Very scary birth story (long)

Three months later, but that?s okay.

I was 3 cm, 85% effaced and was that way for a week before I went into labor. On Friday, April 9^th I started getting contractions around 2:30 in the morning and had a bit of bleeding when I went to the bathroom. The contractions were just like menstrual cramps without tightening, so I wasn?t sure if I was actually in labor. Around 8:00 a.m. I called the hospital and told them what I had experienced. They asked me if I had felt LO move at all that morning, and I said, ?Well, come to think of it, I haven?t.? That totally freaked me out! So, they told me to do a kick count and time contractions for one hour. So, I did. My contractions were exactly 3 min apart, and I only felt LO move 8 times in that hour. This may not seem too bad, but normally she did 10 kicks in less than 5 minutes (the entire pregnancy it was that way?even the night before). So they told me to come in, so I arrived at the hospital around 9:30 a.m.

Once I got to the hospital, the contractions were getting more intense to the point where I had to stop and breathe while walking in the hallways. They examined me and said I was still 3 cm. How could that be possible!! My contractions at that point were 1-2 min apart, but still no progress! They had me do a kick count, and I only felt her kick 2 times in one hour. This scared me a lot because by 11:15 a.m. I had only felt LO kick 12 times in 3 hours.

 I was walking around the hallway and my DH had to use the restroom, so I went to my observation room, and dealt with the pain alone. Then all of a sudden I had the most painful contractions that made me want to scream. Then, a gush of fluid came out all over the floor. I thought my water had broken, so I took a paper towel, and wiped, but it was not my water?it was blood. A LOT of blood! It was gushing all over the floor, and it was now all over my hand. I freaked out, and called a doctor over, and all of a sudden there were 5 doctors and nurses in my room. When DH came out of the bathroom, my door was shut, and he figured they were doing an exam, so he just waited for a minute until a nurse ran out of the door. The nurse asked if he was my husband, and he said, ?Yes?. Then DH ran in and saw all the blood and started to panic. He ran to my side and said, ?I?ll never leave you again!? All the doctors and nurses looked a little concerned, and one of the doctors said, ?Well, that?s your bloody show, but that?s way too much blood.? So they immediately hooked me up to an U/S machine, and saw LO?s heartbeat. That was reassuring! They examined the placenta, but couldn?t figure out why I was bleeding so much. They said the placenta might have torn away, but they couldn?t get a good view of it. I started crying and I told them that I didn?t want to go home (because they only keep you if you?re 4 cm). They looked at me, and said, ?Oh no, you?re not going home now.? They checked my temperature and it was 103. It varied between 101-103 the entire labor. They told me I had an infection?probably in my uterus. They gave me 3 different antibiotics.

Finally I got a laboring room, and they hooked me up. I got some pain medication, but it wasn?t working, so I went for the epidural. (The epidural did not even hurt at all!!) It was such a relief!

They checked me at 3:30 and I was still 3 cm, and now my contractions were 5-7 min apart. I was so frustrated!  Then I got pitocin, which didn?t suck like I thought it would because I had the epidural, I guess. But after nine hours, I was only 4 cm. I thought I was going to kill someone! So they broke my water. An hour after my water broke, I felt extremely shaky?more than I had when I first got the epidural. I could barely even talk. Then the doctor came in to examine me and she said, ?I can see the head. It?s time to push!? DH scrambled around to call family and get the camera set up. I put my legs up in the stirrups, and waited for the doctor?s instructions. I had no idea the baby was that low. I didn?t feel any pressure or pain at all. The doctor took a while to make me push because she said that the baby was coming out on her own. They set up the mirror, as I requested, and I could see some of LO?s hair. It was amazing! They told me to make tiny pushes, so I did maybe 4-5 pushes, and out came her head! She had the chubbiest cheeks and looked like she was so angry at us for disturbing her sleep. As she came out, the amniotic fluid sprayed the doctor?s face and she responded, ?That?s why we wear face masks!? Haha. The doctor told me to wait a few seconds to push because the baby?s body was sliding out slowly. Then she told me to push very small pushes and within another 3-4 pushes, LO was out! Kayla Marie arrived at 3:45 am. She weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 19 inches long. She started screaming right away?very loud screams!!! After DH cut the cord, they put her on my chest, and she quieted down immediately. It was an amazing feeling. I held her for about 5-10 minutes while they waited for the placenta to come out (no stitches needed!!) Then the doctors took her away, and she started screaming.

That?s the last thing I remember until I woke up and my DH was hovering over me saying, ?Stay with me, stay with me! I can?t do this on my own.? He was crying hysterically, and I looked around the room and saw about 20 doctors. I had a mask over my mouth. And I was going in and out of consciousness. All I know is it felt sooooo good to close my eyes. My DH kept tapping my face and talking to me. I looked over and saw that my blood pressure was 40/20. Then I realized what was happening?I was dying. Apparently after my placenta came out, the arteries in my uterus did not clamp down the way it was supposed to to stop the bleeding. Within 15 minutes they had blood rushed over to me, but they couldn?t find any veins because they had all collapsed. When the doctors were ready to take me to have surgery on my uterus they told me that I may need a hysterectomy. I started screaming and crying. They told me that I could possibly die and I needed to sign a form stating that I understood. I couldn?t even raise my hand because I was too weak. My DH had to sign for me. Then they wheeled me away and I remember looking back at DH and he was a wreck! I will never forget the look on his face. He was in such pain seeing me in that condition. I told him it would be okay?but I wasn?t really sure if it would be.  They quickly took me to have the surgery. They told me I could go to sleep, but I thought if I went to sleep, I wouldn?t wake up. So I forced myself to stay awake for 45 minutes while they stopped the bleeding of the arteries in my uterus. They performed a procedure (I think it was called a uterine embolism) where they clogged the two main arteries that were bleeding. Then they did another procedure where they put a balloon in my uterus to help it contract to stop the bleeding. Luckily it stopped. At this point my blood pressure went up to 75/40. Then they wheeled me to ICU and to keep an eye on me.

When I got to ICU they poked me several times to try to get IVs going. They put a central line in my neck which hurt like hell! Unfortunately, the bleeding started up again, and there was so much blood that the balloon in my uterus was pushed out of place, and they had to remove it. I was seriously bleeding through pads and sheets so much that had to be changed every 30 min ? 1 hr.  I stayed in ICU for 3 days while they pumped 28 units of blood back into my body. But the blood kept coming. They decided to do one last procedure before deciding to do a hysterectomy. They put another balloon back in my uterus, but this time the epidural had worn off. It was the most painful thing I have ever felt. I screamed and cursed as my DH held my hand. The nurses and doctors told me to scream as much as I wanted. One nurse held my hand and told me to squeeze as hard as I wanted. GOD! I will never forget that pain!

It was the longest weekend of my life. I was only allowed to see my baby 2 times for 30 min. because they didn?t want her on the ICU floor because of all the illnesses and bacteria. Then on Monday my bleeding had stopped due to the balloon procedure. They took it out, and observed me for that day. Then they decided to take out my IVs, and send me to see my baby at 5 pm. But then I got a fever, and they decided not to send me. I was so frustrated. I just wanted to be with my baby. On Tuesday around 6, I was finally moved to the mother/baby unit. It was so great to see my baby! Unfortunately, I still had a fever and I was still on antibiotics.

The bleeding still looked like it was under control at this point, and they decided to take me off antibiotics on Wednesday. I was no longer hooked up to anything and did not need a hysterectomy! What a relief! I was finally able to walk around, though I didn?t get very far because I was so weak. BUT?once again, the fever came back! They did an entire body scan to find where the infection was coming from, but they couldn?t find anything. They told me that the only thing they could think of is that I had small clots in my uterus that were infected. They said it?s very rare but they were pretty sure that?s what it was since they couldn?t find infections anywhere else. They gave me something called Heparin that is a blood thinner (just what I need, right??) I was a little scared about getting it considering I just lost 90% of my blood, then they pumped blood back into me, and now they wanted to thin it???  Well, the Heparin took a couple of days but it finally worked. They decided to take me off of it on Sat. April 17^th, and wanted to observe me through Sunday to see if my fever came back. It didn?t!!!  FINALLY! Sunday came and I was allowed to go home. I had to give myself a shot of some medicine at home (similar to the Heparin) but that was the last of the hospital for me!

So nine days later, I finally got to go home. I am so thankful to be alive and to have such a healthy baby. The doctors said that what happened to me was extremely rare and that it probably would never happen to me again. This was only the 2^nd time in 30 years that it has happened at this hospital. And this hospital is known for high risk labors and deliveries? If I ever get pregnant again, I know I will be scared for what might happen after the delivery. But for now I feel so blessed for everything I have. It has only made my relationship with my DH stronger! It really put everything into perspective and made me realize what is truly important in life.