Last week was nightmarish. Mark rushed me to the hospital on Monday at 12:30 pm in extreme pain. We were sure this was it- we were losing the twins. But no, again we escaped the worst!
It all started with my terrible pregnancy rhinitis which caused a hacking cough that began on Friday 2/19 and steadily worsened. At some point over the weekend, I coughed and felt a pop in my right abdomen and a burning pain, followed by the forming of a hard, painful lump about the size of a silver dollar. Monday morning, I’d called my doctor’s office and although they thought it sounded like a pulled muscle or ligament, they asked me to come in to check it out. Just trying to change clothes to get ready to leave for the appointment made the pain worse to the point that I was sobbing. I could barely walk to the car supported almost entirely by Mark. Halfway to my MFMs office in Evergreen Hospital, I called and said I was going directly to the ER due to the pain increase; they agreed to meet me there. By the time we made it to OB Triage, my contractions were steady and the pain was off the charts: I couldn’t stop screaming.

The doctors diagnosed that my cough caused the artery supplying blood to the abdominus rectis muscle (upper right abdomen) had torn and I was bleeding internally causing a hematoma to form between my muscle layers and my uterus, measuring 4 inches wide and stretching 16 inches down my entire right abdomen. Unfortunately, they couldn’t operate to relieve the pressure because that would allow for even more bleeding; the recommended course was treat the pain and allow the bleeding to stop on its own. The pressure from the expanding hematoma and internal bleeding was pressing on my uterus, causing contractions threatening preterm labor. By 7pm, I was admitted, in my room, getting IV drugs to stop labor and manage pain, which caused me to vomit anything that went into my stomach (predominately ice chips). They took vitals every hour and by 6 am got the vomiting under control. After 3 days of internal bleeding, it stopped but left me dangerously anemic. My options were a full blood transfusion or IV Iron infusions every 3 days until I’m no longer anemic. I had my iron infusion on Friday and they released me.

I’m now home on bedrest, extremely fatigued and still in a lot of pain. My abdomen looks like I was in a car accident; bruised and the blood from the internal bleeding gathered under the skin purple, red, green and yellow. My doctor says it’s going to take about 90 days to recover. He could only find 11 people internationally who’ve ever experienced this since records began medically. The root cause: anticoagulant. Yes, the aspirin therapy (81 mg low dose aspirin daily to prevent preeclampsia) made me prone to bleeding. Carrying twins plus enough amniotic fluid for 4 babies stretched everything to prime for a problem. The coughing caused the tear. All in all, I’m really lucky to be alive: I believe all those prayers and positive healing vibes paid off. Luck just cannot possibly cover this.

The biggest news: the babies are doing fine throughout this injury! It’s mystifying yet an incredible blessing that they’re okay. Their fluids are increased somewhat but their growth was great, so onward we press toward those magic dates where they can be healthy outside the womb. We’ll get another peek at them by Tues Mar 02. 💙💙🍼🍼👣👣