This prayer is for a dear lady on a CM board I am a part of.  She and her preborn daughter need everyone's prayers! I have her permission to share her story here.

We are expecting our seventh child
(five living, one miscarriage last December), due Nov. 3. I am writing to
beg your prayers on behalf of our family over the next several weeks. I
am now 24 weeks along, and for a couple of months have been aware that I
have a serious condition with my placenta. The term for the problem is
placenta accreta. The placenta attached too firmly to the uterine wall,
and this often necessitates a hysterectomy upon delivery. When the
condition is not identified ahead of time, it can be life-threatening to
the mother due to massive hemorrhaging when the placenta is delivered.
Women with previous c-sections (I have had three) are especially at risk,
but it is still very rare (1 in 2,500 pregnancies). We were so thankful
that it was discovered during an ultrasound. I was planning another
homebirth, but I was measuring so large that the midwife wanted me to have
an ultrasound to rule out twins. Twins were ruled out, but the condition
was found. The large uterus had nothing to do with any of this. I am not
measuring large anymore. We believe it was a path God used to lead us to
having the ultrasound. If I had been at home for this delivery, it would
have been catastrophic.

For several weeks, I carried on as I normally do, and then a little over
three weeks ago began to experience severe pain in my lower left abdomen.
I went to the hospital twice, but my regular OB was out of town and his
partners just kept looking for things such as gallstones and kidney
stones. I kept reminding everyone about the accreta because I knew of the
extremely rare possibility that the placenta had actually penetrated the
uterine wall. Last Sunday, I went to the hospital again, and my OB came
and immediately ordered an ultrasound to look for placenta percreta (this
more serious condition), and it was discovered that this was most likely
what was happening. This occurs is only 5% - 7% of all accreta cases. I
was sent to the high risk perinatal unit in a larger hospital, and after
extensive testing (two MRI’s and an ultrasound) the diagnosis of placenta
percreta was definitely made. There are two main concerns with my
situation. One is that the placenta will invade other organs, especially
the bladder, possibly the kidneys and colon. As the doctors say, the
placenta is not a cancer but it is acting like one. The other is that my
uterus could rupture. The placenta has grown up to my bladder, so I had a
cystoscopy to look from inside the bladder. I watched the procedure and
talked with the urologist during it, and he showed me that everything
looks good with the bladder right now – no placenta growing through.
Halleluiah! That was the last of my tests, and now we just wait and hope
I don’t begin bleeding. The baby needs to grow so much more. I will be
in the hospital until SHE is born. My hospital room is so nice – very
large and newly remodeled. There is no limit on visitors. My older
children are even taking turns spending the night. The nurses and doctors
are wonderful. I am only allowed up for the bathroom and shower, but I
was on bed rest for six weeks with my first child, so this is familiar
territory. She was born at 30 weeks. I pray for at least that long for
this little one. The big difference with this experience is that now I
have five other children! There has been an humbling outpouring from our
church family and homeschool group. The children take turns staying with
my parents (they live within walking distance of our home), my
mother-in-law, and my best friend and for short periods have visits with
homeschool friends and church members. They are home at night, with
either my husband or mother at home with them. He is usually there at
night, but he does spend some nights with me. I don’t think my mother has
had to cook a meal yet. People have brought breakfast, lunch, and dinner
and are signed up for weeks to come. Because it is almost a certainty that
I will have to receive blood, there are also many family members and close
friends who are donating blood for me. I feel so amazed at God’s
blessings and providence. I know that every prayer can help in this
situation, so I ask you to pray for this little one, my other children, my
husband, my mother, and everyone else who is sacrificing for my family. I
am also praying specifically for the percreta to halt its growth and for
my uterus to stay intact. The doctors will consider it a huge
accomplishment to make it to 28 weeks, but of course we are all praying
for much longer.

In Christ,

Joanna Skiles