Birth Story

This is my third kid and my birth story is nothing like the other two. We moved during the middle of my pregnancy and I found a doctor but after the first couple of visit I knew that he was not going to be my doctor after this pregnancy. It started with my doctor telling me that I was to be induced on Sunday night but the hospital was running behind and it may not be till Monday morning. I was hoping for Monday morning because my cousin Emily was to fly in on Sunday night and I wanted everything to go smoothly and not have to worry that I might be in the hospital when she got in. Well the hospital was a little further behind then we thought so I didn't get induced until Tuesday night. My husband went home that night to get some sleep knowing the next day was going to be a long one so Emily came to the hospital and walked the halls with me. When the contractions got bad enough I got my epidural and tried to get some sleep. The next morning I was only dilated to a 4 so things were going really slow. Everything was progressing but just really slowly. At about a quarter to 5 pm I started pushing and everything was still normal until the baby got stuck. The next thing I know there are 7 nurses in the room now and three of them are jumping up on the bed with me and pushing on my stomach. After a few tense moments the baby came loose and was out but she wasn't crying. They needed to get the baby to the nurses fast so Paul was unable to cut the cord. It was probably a few mins before I heard Brooke's first cries and I felt a sense of relief. After they were done cleaning her up they weighed her and she was 11 lbs 0.5 oz. I knew she was big but I didn't think that big. Believe me when I say there was talk that night among the nurses about the big baby. After the delivery I was OK for about an hour and then the 23 hours of labor started to affect me. I hadn't eaten or got much sleep in the last 24 hours so I started almost having delusions. I was saying odd random things and not really aware of what was going on around me. So I got some food and a couple hours of sleep and I was myself again. my cousin Emily and husband Paul have some good stories of the stupid things I was saying. After I was normal again Emily took my kids home and Paul and I just hung out at the hospital. I told Paul to go home and get some sleep and Emily came back to the hospital to sit with me for awhile and hold Brooke. When Emily got to the hospital I had about a good hour and then I started having pain in my stomach and back. I was given oxycodone which is pretty normal after having a kid and told I could only have them every four hours. I waited about 15 mins and the pain was getting worse and the medicine did nothing to help. I tried to suck it up and just get through it because I thought it was because Brooke was so big. A little while later I couldn't take the pain and I told the nurse. She called the doctor and he agreed to give me a narcotic to help with the pain. Now from here on out I will tell the story the best I can because I don't remember everything but people have told me stories of what happened. The nurse said that with the narcotic I shouldn't feel pain for about 3 hours. I was so high that when another nurse came in to take xrays of Brooke to make sure she didn't hurt her shoulder when she got stuck that I couldn't understand her. She had a accent and was explaining to me what they were going to do with Brooke and I turned to Emily and gave her a look of what the hell is she talking about. Another time I was looking at Emily and I said to her I know I am staring at you but I can't stop. I was really wasted. haha Then things took a turn for the worse the pain started coming back really strong and it wasn't time for pain meds yet but it was getting really bad that I started to cry. If you know me I am not a crier but the pain was so strong. The nurse called the doctor again and gave me another shot of the narcotic but that only took away the pain for about 30 mins and I was back to crying in pain again. My cousin started to get stressed out because we all had the feeling that something wasn't right but the nurses and doctor weren't talking to her and letting her know what was going on. She called Paul and told him that something is wrong and he needed to come back and she drove home to stay with the other kids. When Paul got to the hospital he came and checked on me and saw how much pain I was in. He then went to go find my nurse and find out what was going on. She told him that I was having a lot of pain but they didn't know why. Paul got mad and said OK well we have had two kids already and this is not normal so what are you going to do about it. The nurse didn't have any answers but said I can get the doctor if you want me too. Paul said yes get him down here. By this time it was 1 in the morning. When the doctor got there Paul confronted him and he really wasn't willing to do anything but give me more pain meds. Paul told him that is not working and you need to do something else. So the doctor said well I guess I can check for blood clots. Paul said well at least that is something so lets do it. The first blood clot he pulled out of me abdomen was a little smaller but about the size of a soccer ball. This blood clot was so big that it was blocking the other blood clots from getting out so they didn't know I was hemorrhaging. He continued to pull more blood clots out and doing this was extremely painful that by now I was screaming in pain. At that point the decision was made that I needed a D&C and I was off to the operating room. I got out of the operating room around 4 in the morning and by 6 am I was so weak that I could barely move. They determined at that point due to the amount of blood lose I needed blood transfusions. I received 2 units and I was starting to feel better. I was restricted to my bed so they could monitor my blood lose. The next morning they thought I was on the mend so I was able to get up and go to the bathroom. I made it to the toilet right before I passed out and had to be revived with smelling salt. That was one of the weirdest things I have gone through. It is hard to explain but the smelling salt is like a slap in the face. So I was confined to my bed again and they decided that I needed to more units of blood. When you get blood they give you a drug to help just in case you have a reaction to the blood but the medicine also makes you high. That early evening the bleeding had slowed so they thought I was healing and the hemorrhaging had stopped. Sometime during the middle of the night I started hemorrhaging again and the next morning I was back in the operating room. This time they scrapped my uterus and put a balloon in my uterus that would force it to start healing. I had to stay in the hospital for another 24 hours. I was FREE to leave the hospital on the fifth day. During my stay Emily and Paul traded off who was at the hospital and who was staying home with the kids and getting sleep. I can't say enough how much I appreciate having Emily help out with the kids and keep me company at the hospital. Paul was amazing at taking charge when I needed someone and couldn't speak for myself. I was high or unable to care for Brooke almost the whole time I was at the hospital and I think over the 5 days I got to hold her for about an hour. The nurses had her at their station a lot and the all loved on her so I didn't feel to bad. They all made sure to stop in and say how cute my baby was and how they got to play with her. My sister-in-law came the last day I was in the hospital and she is a nurse so she was able to ask questions that I didn't even know to ask. She found out that my blood levels had dipped below critical level and I was really close to bleeding to death. She also said that when I was released from the hospital my blood levels were at the critical level still. When I got home Emily had to go back home so my sister-in-law came to stay for a week. I was not able to do much of anything because I was to weak. I ended up going back into the hospital for two more units of blood while she was here. I started feeling better towards the end of her visit but I still needed to nap during the day or I couldn't make it so my other sister-in-law came for a couple of days to help. After that visit I was ready to take it on myself. I have been warned that it will take a couple of months to get my full energy back and to replenish the blood in my system. This was a lot of stress and not how I saw this birth going but you never know when things can take a turn. I love and appreciate my husband and my kids so much more now. Paul told his sister that he wouldn't know what to do without me and how scared he was there for a little while. I am grateful that I don't remember everything. I don't really know why I just am. I can't thank everyone enough for the help.