And thus begins my 'vacation' in UMMC.

I stayed in a 4 bed room as that is only type of room available in the prenatal ward. The wards' were recently refurbished, so they look quite cheery and bright.

I'm served 4 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner). There's a menu for me to choose my meals from, ranging from local spicy, local non spicy, western and vegetarian. Taste wise is so so. Some dishes were good, but some were not.

My next door neighbor is also having placenta previa, and like me, has not experienced bleeding thus far. Her due date is one week earlier than mine. So we're both we like 'residents' in that room, while our opposite neighbors come and go.

Every couple of hours, the nurses will come and check the baby's heartbeat, and once a day, my blood pressure is taken. Every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon, the doctors will do their rounds, checking on all patients.

As UMMC is a learning hospital, and as I wasnt experiencing any bleeding, I was approached twice to be a 'test' patient for the medical students. The first was for an ultrasound demo/talk, where the doctor did an ultrasound presentation on my condition to her students. The second was for the final year students' exam, where they had to do a practical, by interviewing a patient and present the case to their examiners to be evaluated. That was quite an interesting insight. Boy, the students were nervous! I was given a small monetary reward on both occasions.

I spend my days reading, sleeping, eating, playing games and surfing. In a way, it wasn't too bad, cos I got to rest quite a bit the whole time, as third trimester does take it's toll on me. Due to the position of the placenta, the weight and pressure on my lower abdomen is greater. I move a lot slower and can't sit too long.

I have another week to go before my scheduled c-section. Crossing my fingers that everything goes smoothly.

During my 33rd week checkup, my gynae asked that I pay a visit to a government hospital for further checkup. Due to my placenta previa condition (which is considered high risk pregnancy) he mentioned that most private won't accept these kind of patients. Furthermore, I may loose a lot of blood, and may require blood transfusion. Government hospital are better equipped to handle cases like this and have a better network of blood supply.

And so, on 26th of March (my 34th week), hubs and I went to UMMC (University Malaya Medical Center) for checkup. After the necessary registration and routine tests (blood and urine test) we went in to see a gynecologist. We were told then that I should be warded immediately, in case of bleeding. That totally freaked me out. My first time hospitalized!! But after a couple of deep breaths, I realized it would be for the better. At least I'm already IN the hospital in case of emergency. And there are doctors and nurses around, monitoring my condition.

So hubs and I waited a while until a nurse came to wheel me to the ward.

I will have to stay until the baby is delivered. If no bleeding occurs, a c-section will be planned sometime in week 38th.

My gynae had been mentioning that I had low placenta since the last few checkups, but with some hope that it will move up as the pregnancy progresses. However, I had a checkup last week (32 week), and it still has not move up. He mentioned a condition called placenta previa.

From Babycenter:

If the placenta is still lying low in your uterus after you are 20 weeks pregnant, it is called placenta praevia. Even at this stage, the placenta may still move up in time for your baby to be born. By the end of pregnancy, about one in 200 women has placenta praevia to some degree. Most of these are minor cases. 

If the placenta covers your cervix at the end of your pregnancy, your baby's exit route through your vagina will be blocked. The placenta may be partly covering your cervix (partial placenta praevia) or completely covering it (major placenta praevia). See our images, below. Either way, your baby will need to be born by caesarean section.

source: http://www.babycenter.com.my/a830/placenta-praevia#ixzz2NDalZJ9k\

Apparently, there's also a tendency for early bleeding due to contractions - thus early delivery. Hubs and I are really praying that our lil girl will stay inside till at least week 37. I'm mentally preparing myself for a c-section now and reading up more about it. Hopefully, I won't lose too much blood as well when the placenta detaches itself from the uterus - as I read, this may happen as well for placenta previa cases.