About Me, and the Purpose of this Blog

  Hi!  Let me take a moment to introduce myself, my name is Lisa Lefevre, I live in sunny South Florida, with my husband, Marc and adorable daughter's (yes, I am bias, lol), Madison who is 6 and Marlie who is 3.  Until about a year ago, I was pretty certain there wouldn't be any more little one's in our future, but as I inched closer to 35, I felt as though someone was missing from my life.  I envied all my friend's who had little boy's and had always wished one day to have a son, a real Mama's boy, with big blue eyes and dimples to match his sister's.  On the morning of my 35th birthday, I was shocked and surprised to see 2 lines appear on a pregnancy stick!  After suffering an early miscarriage in April, I knew deep down that this was the little boy I longed for!!

  I have a few purposes of this blog, the first is for friends and family to share along in the excitement as we eagerly await the arrival of little man "M."  The second and main reason is because at 20 weeks I was diagnosed with a condition called Placenta Accreta.  I want to share my story and journey, in hopes that one day, when another scared Mom-to-be receives the same diagnosis, she stumbles across my blog and is able to read my story and know things will all work out okay.  That the "survivor side" as it is referred to in my support group is where we get through this sucky situation and get to hold our beautiful babies and watch them grow up.  That they are not alone and don't have to go through this alone.  The last reason for creating this blog is to provide an outlet for myself and all the emotions; a place to be raw and unfiltered.

For my friends and family who have never heard of Placenta Accreta, I found the links below to be the most helpful in explaining.

https://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice/Placenta-Accreta

http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications/placenta-accreta/

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all the love and support I have been receiving!
Xo,
Lisa

What the hell is Placenta Accreta?

  I was extremely fortunate to have two very uneventful pregnancies.  While both ended in c-sections and my stubborn second daughter decided she preferred to breech, my experience being pregnant with my daughter's were nothing but smooth.

  When we found out we were pregnant with baby number 3 in June 2017, I expected the pregnancy to be very similar to the other two.  I had the normal morning sickness in the first trimester (luckily a lot less than with my girl's).  When, 20 weeks rolled around and we went in to see our perinatologist for the babies anatomy scan.  The tech went through the normal protocol and made sure to call out all the babies different body parts, confirming that baby was a boy, which my hubby Marc and I were over the moon about!  After she finished, she said the doctor would be in to see us.  Thinking we would just be getting a normal report we sat and waited.  The doctor came in and gave us an A+ report on our little guy, but then paused...we could tell there was something wrong.  The doctor told us I had placenta previa and what appeared to be something called placenta accreta.  What the hell is placenta accreta?!  I had heard of previa and knew that the course of action if the placenta remained over my cervix meant an automatic c-section but the other diagnosis was completely foreign.  My mind kinda of fogged over, I tried to focus on what the doctor was saying, he began to give statistics and threw out lots of medical jargon.  The doctor ended our meeting by saying he would re-check me in 4 weeks to see if there was any change.  I remember being calm and just nodding my head, but when I walked out of the office and in the car, I felt a little like a deer in headlights.

  Then of course I did what no person should ever do!  Damn GOOGLE!  Of course, all the scary shit comes up on the first page, like the maternal death rate is between 7-14%! Followed by ton's of articles about Kim Kardashian having Placenta Accreta, which at that point wasn't making me feel better, clearly I was too late for a surrogate...

  The next 4 weeks between doctors visits, had me feeling a little bit like I was on an emotional rollercoaster in the twilight zone.  For the first few nights, I would wake up with extreme panic attacks, from horrible nightmares.  As the days went by my worry would turn to anger, to feeling sorry for myself, to trying to refocus and stay positive to fearing I would miss watching my children grow up.  Add in the pregnancy hormones and someday's felt never ending.

  I joined some support groups on Facebook, which have been both a blessing and a curse.  I have spent numerous hours researching the best facilities in America for treating my condition and getting the baby I safely through delivery.  I have become determined not be a statistic, I am gonna survive this!  I feel so thankful to have the most supportive and loving husband in the world, because I know he is the glue that will keep me together through this! I am lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who are willing to be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to vent to, a welcome distraction and for filling my life with lots of love.

Placenta Accreta, you ain't got nothing on me!!!