Nightmare

She had no idea the nightmare that was to ensue following the delivery of her baby. They cut her open and delivered the baby at 6:40 p.m. Early the next morning, the doctors started to make their rounds. They checked on the baby. They checked on her. Everything looked good. And they moved on. Later in the day, the nurses kept trying to get her to stand up and walk. Every time she tried to stand up she would get insanely dizzy and had to sit back down. Those first four days were horrendous. She could not get up and go to the bathroom by herself. She could not get up to tend to her baby. She would buzz the nurse for help when her baby would be screaming and there would be no response. She felt helpless, scared, and completely out of her element. Not only was she unable to care for her baby but she was unable to care for herself because there was something more going on.

After five days postpartum, and still not being able to stand on her own, the doctor ordered blood work. Within an hour, the doctor and nurses came running in stating that her blood cell count was dangerously low and she needed a blood transfusion immediately. One of the nurses ran downstairs to get the bags of blood and they began to prepare her for the transfusion. “Wait! What!? What do you mean I need a blood transfusion? What is happening?,” she screamed. They told her to calm down, she needed it and would feel much better after. The pediatricians that made their rounds that evening were more concerned for the mama then the baby. They would look at him and say, he’s great, but how are you? The blood transfusion took the entire night and she slept off and on. Her body was on fire. She could not cool down. She felt dazed and lost. Who was this baby? What was she doing? How did she think she could do this? Why aren’t they helping her?....I can’t breathe! All of the sudden she shot up, eyes opened, and gurgling…her mother was sitting next to her and she looked at her mother and started coughing, short of breath, and trying to get out “I…can’t…breathe!”… Her mother called for the nurse and they came running in…again…doctor with nurses in tow. They put the oxygen sensor on her finger…60%...one nurse grabbing tubes and a mask, the other turning on the oxygen, another pushing Lasix into her IV…they had given her too much fluid and had done the blood transfusion too quickly.

Once everything was settled, she had to be on oxygen for the next 48 hours…first with the mask and then with the tubes. She had to blow into a plastic device to help expand her lungs and get the fluid out. This is was CRAZY! It had been 10 days since delivering her baby. She was barely able to go to the bathroom on her own, let alone spend time with her precious little angel, but was suddenly discharged. They needed her room. She had already been there too long. She was stable….loaded up with blood, put on a prescription iron supplement, oxygen level increased, and baby was fine. Her blood pressure was through the roof…but that’s okay they said….just go to the pharmacy every day to take her blood pressure and then call and report it to the doctor….but don’t drive…no driving for the first 6 weeks. What!!!??? This was INSANE! After everything she had been through in that past 2 weeks, she thought - how am I ever going to take care of this baby? I'm alone, dizzy, just went through a crazy experience, and now I'm being sent home...? This doesn't seem right.

#motherhood #delivery #everywoman #everymotherhasastory #everywomanhasastory