Sarah,

I also had an early abruption with my fifth pg at 12wks. I bled like you're
describing off and on for around a month, and I stayed off my feet as much as
possible during that time. The bleeding stopped around 16wks or so. I was
diagnosed with a low lying placenta (which I had a lot of pelvic pressure as
well...maybe from the low lying placenta??) because of the abruption that had
clotted. I had signs of preterm labor starting at 20wks which my ignorant dr
just ignored, so I ended up in full blown labor at 25wks. My daughter was born
at 27wks and spent 4 months in the NICU.

I'm not going to tell you it was all well and good, because it wasn't. But
things turned out okay after all, and she's now a healthy, happy five year old
that's just graduated from Kindergarten. It was rough having her in the NICU
for so long with all the ups and downs that go on in there, but also all the
monitors, trips to the hospital, breathing treatments, etc. for the first year
were worth it all in the end. If she hadn't come early, she may not have
survived a full placental abruption that might have happened later in pg.

Now, I hope I've not scared you to death here, I'm just trying to give you a
real picture of what might come. Are you seeing a perinatologist/high risk OB?
Also with the clot that you mentioned, it makes me wonder if you might have a
thrombophilia. My PA's (three of them) were caused by clots in the placenta.
With my last pg, I went straight to a peri who had me tested for thrombophilias
and found I have three different ones. They treated me with blood thinners
during my last pg, and for the first time I was able to carry to term with no
hint of an abruption. If you want more information on the clotting disorders,
let me know and I'll send it. I also created a file in the files section with
an article from Redbook on thrombophilias you might want to read. 1 out of 5
Americans have at least one thrombophilia, and most go undiagnosed until a
problem happens. Unfortunately for women, those problems usually occur during
pregnancy or use of contraceptives.

I know you must be scared to death right now about what's going to happen with
your pg, and I so wish I could just say that everything will be okay. I can't
say that, but I can share my story with you and let you know there is still the
possibility of a good outcome.
Best of luck to you...I'll be keeping you and your baby in my prayers.

Hugs,


Sheri
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/re_breastfeeding/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/placentaabruption/



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FVL-PG/

















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