before she was entirely out. She was born at 3:44pm that day, she came out white. She was not breathing but had a hearth beat and thankfully the specialist was able to get her breathing. (PHEW) Now after she came out it was my turn to get the placenta out. As difficult as it was to get it out, (because it was attached through the uterus wall) I pushed the placenta out, and as soon as that happend they realized that I would not stop bleeding. That same lovely female doctor who broke my water, (who I absolutely love to this day, and saved my life) tried to get the rest of the placenta out vaginally, but could not because it was so painful for me. So they rushed me down to the O.R. by 4pm. By the time I got down there I lost 2/3's of my blood. They still could not reach the rest of the placenta vaginally so they gave me a c-section cut and had to take out my uterus. Thankfully they were able to leave in my ovaries. I had lost so much blood that they had to give me 16 units of blood, (in the human body there is only 7 units of blood) I bled that much and also I was not cloting properly. They had to staple me up after 6 hours of surgery and hope that I would stop bleeding. They could not keep me under any longer because I had had enough drugs to keep me out. (Also my baby girl Brooke-Lynn did just fine! And is doing very well to this day) So I woke up around 1:30 am. I awoke to a breathing tube down my throat, and one IV on my right arm, 2 IV's on my left arm and a central line on the right side of my neck and a catheder. I can remember fighting the breathing machine and coughing. Oh my gosh, THAT HURT! I had NO clue that I had a hysterectomy done. I waved over to someone to come over and signaled for pen and paper. I wrote down "What happend to me?" The nurse told me that she could not tell me and that I would have to wait for my doctor to come. I laid there scared to fall asleep because of the breathing tube, and felt that I would not wake up if I fell asleep, I laid there for 6 HOURS. That was the longest, hardest six hours of my life. Laying there not having a clue what the hell happend to me. Feeling my neck that had a cloth over it, thinking I had a tube inserted through my neck. Looking at my hands that were covered in IV's. That was intense. So finally around 6 am or so, they took out my breathing tube, that was a grose feeling. By around 7:30am May 4th, my doctor showed up and she grabbed my hand. "You gave us quite a scare," she said. She proceeded to tell me what happend, as I welled up I asked "Do I have to take hormone therapy?" Thankfully I do not. So after she left I was brought up to a Critical Care Unit where I stayed for a day and a half. Wow, let me tell you, they do not hesitate to give you morphine (laughs). I was in alot of pain not being able to even lift my head off the bed. But thankfully I was able to see my precious little girl the next day after surgery, thanks to my husband for bringing her up to me. That was hard, laying in bed not being able to go see your little bundle of joy whenever you want. My husband had to bring her to me because the nursery here was just too busy to bring her to me. That and no one offered to bring her to me. (She was also hooked up to a heart monitor just to be on the safe side. She was a little yellow but never had to go under light therapy) So late friday evening they took me down to the birthing side of the maternity unit (as our hospital was full on the other side) where I slept for that night. By Saturday morning, they want me to get up to get some underwear on and to wash up (sponge bath) and brush my teeth. My mouth just about dropped when she told me I had to stand. I could barely lift my head, how do they want me to stand. So as slow as it was I stood up breifly then sat back down and finally got to brush my teeth. By saturday afternoon I was moved into my OWN room on the maternity side with all the other mothers. My husband, and my family were in the room that I was now staying in, when they found out all the news that had happend to me the night of my surgery. They had endured SO much and went through so many emotions, but I would NOT let them cry around me. I was thankful to be alive that I did not want them to cry and remember the bad thoughts. I wanted them to remember that I am here and that the baby was healthy and thats all that matters. I tried to be so strong for them, and at the time I felt SO strong and so happy to be alive. It was an amazing experience to come out alive from. But I had my days and nights where I just cried to think that I would be missing all of this, missing out on life. It was a tramatic experience and at times I did not even want people to ask me how I was feeling to avoid crying. I would rather deal with my emotions alone and not with some murse that I barely know. There was only 2 nurses that I broke down to and they are just the sweetest girls! To think, the doctors told me, if I was not in the town I am in, or the next biggest city (Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA) me and the baby would have both died. (We live in Kelowna, British Columbia CANADA) So I did not want to see my family upset, because I am here and alive. The healing process from the surgery was quite painful. It was a struggle to get out of bed for quite a few days. But by Tuesday the 8th, I had gotten my catheder out, down to 2 IV's, the central line was out of my neck and I was able to move around and walk to short distances. The funny thing is, when the nurse first told me to stand, I thought she was NUTS! Now I had a great urge to get moving, and to get better and heal quick for my baby. 9 days after my surgery I was home. My baby had to remain in the hospital as she was to young and premature to come home then. She had to have a feeding tube down her nose because she was just too tierd to eat her bottle all on her own. But she finally came home after 15 days in the hospital. Brooke-Lynn and I are doing amazing and I thank god (even though I am not a religious person) everyday for us being here well and happy.

Jamie

I had my first baby by caesarian section and my second naturally. All was well with my third pregnancy until my 22 week scan when it showed my placenta was low. Following an internal scan which showed the birth canal was clear they allowed me to try for a natural birth. At 42 weeks I was induced but the induction failed so I had a caesarian. Everything was going well and they pulled my son out and suddenly my vision went blurred. At the time I didnt realise what was happening to me, but it turned out I had placenta accreta. The placenta had attached itself to scar tissue from the birth of my first daughter 5 years before. The result was I lost 900ml of blood and had to have a transfusion and spent two nights on the high dependency unit. They left a drain in to monitor my bleeding, but fortunately it subsided or else I would have gone back into theatre for a hysterectomy. I recovered quickly with no after effects. I am now contemplating having a 4th baby.

Sue

My daughter had a c-section on June 21,06 about 3 hours after the section she started to haemorage and as we watched her health go down her ob/gyn decided to do a D&C and when he was done he stated that a small piece of placenta the size of a quarter was still attached and this was causing all of the bleeding is this the same as Placenta accreta? This was my daughters 2nd c-section in 13 months and could this have been the cause of this?

Sherry

I had placenta accreta when my daughter was born. She was born C-section, so the doctor knew right away what was going on. However because I was only 21 at the time, he went ahead and sewed me back up, hoping that he wouldn't have to do a hysterectomy. So, I was given pitocin to help control the bleeding, in hopes it would stop on its own. But the very next morning I hemoraged and had to be rushed to emergency surgery. I had a great doctor and he tried everything he could to get the bleeding stopped, but without success. So I did have to have a hysterectomy, and was in ICU for 3 days because of the blood loss. My husband and I were devestated. We had planned to have at least one more baby. We eventually grew to accept the fact that we couldn't, but it took some time. It's now been 2 1/2 years and we are just so thankful that our one little angel still has her mommy.

Sharla

I had a baby and luckily she and I were and are fine, but I had placenta accreta in January and badly haemorrhaged and had to have a full hysterectomy. I lost so much blood that my heart stopped and the doctors kept it going it was a very bad experiance for me and my family I still can't believe how lucky we were but thanks to the fantastic care of the doctors and nurses I got through it. It is rare I know and glad to send message of support."

This is one mum's story of coping with and surviving Placenta Accreta, a rare complication of giving birth.

Aside from a random tick bite and an inguinal hernia that kept popping in and out, my pregnancy was fairly normal. I stopped work a week before I was due with the intention of cleaning the house, doing laundry, getting my car serviced and if time allowed, reading a book other than, "What to Expect When You're Expecting". My darling son however, had other plans. That Sunday night, at 39 weeks, my water broke.

My husband and I drove to the hospital full of giddy anticipation. "Wow, this is it!" I thought. I couldn't wait to hold this little creature who had been swimming around my belly for the past 9 months. Unfortunately my wait would be a bit longer. Although my water had broken, I was not dilated and my contractions were weak. It was a full moon that night and the hospital was slammed. I was left to wallow in soft labour for several hours.

At 8am the next morning I still wasn't dilated so they started the pitocin. The contractions came on quickly and by 6:15 that evening I was ready to push. After 17 minutes my beautiful baby boy was born, healthy and strong. I watched the nurses clean him up as my doctor worked on my placenta. I was so entranced with my son that I didn't realize something was wrong. My placenta wasn't budging.

"Don't worry, I've seen this before." My doctor said trying excruciatingly hard to keep the alarm from her face. "We're not going to push it." They gave me another epidural and felt around my insides for some give. Looking concerned and somewhat surprised, my doctor said, "We'll give you a shot of methotrexate and put you on heavy duty antibiotics to avoid an infection. You'll also have to take a drug called cytotek every 6-12 hours to keep your uterus contracted. I'm not going to do a hysterectomy."

"Can I breastfeed?" I asked.

"No." She responded. With that one word my world crashed around me. To me breastfeeding was one of the most important things of being a mother. It was the single biggest thing I was looking forward to as a new mother. I dreamt about it for 9 months, I couldn't believe it wasn't going to happen. I had no idea, that at the time, I was lucky to be alive.

"You have something called Placenta Accreta." Said my doctor. In between my sobs, "Placenta what?" It sounded like Placenta Creature to me, which was how I referred to it from that point on. My placenta had become a creature that had grabbed a hold of my uterus and wouldn't let go. At the risk of being to graphic, my doctor basically cut the cord and stuffed it back in. I was going to go home with my entire placenta still inside me.

That night, as they shot me up with chemotherapy and hemobate to control the haemorrhaging, my husband went home and searched the Internet for "Placenta Accreta". Very little came up, and the information that did was terrifying.

He called me in a panic, "Are you going to die?" "What? Of course not, I'm fine." "The internet says 10% of women who have this die." No one had said anything about dying. Now I was scared!

I started asking questions. Questions to which no one seemed to have the answer. "What causes this?" "What is the best way to treat this?" "How will I know when it comes out?" "Will it all come out at once?" "What will it look like?" "How long will it take?" "Am I going to die?"

The answer to everything, "We really don't know."

Looking back, I was lucky in that my doctor stood her ground. Even when her colleagues were telling her she was crazy for not doing a hysterectomy, she refused. Even when I begged her for fear I would haemorrhage to death without, she refused. "I would give my own sister the same treatment" she said, "you are to young to lose your uterus."

At my request, I was discharged within the normal 3-day time frame, full placenta still intact and a haemoglobin level of 6. Needless to say, I was back within 3 days for a transfusion. Luckily, it was the only one I needed.

The following 12 weeks were really tough. Not only was I a new mom with all of the normal fears and anxiety, but I was also in a constant state of anticipation that my placenta would just fall out and I would start haemorrhaging again. The cytotek which probably kept me from haemorrhaging by contracting my uterus, also made me feel as though a bowling ball was crushing my cervix anytime I stood for more than 5 minutes. I also had constant fevers as a result of carrying a foreign substance in my body (once the baby is gone, the placenta is no longer welcome). I made weekly visits to the ob office to get my beta levels tested. Don't forget, since the placenta was still in tact, my body thought I was still pregnant. I wasn't able to breastfeed because of all the medication, but it didn't matter because my milk never came in.

My beta levels declined consistently though, which meant that the placenta was dying. The creature however, still wasn't letting go. Ultrasound after ultrasound showed a large mass of placental tissue filling my uterine cavity. Over time, two small pieces did come out. The bleeding stopped and the fevers became less frequent. I stopped the cytotek on my own and the pressure on my cervix went away. I was lucky again in that I was able to connect with a doctor via phone and email who had experience with Accreta. I call him my guardian angel doctor because without his support and optimism I'm not sure if I would have had the strength to see it through.

Finally, four months postpartum there was a significant difference in the size of the placenta. Icky as it may sound, most of it just reabsorbed into my body. I guess the creature never really had any intention on leaving after all.

In June of 2003, eight months postpartum, the placenta had shrunk to 1.5cm in diameter. Small and fairly insignificant the doctor decided to just leave it be until I "dare" to even think about getting pregnant again. At that time, they will go in and see how much damage was actually done and then I will have to decide whether I want to take the risk of it happening again.

There is so little information about Accreta, yet more and more women are experiencing this dangerous condition, some suffering from Percreta and Increta, which are even more serious than mine.

My hope is that with experience, the medical field will become more equipped and better prepared to diagnose and treat Accreta.

In the meantime, I have set up a Placenta Accreta Support Forum for those of us who feel like there is "no one else out there".

Jodi Silverman
Maternity Coach
www.coachjodi.com

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