So, as some of you know I had a ROUGH labor with Bentley. Early labor and multiple trips back and forth to the hospital for 28 hours...then FINALLY some meds...another hour until my water broke...then another hour until my epidural. It was NOT a fun 30 hours. But once my water did break things progressed quickly and Bentley was born about 8 and 1/2 hours later. THEN I went down for the count and bled very badly post-delivery. So that's my story but the kicker is that I never really fully understood the blood loss, what happened, why, etc. ~ the Drs. that were coming in to see me only would come in for 5 mins at a time and no one ever really explained what happened. And at the time, I was so out of it and overwhelmed with a new baby that the hub and I didn't really know what to do so we never got an explanation. All I knew was that immediately post-delivery I bled very badly, my BP dropped, and I got a fever/infection which lead to antibiotics and I was kept in bed for my entire hospital stay. After the fact I realized I should not have been released in just two days. There was talk of blood transfusions but all the Drs. kept saying was that I was young and healthy so they preferred just giving me iron supplements and letting my body bounce back on its own. Well, no one gave me any iron until after I was released either ~ they kept talking about it but the only meds I had were fluids/hydration and my antibiotics for the infection. Now keep in mind my practice has several Drs. and I never saw my regular OB or the same Dr. more than once.
About a week later I went in to get my iron levels checked and I had made my appt with the last OB I saw in the office @ 38 weeks before I went into labor ~ my regular OB was away so I had seen this Dr. and then she was the one treating me for early labor, until 7AM when she went off shift and I was finally officially "admitted" to labor and delivery with a hospital staff Dr. So for the first time a week out she told me she heard I lost about half of my blood volume. Sweet. That's all I've known for the last year-and-a-half.
When I became pregnant again I talked to one of the nurses and she suggested I get my medical records and review them with the Dr. to see what actually happened. So, I got my records but until recently haven't given much thought to bringing them to the Dr. I've been starting to worry about labor & delivery again though so when I told her at my last visit she insisted I bring my records to her.
Today she explained that after I delivered Bentley my uterus didn't contract back down like it was supposed to and combined with an infection that I'd developed I hemmhoraged and lost about 1 Liter of blood. I was immediately given fluids to bring my BP back up and antibiotics to treat the infection and my body responded well to that treatment so they avoided a blood transfusion. She believes it was a specific incident to Bentley's birth but they will be aware of it for Baby Girl's delivery and most likely have the necessary meds available in the delivery room just in case it happens again ~ but she doesn't seem to think it will.
To my excitement, she also told me that they will NOT let me go for that incredibly long early labor again. With second babies things typically happen faster but she knows what worked last time and they won't leave me in agony for that ridiculously long period of time without doing anything. AND she said that because I progressed so quickly with Bentley that will likely happen again.
So I'm feeling much better that 1) hopefully I won't bleed out again, 2) labor should move quickly, and 3) if not, or if things aren't starting off well they won't leave me in agony and will give me proper meds this time. I feel much better that she knows my concerns as well, instead of not saying anything. And I know that this time I should be asking a lot more questions if things go wrong or if I don't understand what they're doing ~ and to get rid of a shitty nurse if we get one again. Yes, I'm talking about you, you old bitch Judy.
Anywho, that's what happened and since I FINALLY know I thought I'd share. Happy Weekend!
~E
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