Allison’s Birth Story: Part Three

Allison’s Birth Story: Part Three

Check out part one and part two of Allison’s birth story!

Foot print

While I was holding on to Allie and enjoying our skin to skin time I realized there was something wrong. Dr. Hood finished stitching up my 1 degree tear, but she still had her hand AND ARM in my uterus trying to scrape my placenta out. My placenta didn’t detach like it should have after giving birth so she was trying to do a “manual D&C” with her hand, but it wasn’t successful. She was worried about me losing too much blood so they took me to the operating room.

This is when things got scary. They took Allie away and 4-5 nurses rushed in to prep and get me ready for the OR. They needed to get the placenta out right away. I tried to stay calm, but once we arrived in the operating room I was freaked out. There were at least 7 people in the room and at the time I had no idea what was going on. They gave me pain medicine before they started and I had a terrible reaction. I could not stop shaking. In the operating room they used tools to scrape the pieces of placenta that remained inside me. This was uncomfortable, but not painful. The painful and scary part was the shaking. I had no idea why I was shaking, but my teeth were chattering and my whole body was so tense that every muscle in my body HURT!

They completed the D&C and brought me back to the recovery room where the shaking lasted another 30 minutes or so. Tony and my Mom had a really hard time watching me because there wasn’t anything they could do. I just had to wait it out and eventually the shacking stopped. 18 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing and an hour of shaking – I was exhausted. The birth of my daughter was amazing, but the hour after I gave birth was terrifying, traumatic and incredibly unenjoyable.

Allie & Daddy

Grandma & Allie

While I was in the operating room Allie got her first bath and lots of love and cuddles from Tony and my Mom.

The next day I had a big piece of the placenta come out so they did an ultrasound to check if anything remained. They saw a large blood clot so they decided to prescribe me an antibiotic and uterine cramping drug to get anything out that did remain. The final piece of the placenta eventually came out 3 days after I gave birth.

S + T + A

I’m feeling great now, but there are things I’m a little worried about. Will there be any impact on my uterus and future children bearing abilities because of the retained placenta and D&C? I am thankful they made sure to get the whole placenta out. Untreated, it can lead to fertility problems and real illness.
BABY Allie in a basket

The hour after giving was scary and difficult, but Allison is so worth it and I would do it all again in a heart beat. The love I have for her is so consuming and I know I will continue to fall in more and more in love with her every day.

 

 

About Sara

Comments

  1. Wow, that was a scary experience going to the operating room and all of your shaking so soon after you gave birth! I am happy to hear that the entire placenta is now out and hope that the D&C won’t have any lasting effects going forward. Maybe all of your running helped prepare you to “go the extra mile” for those 21 hours of childbirth and post-childbirth complications? In any case you have a wonderful bundle of joy as the end result!
    Pete B recently posted..Chicago Marathon Training: At the Halfway Point

    • It was scary, but it all turned out okay in the end. I definitely think running helped me prepare for the 21 hours of childbirth. I can’t wait to run again soon. 🙂

  2. It is easy to forget sometimes that there can not only be complications with a baby, but with mom too. I’m glad you’re okay. Thanks so much for sharing your story! I absolutely love reading birth stories with happy endings. 🙂 Congrats on your beautiful baby girl!
    Kelly @ Running Kellometers recently posted..Oiselle Bra Reviews (for those of us with a bigger bust)

  3. I’m so glad that everything is ok! That is very scary – but it does seem worth it. Allie is so adorable 🙂
    Alexandra @ My Urban Family recently posted..Why I Cannot Live Without My Fitbit

  4. I didn’t have any idea of the complications after! I am so thankful that everyone is ok. And I can’t wait to meet her!
    Susie @ SuzLyfe recently posted..Magnificent Mile Women’s Half Marathon and 5k Race Review #magmilehalf

  5. Oh my goodness!! I just read all three parts of Allie’s birth story! So scary, but thankfully you and baby girl are doing well! Crazy that you’re water broke almost two weeks early, that makes me think I should pack my hospital sooner than I thought! Congrats again!!
    Sarah @ Sweet Miles recently posted..Our Rustic Maternity Photos + Week 33 Bumpdate

  6. wow that is scary! I’m so happy you’re ok and that your little one is healthy and safe. I have never heard of this happening before!

    Congratulations and enjoy the first weeks of mommyhood!
    Nicole recently posted..Rock n’ Blog Training Rock Box & RnR Las Vegas Discount Code

  7. After only going through the birthing process a few days ago, I cannot imagine going through such a scary experience after delivery. I am REALLY happy to hear that everything went well, and both you and the baby are healthy. My nurse informed me about the placenta and rare occurrence that it might not detach properly while I was still very alert and asking questions before “active” labor started. I am so sorry you had to experience that. Thinking about you and your family – I hope you are enjoying this time as much as I am. <3
    Kristen @ Glitter and Dust recently posted..Welcome to the World, Axel Joseph Yax

    • Thanks, Kristen! I’m so happy for you and your family. This time really is the best and I bet you’re so happy to not be pregnant anymore! 🙂

  8. Oh my goodness! Just read all 3 parts of your birth story. Sounds like the end was scary and so glad you and Allie are OK. She is beautiful! I am 26 weeks with my 2nd and just had the thought, “OMG I have to HAVE this baby!” Somehow I had kinda forgot about the whole labor/delivery process…
    SO impressed that you ran up to your due date! I quit at 18 weeks during my 1st pregnancy and at 12 weeks this time, but can’t wait to get back to it next year!
    Kelly recently posted..Labor Day Weekend

  9. Thank you for sharing your story with so much honesty and realness. There is so much about pregnancy and childbirth (and any health issue) that we just gloss over, and it’s good to know what can really happen. The blogger Eat Drink and Run (who doesn’t blog anymore) had a really fascinating birth story – http://www.eatdrinkandrun.com/2014/03/11/annikas-birth-story/. I don’t know if I’ll ever give birth (I’m just not sure if motherhood and/or having biological children is right for me personally), but I’m super fascianted by birth stories. I blame my mom, who was an LDRP nurse and then legal nurse consultant (and teacher) and often talked about her work at home.

    Anywho, glad everything turned out well in the end!! Given how common it is to have healthy babies after a miscarriage, hopefully what you went through will have no impact on your ability to have another healthy pregnancy and delivery 🙂
    Maggie recently posted..Enter to win tickets to the 312 Urban Block Party

  10. Oh my gosh. How scary! You just gave me a flashback that I totally forgot about. After Mary was born and they were about to take me to recovery I sat up and started hemorraging. They had to manually remove blood clots and it was so incredibly painful, more so than delivery. And after they put me on meds and I too couldn’t stop shaking. I was embarrassed at first. Sometimes I worry about if we have a second will I have preeclampsia again? What if we go into very premature labor. It scares me so much. I definitely understand. So glad you are okay.
    Sarah Dudek recently posted..One Pot “Burrito Bowl”

  11. Wow, that was pretty scary just reading about it and cannot imagine what you must have felt and going through. Glad you are doing better. I cannot wait to meet your daughter!!
    Zenaida Arroyo recently posted..Chicago Marathon Training Recap Week #6

  12. Just found your blog and was reading your birth story. I’m glad she arrived healthy and that it sounds like you are doing well now following a scary bit of time following her birth. I hope you continue to heal well and are enjoying these early days with your daughter!

Leave a Reply to Pete B Cancel reply

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.