Partial Molar Pregnancy

I want to share some insights into what this experience was like and maybe some comfort for those of you who have experienced molar pregnancies or partial molar pregnancies. I have been told that my experience was unique, as I, in my case, I carried our baby for 6 1/2 months before I gave birth to her. She lived through the labor, we named her, and my husband gave her a priesthood blessing. She lived for about an hour and a half. It all began when I was five months pregnant (ok, it obviously started a little earlier than that....) and I started to bleed a little. We had decided that this would be our last little one, so we wanted a surprise. That being the case, we had had no ultrasounds up to this point. My symptoms were awful, I had never had morning sickness so bad! My midwife was watching me very closely, keeping track of my diet, my symptoms (hyper-salivation being the worst) and my moods.

So, when I started bleeding my friend took me to the hospital and I was taken to labor and delivery instead of the ER because I was at 5 months gestation. They had an ultrasound tech come upstairs to see me and boy was she perplexed. Soon, the radiologist came and looking just as perplexed he said, "Ma'am I have no idea what is wrong with your baby, but you deserve to know, there is something very wrong here, I am so sorry. The perinatologist will be here next week. "

Sigh, they couldn't even tell me what sex the baby was, there was a big cyst in the way. So, my midwife referred me to OB care and he couldn't tell what was wrong either. But, he was very understanding and ordered bedrest for a week--until I could see the perinatologist.

The perinatologist knew exactly what was wrong. The diagnosis was partial molar pregnancy. He told me that it didn't matter how long I carried the baby, it wouldn't live after birth, that is, if it made it alive through the labor. He was surprised that I was still pregnant. Apparently these babies always abort by 3 months. No one let our baby know that, though. He said I must be extremely healthy to have carried it this far and that is was living because my body was sustaining it. He said if I had carried it this long, I might even carry it to term. That was a shock, I didn't want to carry a baby to term that I couldn't keep, BUT life to our family is very sacred. I decided with my husband's support that unless my health was endangered, I would carry this baby until God would have her come.

Our OB was so sad, he asked what our delivery preferences were and I told him that I would prefer that my midwife still deliver the baby if she could. My midwife had been consulting with her perinatologist back east (she had recently moved to my area) and he told her that she could do it under certain circumstances. My OB concurred and so my care was now monitored by my midwife, with counsel by the OB and perinatologists. My midwife gave me one of her Dopplar's and taught me how to use it so that we could monitor the baby in between my weekly prenatals. I didn't need to be on bedrest so my life continued on.

At 6 1/2 months I started to bleed again. When my midwife came, she checked me and found that I was complete, lo and behold I was in labor and didn't know it. Five minutes later our baby was born. She looked like a baby that had gestated far less time than she had, but I knew I had carried her for what seemed like an eternity. The cyst was a little sack, it contained all of her abdominal organs, very well formed. One foot was club, her spine was like an S, but from the waist up she looked so normal. My midwife--Valerie El Halta--was then able to discover, we had a girl! We had a graveside service, my husband's father dedicated the grave with a priesthood blessing, but before she left us, each of our children had a chance to either hold her or say goodbye.

My recovery has been hard. I apparently had about 3 times the normal amount of hormones raging through my body for that time. It has taken time to emotionally heal as well. But I also have learned that our bodies are miracles, life is even more sacred to us and YOU are so important to God that He is watching over you and loves you...and He does this because you are-after all-one of His dearest children, just like me and our sweet baby angel Jenniellen.