Pregnancy and placenta insufficiency
Discussion
Equilibrium25 said:
Apologies for the slow update...a very busy week last week and then my laptop wouldn't boot once we got home.
Everything went well! My wife was induced last Monday and gave birth in the early hours of Wednesday. Our little girl was beautiful and (as expected) on the small side at 2.4kg. Initially she was fine, but then had problems with glucose levels and a suspected infection. She was admitted to the hospital's specialist NICU unit for a few days, but took well to breast feeding from Thursday PM onwards. On Sunday, she was allowed home a day ahead of schedule.
We had to complete a course of oral antibiotics for her, and her weight was a little down when checked by the midwfie on Wednesday, but I suspect this was down to the drugs affected her digestion. Since she finished the drug on Tuesday evening, she's been doing well and seems more settled in her digestion.
Her only awkwardness is an insistence on being wide awake and cluster feeding from 10pm to 2am every night!!
Apart from being a little skinny, no ill affects at all from the placental issues.
Congratulations! There isn't an experience in the world that can compare to becoming a father! Well, not one that I've had anyway! ;-)Everything went well! My wife was induced last Monday and gave birth in the early hours of Wednesday. Our little girl was beautiful and (as expected) on the small side at 2.4kg. Initially she was fine, but then had problems with glucose levels and a suspected infection. She was admitted to the hospital's specialist NICU unit for a few days, but took well to breast feeding from Thursday PM onwards. On Sunday, she was allowed home a day ahead of schedule.
We had to complete a course of oral antibiotics for her, and her weight was a little down when checked by the midwfie on Wednesday, but I suspect this was down to the drugs affected her digestion. Since she finished the drug on Tuesday evening, she's been doing well and seems more settled in her digestion.
Her only awkwardness is an insistence on being wide awake and cluster feeding from 10pm to 2am every night!!
Apart from being a little skinny, no ill affects at all from the placental issues.
Huntsman said:
Great news.
I kept a spreadsheet, how many minutes feeding, what time started, an weekly weight, so I could see all was going ok on a sets of charts.
Thanks for the kind words everyone.I kept a spreadsheet, how many minutes feeding, what time started, an weekly weight, so I could see all was going ok on a sets of charts.
Good idea Huntsman, I've just started a weight spreadsheet now and we've been writing down the feed times exactly as you say.
She was re-weighed by the midwife this PM and is back up to birthweight now, an increase of 120 grams in 2 days, so all good.
I've been thinking long and hard about coming back and updating this thread for several weeks now. Here goes and sorry in advance for the tough read.
I'm posting this in case anyone with a pregnant wife ever comes across this thread by searching for IUGR, inter uterine growth restriction or any other kind of possible placenta abnormality.
First, Sophie, the original topic of this thread is bouncing along nicely, the centre of our universe at 2yrs 7mths.
The tragic story is that Sophie should now be enjoying her baby sister Isla, but due to another placental issue she did not join us. We lost baby Isla at 39+2, six weeks back on Monday, she was born sleeping.
Almost our entire 2019 had been built around Isla's impending arrival. It was a joyous first 9 months of the year and we were over the moon to be having another girl with (in our view) a perfect age gap.
Due to late complications in the 2017 pregnancy, this one was supposedly closely monitored. Extra growth scans at 28, 34, 38 weeks. As well as several other consultant appointments for my wife's underlying blood condition which results in a Hb of mid-70s in pregnancy.
We had a scan in late September on a Thursday and were told that everything was fine. A simple ultrasound, no dopplers.
Four days later, early on Monday, labour started, a bit of hassle getting to the hospital, but all seemed fine until five minutes before we pulled up. I'm going to spare you the details, but will tell you that I dumped the car where ambulances park as this was an emergency. A midwife took my keys to move it later.
No heartbeat could be found, the room descended into panic (organised from the medical perspective). This was 9am. The immediate diagnosis was that sudden and severe pre-eclampsia resulted in placental abruption, killing Isla instantly.
My wife then had to deliver in the operating theatre, again attended by a huge team and Isla was born sleeping at 11.55. The worst 3 hours of our lives.
My wife lost 2 litres of blood and her blood pressure was through the roof, there was a genuine risk of stroke or worse.
We lost a perfect baby, all through not having an induction. If you've read up-thread, you'll know that Sophie was born at 37+5 after induction. Isla was in the womb for an extra 9 days and was 400g heavier. She was perfect in every way, except the most important one.
Had we insisted on an induction, had the medics suggested an induction, we would have two daughters now.
Our follow up appointment is in a few weeks, but the consultant on duty was the one who ensured that Sophie was induced. In his words, a couple of days later, "it's abundantly clear that both pregnancies were affected by the same problem of poor placentation". Tragically, abundantly clear in hindsight and none of the medical team taking care of the pregnancy identified any heightened risk this time. Our anger about that is off the scale.
To be clear, my wife had none of the risk factors for pre-eclampsia. But a failing placenta is what caused the pre-eclampsia.
My silver lining is i have my wife, with that rate of blood loss and the levels her blood pressure reached in labour, I dread to think what another 30-60 minutes in arrival time at hospital would have meant.
I'm posting this in case anyone with a pregnant wife ever comes across this thread by searching for IUGR, inter uterine growth restriction or any other kind of possible placenta abnormality.
First, Sophie, the original topic of this thread is bouncing along nicely, the centre of our universe at 2yrs 7mths.
The tragic story is that Sophie should now be enjoying her baby sister Isla, but due to another placental issue she did not join us. We lost baby Isla at 39+2, six weeks back on Monday, she was born sleeping.
Almost our entire 2019 had been built around Isla's impending arrival. It was a joyous first 9 months of the year and we were over the moon to be having another girl with (in our view) a perfect age gap.
Due to late complications in the 2017 pregnancy, this one was supposedly closely monitored. Extra growth scans at 28, 34, 38 weeks. As well as several other consultant appointments for my wife's underlying blood condition which results in a Hb of mid-70s in pregnancy.
We had a scan in late September on a Thursday and were told that everything was fine. A simple ultrasound, no dopplers.
Four days later, early on Monday, labour started, a bit of hassle getting to the hospital, but all seemed fine until five minutes before we pulled up. I'm going to spare you the details, but will tell you that I dumped the car where ambulances park as this was an emergency. A midwife took my keys to move it later.
No heartbeat could be found, the room descended into panic (organised from the medical perspective). This was 9am. The immediate diagnosis was that sudden and severe pre-eclampsia resulted in placental abruption, killing Isla instantly.
My wife then had to deliver in the operating theatre, again attended by a huge team and Isla was born sleeping at 11.55. The worst 3 hours of our lives.
My wife lost 2 litres of blood and her blood pressure was through the roof, there was a genuine risk of stroke or worse.
We lost a perfect baby, all through not having an induction. If you've read up-thread, you'll know that Sophie was born at 37+5 after induction. Isla was in the womb for an extra 9 days and was 400g heavier. She was perfect in every way, except the most important one.
Had we insisted on an induction, had the medics suggested an induction, we would have two daughters now.
Our follow up appointment is in a few weeks, but the consultant on duty was the one who ensured that Sophie was induced. In his words, a couple of days later, "it's abundantly clear that both pregnancies were affected by the same problem of poor placentation". Tragically, abundantly clear in hindsight and none of the medical team taking care of the pregnancy identified any heightened risk this time. Our anger about that is off the scale.
To be clear, my wife had none of the risk factors for pre-eclampsia. But a failing placenta is what caused the pre-eclampsia.
My silver lining is i have my wife, with that rate of blood loss and the levels her blood pressure reached in labour, I dread to think what another 30-60 minutes in arrival time at hospital would have meant.
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