One of the more pleasant aspects of visiting the midwives is that I am handed my chart as I walk through the door for an appointment. Rather then endure the borderline humiliation of being weighed by a nurse, I go into the bathroom, weigh myself on the old fashioned scale and note it in the chart.
Task done, I took a few moments while waiting for the midwife to read through my chart, including the results from a very unpleasant procedure I had several years ago and the more recent reports from the ultrasound done earlier this month.
Noted in the ultrasound report - Placenta: previa (complete).
Oh. No.
I digress to openly admit that I read way to much sometimes. Once I accepted that this pregnancy was real I became acquainted with the Mayo Clinic's website and have become obsessive at learning about all the things that could possibly go wrong during a pregnancy. But in all my worries about birth defects, gestational diabetes (because I hate the idea of having to stick myself with needles multiple times a day) and pre-eclempsea (because I hate the idea of forced bed rest and possible stroke), that I might have the condition known as placenta previa never occurred to me.
In this, I have potentially hit, at once, all of things I fear with frightening pathology - forced bed rest, repeated ultrasounds, steroids, needles, knives, surgery and death.
Dana the midwife* calls me back to the office and we sit down to chat. She asks me if I have any questions. I ask her about the "previa (complete)" notation on the ultrasound report.
Dana explains to me that this condition is very common into the second trimester of pregnancy and that the placenta usually moves upwards as the uterus expands. If I had not had the ultrasound, I would not have known. They will check again at the 18-20 week ultrasound and take necessary action if the placenta has not moved by then.
This should have been enough to calm me down, at least until I have the next ultrasound. In the short term, defined as the sixteen hours between the end of my appointment and this morning, it was.
Then I had to look up the complications. I knew that previa meant c-section. It did not register in my first round of reading that it might also mean enforced hospital bed rest, steroids to speed up fetal lung development, premature delivery, excessive bleeding, hysterectomy and possibly death. Finding out the resolve rate for partial previa is 95%, complete previa 90%, did not help much, because there is that 10% to worry about. And 10% is a lot when you are not quite ready to shuffle off the mortal coil.
J is calm in contrast of my controlled panic. Calm, but irate, the way men become when they will not allow themselves to panic. He wanted to know why the doctor, who told us "everything was normal", failed to mention the previa.
I'm not as curious. He's a doctor. He sees a previa, note that I am just finishing the first trimester, assumes that it will resolve and moves on. Does not want to deal with giving an already stressed out woman potentially bad news about a life-threatening condition that usually resolves itself.
The bills from the first ultrasound and blood tests are starting to roll in. Almost $600.00 towards my $1000.00 deductible already reached. The insurance breakdown came first, followed by a bill from National Chain Lab who has not sent the results of my blood work two weeks ago to the midwives. They sit on the dining room table waiting for me to match up the statements, to ensure that I am not being overcharged for any service. The next ultrasound should eat up the rest of the deductible. Then the fun of explaining to multiple parties that I have fulfilled my deductible and that they need to take it up with the insurance company begins.
*There are five midwives in this practice. Patients are rotated through all five over the course of a pregnancy and receive labor and delivery care from whomever is on call at the time labor begins, whether at the center or in the hospital. Even if I go to the hospital, the midwife will be there for support.
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