Bed Rest for me this weekend.

Not official scary 'you can't sit up' type of bed rest (not that it would help anyhow), but the NP at the OB's office told me that I need to be laying down as much as possible this weekend.

Why?

More bleeding. It actually hasn't stopped since the diagnosis of placenta previa, and in some ways, seems to be getting worse. It goes in a pattern now - pass a large-ish clot in a gush of red blood. Bleed for a few minutes or until it's all passed, taper quickly to red spotting. Spot red for a day or so. Spot pink for awile. Spot brown for awhile (the spotting phase length changes). Then pass a large-ish clot in a gush of red blood and rinse and repeat.

Fun.

Except not at all. By this point, I should be used to it, and I do think I hold it together pretty well (aided by the knowledge that I know what is going on and it should get better . . . eventually . . . and the trusty doppler which has paid for itself 5 million times over). But there is an instant when the bleeding is happening, where I lose it and panic and fear this time is a hemorrhage and this time is the end. It sucks a lot.

Last night was particularly bad.

I'll spare you the gory details and simply say that the bleeding occurred in such a way as to cause a scene reminiscent of a horror film and that my husband had to spend 20 minutes helping to clean me up so we could determine whether I was still bleeding or whether it was just a mess. I have never been so mortified and drained in my life.

The bleeding actually stopped very quickly, but the experience was frightening enough that we discussed the ER, knowing that could lead to a second trimester termination for mother's health (without my consent, come to that, if I were bleeding too heavily). Fortunately, once I was cleaned up and we checked the heartbeat, it was apparent that things were under control.

Nevertheless, I was frightened enough to call the OB's office and ask to speak with him. Unfortunately, he was out of the office at a delivery and not on call this weekend, but his wonderful NP (who had been in the room previously for the diagnosis) was there and extremely reassuring.

The bottom line is pretty much what I expected - there is nothing they can do, and the Chicken is causing the bleeding.

I now have more firm guidelines for when to go to the hospital should there be more bleeding (and we expect there will be).

I am to restrict activities as much as possible, including not going to the grocery store and am to lay down as long as I can, as frequently as I can (her words were - if you are watching tv, lay down on the couch instead of sit on it. and watch a lot of tv).

The good news is that because the bleeding is not significantly more or worse, for now, I can continue on with life. And that what is happening is that the blood is pooling and clotting (my body's efforts to stop the bleeding before damage is done to either me or the chicken), and then the chicken dislodges the clot, which causes more bleeding and clotting, and so on. The fact my body is trying to stop it is a good thing. The fact that the clots aren't getting bigger is a good thing. The fact that the bleeding stops quickly is a good thing. The fact that the chicken is moving so much (with steady heart tones)is a good thing because it indicates that he/she is not being affected by the blood loss (which could equal nutrient/oxygen loss for him/her). He/she is happy as a clam bouncing around in there, and is getting strong enough to cause these problems.

So. I am going to spend a lot of time on the couch (not that it helps much, but likewise, it doesn't hurt either). I hope my sister doesn't judge harshly when she comes to visit (for the first time!) and sees the horror that is my house right now. Somehow, I think she'll be kind.