Tam-I-Am
07-06-2006, 17:22
Hi all,
I think this section may just have been added - or I'm very blind and I've never seen it before! :laughing:
I thought I'd start this off. I know that there are lots of mummies who use this website who have had traumatic birth experiences. I think I'm one of them. I thought I'd tell my story.
Mine started about 2 hours before DD was born. I started vomitting (actually, i started a week before she was born - but I hadn't thrown up for about 22 hours before this). It was quite violent, and the Ob that attended me decided he had to try to stop it because it was interefering with my ability to push (mid-way through every contraction I had to stop to vomit, it was really slowing proceedings down, and they were concerned that DD was going to become distressed if I was in stage 2 labour any longer than necessary).
so they gave me maxalon. Lots of maxalon (and then wondered why I had soooo much colostrum the following day.....but anyway!). When they couldn't give me maxalon anymore, they gave me some drug that stops chemo patients vomitting. And then some other drug. Both were pretty strong.
DD was born (finally) very still, very sleepy, with a bruised head from being inside the birth canal for too long. The OB cut the cord early, and proceeded to attempt "gentle" cord traction to get the placenta out. He was so gentle that he snapped the cord off. I eventually delievered the placenta after an (?) oxytocin injection.
The first 3 days in hospital were hell. I was running a fever for the first day, the second and third, DD was so sleepy I had to set an alarm every 4 hours to wake her to make her feed - she wouldn't have done so otherwise. She lost 13% of her birth weight because her suck reflex was inhibited. And I had the baby blues on the third day (naturally!). The hospital in its wisdom decided to send me home before I had learned to breastfeed, before my milk had come in properly, and with a sleepy baby who had to be woken to feed.
The first night I was home, I cried the entire night. I thought I was a failure as a mother because I couldn't seem to get the feeding right. I hated Claire, I think, in that night. And when I woke at 3am, I felt sick. Really sick. I thought I was just overtired, so I went back to sleep, but woke again at 6am, vomitting, with the worst pain through my midsection I have ever felt, including labour.
My DH called the mat ward - who, get this(!) - said it was NORMAL. On what planet, I ask you, is it normal for a woman to get sick 4 days after giving birth?!?!
DH didn't like her advice, so took me to a 24 hour clinic (it was a Sunday - couldn't go to my normal GP), who ran lots of blood tests, which came back with ambiguous results, but basically thought that either my liver was shutting down, or I had gall bladder problems. I never did find out what the problem was, but I was readmitted to hospital that night, put on a drip, kept in hospital for an amount of time that I actually don't remember - I was on morphine for a good proportion of it - had 3 different types of antibiotics pumped into me. The only good part about being readmitted was that Claire was admitted with me, and I had access to the lactation consultants 24/7 - so I actually managed not only to learn how to breastfeed, but to keep going with it.
I was finally sent home, with lots more antibiotics to take for the next 3 weeks. DD got horrendous colic and diarrhoea from then (as did I, which was another adventure - a woman who has just given birth does not have great pelvic floor muscles, let me tell you!) and she spent the entire 3 weeks sleeping or screaming, there was nothing in between.
Finally, finally, I finished all the tablets, DD started to settle down into the placid, contented baby she has been since, and I thought life was going okay.
But......my "loss" (ie bleeding) never stopped. At my six week check-up, which in reality happened at 8 weeks, the GP thought it was a bit strange, and asked me to ring him if it was still going 2 weeks later. I rang. He said, oh, we'll wait a bit longer. It kept going.......and going.......and going........
It finally stopped at about 12 weeks. My DH and I tried, for the first time, to make love (sorry if TMI). It started again, and the act itself was so painful, its amazing I ever tried again. BTW, this was the week that DH's father died too. It was an awful time for us. Anyway......
I rang the doctor in tears. He finally sent me off the the OB at the hospital, who told me there was no problem, and sent me away. 3 weeks later, I was still bleeding. I insisted on seeing the OB again (remembering by this stage I was 15 weeks post-partum, and still losing).
I pretty much demanded that the OB do a D+C or at least an ultrasound to see what's going on. He agreed to the second, saying, oh we know you've got retained product - the ultrasound you had three days after your DD was born showed that (Remember the "gentle" cord traction?!?). He finally did a D+C at 18 weeks post-partum.
And then, because of the anasthetic, DD started refusing the breast. Thus ensued the most stressful 2 week period of my life. Ever.
Finally finally finally, at 19 weeks post partum, my loss stopped. at 20 week, Claire decided she was a booby girl after all. At 30 weeks I realised I had post-natal depression. And since then, I've been in treatment.
This is my story. It really makes me wonder why I would ever want to have another baby. I'm having a home, and lotus, birth next time. If anybody comes anywhere NEAR the cord with anything resembling a knife or a pair of scissor - I will use said instrument on them.
The most incredible thing about this, is that I know my story is far from the worst, and the medical people have admitted no fault (of course), or expressed any empathy toward me because I went through such an ordeal. It makes me so angry to think of it.
Sorry this was so long. Thank you for reading. Feel free to add your story.
I think this section may just have been added - or I'm very blind and I've never seen it before! :laughing:
I thought I'd start this off. I know that there are lots of mummies who use this website who have had traumatic birth experiences. I think I'm one of them. I thought I'd tell my story.
Mine started about 2 hours before DD was born. I started vomitting (actually, i started a week before she was born - but I hadn't thrown up for about 22 hours before this). It was quite violent, and the Ob that attended me decided he had to try to stop it because it was interefering with my ability to push (mid-way through every contraction I had to stop to vomit, it was really slowing proceedings down, and they were concerned that DD was going to become distressed if I was in stage 2 labour any longer than necessary).
so they gave me maxalon. Lots of maxalon (and then wondered why I had soooo much colostrum the following day.....but anyway!). When they couldn't give me maxalon anymore, they gave me some drug that stops chemo patients vomitting. And then some other drug. Both were pretty strong.
DD was born (finally) very still, very sleepy, with a bruised head from being inside the birth canal for too long. The OB cut the cord early, and proceeded to attempt "gentle" cord traction to get the placenta out. He was so gentle that he snapped the cord off. I eventually delievered the placenta after an (?) oxytocin injection.
The first 3 days in hospital were hell. I was running a fever for the first day, the second and third, DD was so sleepy I had to set an alarm every 4 hours to wake her to make her feed - she wouldn't have done so otherwise. She lost 13% of her birth weight because her suck reflex was inhibited. And I had the baby blues on the third day (naturally!). The hospital in its wisdom decided to send me home before I had learned to breastfeed, before my milk had come in properly, and with a sleepy baby who had to be woken to feed.
The first night I was home, I cried the entire night. I thought I was a failure as a mother because I couldn't seem to get the feeding right. I hated Claire, I think, in that night. And when I woke at 3am, I felt sick. Really sick. I thought I was just overtired, so I went back to sleep, but woke again at 6am, vomitting, with the worst pain through my midsection I have ever felt, including labour.
My DH called the mat ward - who, get this(!) - said it was NORMAL. On what planet, I ask you, is it normal for a woman to get sick 4 days after giving birth?!?!
DH didn't like her advice, so took me to a 24 hour clinic (it was a Sunday - couldn't go to my normal GP), who ran lots of blood tests, which came back with ambiguous results, but basically thought that either my liver was shutting down, or I had gall bladder problems. I never did find out what the problem was, but I was readmitted to hospital that night, put on a drip, kept in hospital for an amount of time that I actually don't remember - I was on morphine for a good proportion of it - had 3 different types of antibiotics pumped into me. The only good part about being readmitted was that Claire was admitted with me, and I had access to the lactation consultants 24/7 - so I actually managed not only to learn how to breastfeed, but to keep going with it.
I was finally sent home, with lots more antibiotics to take for the next 3 weeks. DD got horrendous colic and diarrhoea from then (as did I, which was another adventure - a woman who has just given birth does not have great pelvic floor muscles, let me tell you!) and she spent the entire 3 weeks sleeping or screaming, there was nothing in between.
Finally, finally, I finished all the tablets, DD started to settle down into the placid, contented baby she has been since, and I thought life was going okay.
But......my "loss" (ie bleeding) never stopped. At my six week check-up, which in reality happened at 8 weeks, the GP thought it was a bit strange, and asked me to ring him if it was still going 2 weeks later. I rang. He said, oh, we'll wait a bit longer. It kept going.......and going.......and going........
It finally stopped at about 12 weeks. My DH and I tried, for the first time, to make love (sorry if TMI). It started again, and the act itself was so painful, its amazing I ever tried again. BTW, this was the week that DH's father died too. It was an awful time for us. Anyway......
I rang the doctor in tears. He finally sent me off the the OB at the hospital, who told me there was no problem, and sent me away. 3 weeks later, I was still bleeding. I insisted on seeing the OB again (remembering by this stage I was 15 weeks post-partum, and still losing).
I pretty much demanded that the OB do a D+C or at least an ultrasound to see what's going on. He agreed to the second, saying, oh we know you've got retained product - the ultrasound you had three days after your DD was born showed that (Remember the "gentle" cord traction?!?). He finally did a D+C at 18 weeks post-partum.
And then, because of the anasthetic, DD started refusing the breast. Thus ensued the most stressful 2 week period of my life. Ever.
Finally finally finally, at 19 weeks post partum, my loss stopped. at 20 week, Claire decided she was a booby girl after all. At 30 weeks I realised I had post-natal depression. And since then, I've been in treatment.
This is my story. It really makes me wonder why I would ever want to have another baby. I'm having a home, and lotus, birth next time. If anybody comes anywhere NEAR the cord with anything resembling a knife or a pair of scissor - I will use said instrument on them.
The most incredible thing about this, is that I know my story is far from the worst, and the medical people have admitted no fault (of course), or expressed any empathy toward me because I went through such an ordeal. It makes me so angry to think of it.
Sorry this was so long. Thank you for reading. Feel free to add your story.