Christi Rees’ Story (Lauren Emilee - VP Miracle)

I was diagnosed with vasa previa due to velamentous cord insertion at 16 weeks and my daughter was born by scheduled C-section at 35 1/2 weeks on November 30, 2004.  I was hospitalized in the 3rd trimester and here was a rundown of my care.
 
We tried for one year to get pregnant with no luck.  Finally, my doctor prescribed clomid and I was pregnant on the very next cycle.  We were so thrilled.  My pregnancy was rocky from the beginning.  I had an occurrence of bleeding at 6 weeks and I learned that I was miscarrying a twin but that the other baby appeared fine.  I bled again at 10 weeks and it was determined the cause was the continuation of the miscarriage.  Again, the second baby was fine. 
 
At 16 weeks, I received a phone call from my doctor about an abnormal result from my triple screen test.  The blood work came back showing I had a 1:22 chance of my baby having Trisomy 18.  He would schedule an ultrasound for the following week.  Not even 2 hours after my doctor called me, I had another bleeding episode.  This time it was bright red blood and a significant amount.  A friend drove me to the emergency room where my husband met with me.  I was sent down to ultrasound where Trisomy 18 was ruled out but that the cause of bleeding was from a placental tear.  I also had a low-lying placenta that they said would be monitored.  They weren’t concerned that I’d lose the baby and didn’t give me any instructions to restrict my activity.  I went home relieved but concerned that something wasn’t right.
 
At my next OB check-up, my doctor discussed the ultrasound report with me. He mentioned the placental tear and didn’t seem concerned.  He then mentioned that the sonographer thought they’d seen a fetal blood vessel above my cervix and suspected vasa previa.  I had never heard of it before and my OB admittedly told me he had never personally seen a case of it himself in his 13 years of practice.  He also said he didn’t quite know what to do with my care and would wait to see what another ultrasound showed in a month.  I went straight to the medical library at my college and looked up every article on vasa previa and velamentous cord insertion.  I found the on-line vasa previa support group and stayed in contact with them.  I read and learned everything I could so that I could have a strong voice to ensure my daughter’s healthy survival.
 
The ultrasound at 24 weeks again confirmed the diagnosis of vasa previa .  Initially, my OB felt that doing a weekly amniocentesis from 35-38 weeks to test for lung maturity would be a sufficient way to determine when to deliver.  He also didn’t feel hospitalization was necessary.  My husband and I mulled over his plan and felt that after what we’d read about vasa previa deliveries that a 35 week delivery was the latest we wanted to go.  I brought this up at my next OB appointment and my doctor agreed.  I discussed with my perinatologist about how he felt about me being hospitalized at some point and mentioned that my OB didn’t find it necessary.  He’s dealt with vasa previa in the past and felt that I should be hospitalized.  He discussed this with my OB and they coordinated my treatment plan.  We all agreed that hospitalizing me at 32 weeks would be sufficient. 
 
I had 2 steroid shots at 27 weeks to mature my daughter’s lungs.  I started receiving bi-weekly fetal non-stress tests at 28 weeks to be certain the placenta was working efficiently and to be sure the baby was continuing to thrive.  I also had weekly ultrasounds to measure cervical length and check the amount of amniotic fluid.  Nothing adverse developed as my pregnancy progressed and I was hospitalized at 32 weeks until my scheduled C-section.  I was not on strict bed rest there as I was allowed to walk around the maternity floor. They wanted me in the hospital in case my membranes ruptured or if I showed signs of going into labor. Six days before my scheduled C-section, I began contracting regularly, 4-5 minutes apart,  but it was stopped with Tributaline.  I came very close to having an emergency C-section.

I made it to the scheduled C-section date of November 30th, 2004.  Lauren Emilee Rees, (4 lbs., 15 oz), was born with Apgar scores of 8, 9, & 8, but somehow landed herself a spot in NICU.  She had irregular breathing that lasted only 12 hours and remained in NICU because she couldn’t maintain her body temperature and she was jaundiced.  We took her home after 8 days where she continues to thrive and makes us smile and laugh every day.  She’s perfectly healthy and we feel so fortunate that we have her and that the vasa previa was diagnosed.  She’s truly our little miracle.