We had an uneventful and normal first pregnancy until the delivery.  Suma and I  were 28 years old.  At 38 weeks, Suma's water broke at a restaurant and it was clear with no blood.  No contractions had started.  We went to the hospital and called all our friends and family. 

     The cervix and contractions were not progressing so the doctor started pitocin.  After the pitocin drip, Suma started having real contractions.  She said she felt something "wet" in the bed and I looked and saw a handful of blood and clots.  Both of us are physicians.  We did not panic, but we were concerned.  The fetal heart tones were between 110-150.  I calmly called the nurse when I saw the blood.  The nurse came.  She saw the blood and said she was going to call the doctor.  It was 12:10 and it took the doctor 15 minutes to arrive.  He examined her cervix and realized it was not dilated and that Suma was not having any pain.  A panic came over him, "Maam I want to go for an emergent C-section."  He had no idea what was going on but he knew it was bad. 

     They rushed Suma in for an emergent C-section with a mid-line incision.  Maya Shefali Gopal was born on April 3, 2003 at 12:48AM.  She was blue.  Her APGARs were 3 and 5.  Things did not look good.  They intubated Maya and were working on her.  Labs showed her hemoglobin was 7, normal being 20 in babies.  They gave her a transfusion of O negative blood, 120 cc through her umbilical catheter.  It was the lowest moment in our lives we did not know if she would survive or if she would have significant brain damage. 

     Suma did well after the surgery.  We both were in complete shock.  The doctors told us after the delivery that they examined the placenta and saw an additional vessel that had completely ruptured, Vasa Previa.  This was performed at an Academic Training Program, Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fl and they had not had another case in the last 20 years and unfortunately that child did not make it.

     After many tears, prayers, and emotion, Maya was discharged 16 days later.  We protected her when she went home like a bubble baby.  We did not want her to get sick and go back to the hospital.  We even enrolled in the Developmental Early Intervention (DEI) Program to detect any abnormalities.  Thankfully by the grace of God, Maya is a healthy, intelligent, normal little girl.

     Being physicians we feared the worst, but now we truly believe in miracles.  We looked at your site 2 years ago to learn about Vasa Previa.  It gave us insight and hope.  We did not share our experience until today.  We think about that day often.  Tomorrow we prepare for the arrival of our second daughter by scheduled C-section.  We got an Ultrasound with Doppler's to rule out Vasa Previa for this pregnancy.  I wish Doppler's were standard in pregnancy to prevent such physical and emotional hardships.  Thanks to everyone who has shared  on this site and thank you for this organization.  You were an invaluable resource in such dark days.

Yours, Maya, Suma and Vik Gopal