Why I ended my first trimester in the emergency room
July 3rd, 2019 began the scariest week of my life (next to Paxton getting RSV). Colton, Paxton and I were on our way to our ranch to celebrate the 4th with our family. I was 11 weeks pregnant. We were 10 minutes from being there and I had to pee SO bad. Like SOOO bad (all you pregnant mama’s know what I’m talkin about). I was trying to be so patient and not be that annoying pregnant lady in the backseat telling him to step on it! So I didn’t say anything.
We were almost there.
Then… my seat started to get all wet. I thought “ohhh no I just peed in my husband’s brand new truck.” I should have told him how badly I needed to pee. I found some napkins and started to put them underneath me. Then I saw it. Red. I didn’t just pee myself, I was bleeding, a lot. Now I am sure you know, you are NOT supposed to bleed when you are pregnant.
That is a huge red flag. Literally.
So I did what any pregnant mama would do. I started bawling. And panicking. And to be honest I don’t even remember what I said to Colton. I blacked out. As soon as we got to the ranch I ran to the bathroom, and I had never seen so much blood. Colton came in and with tears in my eyes I said "we just lost the baby." The next few hours I spent crying more than I ever have in my whole life. The drive to the hospital from our ranch was about 20 minutes long. But it felt like hours. I spent the entire drive mourning the loss of our baby. I told Colton I wanted to name our baby so that we could properly mourn the loss of our child. Colton was my rock that day (and every day).
He kept telling me everything was going to be ok, he just knew it.
We got to the hospital and I felt numb. I was wet from all the blood and all the tears and I just was ready to hear the doctor say it so I could get on with my mourning and my grieving. When we were finally seen the doctor confirmed my greatest fears. She said with how much blood I was losing there was no way there was still a baby in there. She started pulling out blood clot after blood clot. She ordered an emergency sonogram to confirm it but with that much blood. I lost hope. Now Colton was joining in my tears.
We held each other and cried.
I texted all my friends to pray for a miracle. To pray for us. I talked to God like I have never talked to God before. I asked for peace. Whatever that sonogram said. I just wanted peace in knowing this was His plan.
A nurse came and wheeled me away, Colton wasn’t allowed to come. I was so numb at this point and ready for this to be over with. She started the ultra sound and her face… I’ll never forget her face. She seemed… shocked. Happy almost. I was so confused. I thought, lady I am bleeding profusely over here. Why on EARTH does your face look like that?? She looked at me and said “I am not supposed to do this. But you have got to see this." She turned the volume up on her machine. A HEARTBEAT. That sound is imprinted in my brain. My baby girl. She was still in there, kicking and moving and breathing and alive. Tears started coming again but they were different this time. Happy, happy tears. I didn’t even care why there was so much blood because she was still in there.
Then she showed me the screen and pointed out 3 separate sacks. One sack with my baby girl. And then two empty ones. She told me I had triplets. TRIPLETS. Y’all I couldn’t help but laugh. That kind of nervous laugh when you don’t know exactly how to react, I know you know the one. She wheeled me back to Colton and now she was nervous laughing. She said “do you mind if I’m there when you tell him? I’d love to see his face.” We told him together through tears and laughter.
Ok so that was a long story. And now you’re wondering ok, but WHY were you bleeding?? For 5 days (because it was the 4th of July weekend all doctors offices were closed) Colton and I thought we had just miscarried two babies. Isn’t that crazy? We drove to the ER mourning one baby. And left the ER mourning two DIFFERENT babies.
Which is actually more common that I thought. How nuts. Then the next week I saw my doctor and had another sonogram. Still confirming sweet Hadley girl was still ok. But this news was a little different. I was NOT pregnant with triplets. I had a subchorionic hematoma. Which is a blood clot in the uterus and the most common cause of first trimester bleeding. Those sacks that the ER tech thought were baby sacks were actually just a pretty good sized blood clot.
So, I bled till about 21 weeks pregnant. I wasn’t allowed to do any pelvic floor activity or exercises. I had to be careful with what I picked up and how often I was on my feet. I became a “high risk” pregnancy. I had to have ultrasounds weekly to check on the size of the clot. But it was worth it. Us mama’s would do anything for our babies. So as much as I wanted to workout and be active my Hadley girl needed me to rest. And so I did.
I am writing this because before this happened to me I had never even heard of such a thing! My doctor actually told me at my 8 week sonogram that I had twins because she too saw an extra sack. Turns out it was just the blood clot beginning to form. So ask questions! Be your own advocate and do your research. Keep you and that baby safe. And thank GOD every chance you get.
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
Psalm 56:3