So. I got my placental pathology report today. If you don't want to know, then stop reading! It's not all bad news, but it's not all good either.
I'm just going to remind you, or perhaps share for the first time, about my placenta with the pregnancy I had with Ezra. I had a placental abruption that was due to placental infarctions. Infarctions are dead spots in the tissue- places that did not recieve enough bloodflow. My first placenta was 30-35% infarcted, and when labour became a bit more intense, the placenta was too dead to stay attached to my uterus so the dead tissue ripped off, taking some of the good placenta with it, causing major bleeding and an emergency cesarean. This was the reason I had a repeat c-section with Silas- too scary a scenario to repeat, especially since his growth was shown (via ultrasound and measuring of the fundal height) to be small and slow, similar to Ezra's growth in utero.
Now onto today's news. My placenta appeared to be small at birth, but turns out, was still within the normal range- 6.75inches in diameter and over 1lb in weight. It was however 5-10% infarcted. Good news in a way- it was a healthier placenta than my last one, however they don't like to see any infarcts. Especially twice. When my OB told me about my placental health, she sat beside me, instead of in front of me. That said a lot to me. So the bad news is, placental infarctions are on the menu for all future pregnancies (apparently 2 for 2 means a near guarantee for subsequent placentas) and I will have to be closely monitored for any future pregnancies. Her words were, "You will be high risk the day before you get pregnant." Awesome. The good news is I can (so far) have as many babies as I choose. Apparently my uterus and scar tissue look great and I have as many cesareans as I like (for now). They limit each woman individually, and they make those calls after a c-section that shows too much scarring, or a thin uterus. I have neither. My only problem is those silly placentas. And while I will have to be monitored closely, I should be capable of having healthy babies in the future, should we decide to add to our already amazing family.
I asked her if there was anything to be done about preventing infarctions and she said sometimes doctors will recommend taking a baby asprin every day, from the day you become pregnant (or as early as possible). Apparently this can sometimes help the bloodflow in the body, and can sometimes reduce the risk of infarctions. It is just a baby asprin so it is safe to take during pregnancy. This may be recommended for me, but in the end, there is really nothing to be done than make sure the uterine envirnment is safe for Baby and take him/her out at the first sign of trouble.
The OB was very kind and said if we get pregnant while we still live here she would like me to call her. She reassured me about our cesarean choice with Silas, and also about the potential to have more children.
So now it is up to us.
3 comments:
When I was doing my practicum at the hospital I watched the pathologist inspect a placenta. It was interesting, and not at all as disturbing as the whole female breast that came after.
I'm glad to hear that you still have a choice whether or not to add to your family. That sounds a little weird but you know what I mean.
This is good to know, even if it is not all good - it's not all bad either.
That's actually great news, really! Imagine if you had been told never to have more. I'm so glad the choice is up to you.
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