The amazing Adrienne Kreuger, Jameson (2.5) and Wyatt (7 months).
Adrienne's first pregnancy with Jameson was going quite well until she developed pre-eclampsia in her third trimester. Her water broke at 38 weeks and she was induced quickly due to her high blood pressures. While the induction and her birth went well she retained her placenta which had to be manually extracted, a process that was long and painful. Once home, Adrienne, began having horrible headaches. She drank a lot of coffee to try to stave them off and three days later finally went in to see her primary doctor. Her doctor called her OB who asked her to go the ER, as her blood pressure was still very high. She was given fentanyl and sent home, but woke up in the middle of the night in worse pain than ever before. tShe was admitted for a couple days for monitoring and fear that she was having post-eclamptic issues. After her discharge she continued to feel better other than occasional migraines.
Jameson nursed until he was about 14 months old when she weaned to try to get pregnant with Wyatt which happened right away. She developed pre-eclampsia in this pregnancy as well and ended up delivering at 37 weeks. While the delivery went well, she once again retained placenta and hemorrhaged badly. While she was happy to have her own OB present this time, it was a slow and painful process of pulling her placenta out in pieces. She passed out a couple of times as her body went into shock. After about an hour and a half, her doctor was confident she had removed it all and while the ultrasound showed a small piece of something, there wasn't any blood flow and they thought it may just be a natural part of her uterus.
In the following days, Adrienne became riddled with fever and was put on antibiotics due to fears of infection. They ultimately checked her via CT and ultrasound and decided to perform a D&C to remove what was determined to be retained placenta. It was then that they realized Adrienne must have had placenta accreta with her first pregnancy and Wyatt's placenta had attached to the scar tissue. Adrienne was monitored after her D&C and when the fever finally subsided was allowed to go home when Wyatt was a week old.
When Adrienne got home she took a nap, only to wake up two hours later feeling like her insides were on fire. Her temperature was nearly 104, so she went back to the hospital where she was admitted again. The doctors were uncertain where the source of infection was coming from and she was put on heavy antibiotics again. They told her that they could wait and see, perform another D&C which could possibly result in a hysterectomy, or just go ahead and have a hysterectomy. Adrienne was overwhelmed with the thought of losing her uterus and asked that they please try another D&C. The D&C was successful and after another week in the hospital Adrienne was finally able to go home after 10 IV's, a PICC line, two blood transfusions and two D&C's.
Adrienne still gets headaches and was surprised that her fourth trimester ended up being the most difficult with each of her boys. She's gotten through it though and is grateful that Wyatt was able to stay with her during her extended hospitalization and that they have a great breastfeeding relationship today.
Sharing our stories is so important and Adrienne knows that while her experience may not be typical it has the ability to touch others. Continuing to process for herself is just as important as knowing that someone else may be going through something similar. She doesn't know that she wants to have any more children but is grateful that she was able to keep her uterus and make that decision for herself in time.