Erin Kelly Erin's Percreta Journey

Welcome to our CaringBridge site. We've created it to keep friends and family updated. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement during this time when it matters most. I'm a 36 year old veterinarian that lives in a Cincinnati suburb. Married for over 10 years with two beautiful girls at home and a third angel on the way. In addition to our biological kids, we also share our home with a herd of pets (dogs and cats). 
At the 5 month anatomy scan for baby girl #3 I was diagnosed with placenta previa, velamentous cord insetion with a concern for placenta accreta. At that point in time the general ob decided it was best to have me seen by a MFM (maternal-fetal-medicine) specialist. Due to my "advanced age" (no comments people, I'm only 36) I was also considered high risk.  
                 Placenta previa: Baby's placenta covers the opening in the mother's cervix. Is associated with maternal hemorrhage and requires C-section delivery of baby 
                 Velamentous cord insertion: an abnormal condition in which the umbilical cord inserts into the fetal membranes then travels within the membranes to the                                    placenta and are inserted close to the cervix. . The exposed vessels are not well protected and are vulnerable to rupture.  In order to lower the chance of                              rupture,  the baby will be delivered via cesarean section as early as 35 weeks to prevent the mother from going into labor, which is associated with a high                              infant mortality. 
                 Placenta accreta: A serious condition in which the placenta attaches too firmly into the uterus and is associated with 1 in 2,500 pregnancies. Can be further                                 classified as accreta vera (no muscle involvement-- 75% of cases), increta (invades into the muscle layer of the uterus-- 15% of cases), and percreta                                     (placenta invades completely through the uterus and can attach to internal organs such as the bladder and bowels -- 5% of cases). With any of the accreta                           conditions a hysterectomy is the treatment of choice to lower the chances of severe maternal hemorrhage.  
        In December 2015 I had my first appointment with Dr. Lambers at Tri-Health MFM specialists. She was very informative and thorough. Follow-up ultrasound performed at that visit confirmed the previa, cord insertion and was still suspicious for accreta. At that point I was not showing any symptoms so we were planning to monitor closely until 28 weeks when an MRI could be performed to determine if the concern for accreta was warranted. 
       In January, right at 24 weeks, I had my first big bleed. I woke up in the middle of the night and was obviously panicked. Steve drove me to Mercy Fairfield where I was admitted-- testing confirmed baby was stable. Later that day I was transferred via ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati and my MFM officially took over my case. I ended up hospitalized for 8 days to be sure both baby and I were stable. Then I got to go home on bedrest-- bedrest is no fun but at least I got to be home! 
        At 28 weeks I had 2 MRIs to look for continued signs of accreta. Much to my disappointment, not only was I diagnosed with accreta, I was diagnosed with the most rare and severe form of the condition (percreta), is addition to increta. The previa an velamentous cord insert were also confirmed. 
                   Placenta percreta: a rare, life threatening condition that occurs in 1 in 50,000 pregnancies (0.002% of pregnancy population). The placenta acts like a tumor                        and can invade local organs. The most common complication is blood loss requiring large blood transfusions. Less common complications can                                              include: coagulopathy, transfusion reaction, sepsis, respiratory distress syndrome, and multiorgan failure. Surgery requires hysterectomy and cystotomy to                            address the association with additional organs.  
      So, now here I am at 30 weeks and hospitalized for the remainder of the pregnancy. The doctors want me in the hospital in order to monitor closely for any additional bleeding episodes. If I have a large bleed the plan will be to take me directly to the OR and perform a C-section, hysterectomy and bladder surgery. If all remains stable then that surgery will be performed on Tuesday, March 29th. Baby girl will only by 34 weeks of gestation and will spend a minimum of 10 days in the hospital. I have already received a set of steroid injections to increase her lung development and the doctors feel there is a good possibility that she will do wonderful with no long term complications. Surgery will involve the MFM surgeon (with back up), in addition to the ob oncologist and a urologist. 
     Some amazing people in my life have set up a virtual blood drive at the Hoxworth blood centers in the Cincinnati area to help to stock the blood banks before my big surgery. Now that I am hospitalized and will have more regular updates it was recommended I start a blog. So here I am! This way I do not continue to blow up everyone's FB pages daily with updates. Those that want to follow closely can check the blog and stay updated daily... Thank you for reading my page and for all of the support for my family :)