Just Breathe

I had my regularly scheduled visit with my OB/GYN today.  We talked about the small (3.4 x .6 x 3.6 cm) subchorionic hematoma that is sitting behind my placenta.  She told me that I shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting or vigorous exercise (especially not bouncy exercise) and should avoid sex for a while (ha!  like I was having sex anyway!)  She said something like, "Well, I would only worry if one of my bleeding patients told me that she was traveling to South America..." And I said, "Ummm...I'm supposed to go to Mexico in 3 weeks."  And she said, "Oh." 

But we discussed it at length and we both agreed at the end of the discussion that I should go on this trip.  Obviously, if I start bleeding again in the next 3 weeks, we'll reassess the situation.  But I have to live my life.  She also said that while it would be awful to have something go wrong on vacation, even the best medical care couldn't save the baby at 18-19 weeks.  And while I want to have as healthy a pregnancy as possible, I like the logic of that.  Even if I canceled my trip and had all of the best Boston hospitals at my fingertips, they could do nothing to save this baby if I went into pre-term labor.  So I'm going to cross my fingers and go!  As my OB/GYN recommended, I should "Just Breathe" and take it step-by-step.

I am also going to have my fetal survey (hooray for another detailed ultrasound) on December 15 and so that will also give us some more information prior to my trip.  Hopefully, that scan will show that the hematoma is not any bigger.  We'll also need to see if my low-lying placenta has moved up at all.

Overall, it was a good appointment and I was, as always, very happy to hear the baby's heart beating away at 153 bpm.  16 weeks and counting!