I have given Birth & had 2 DNC'S & 1 Blood transfusion & still not well?

[Teagan514]

Hi~

I have been through a lot of physical trauma since giving birth on May 14, 2008. It is a very long`complicated story but I will try to keep it short because I really need help:
~May 14, 2008: I am induced with my 1st pregnancy at 37 weeks. I am 40 yrs. old but had a completely healthy pregnancy.
~I gave birth vaginally after 9 hours labor & 3.5 hours of "hard" pushing to a beautiful 6lbs./8oz. baby girl. The mid~wife delivered and not my O.B. because I had no complications during the pregnancy.
~Within 30 mins. of delivering the afterbirth......excuse my language....but all hell broke loose! My midwife had left and I began to bleed out/hemorrhage. About 3 nurses began pushing down on my stomach and making calls. I was so out of it due to the meds. that my memory is vague. I was being told repeatedly that I would have to have emergency surgery. We could tell that the nurses were in a panic and I started to get scared. I know that I was punching the nuse pushing on my stomach because that pain was greater than the birth pain.
~Midwife gets back and I hear them all yelling over me and they are asking "why is the doctor not here?" A  family member tells me that the anestists and the midwife are out in the hall fighting?? I only remember the midwife coming back in and yelling to everyone"noone is going in for surgery" and "we will take care of this". She waited for the anestists to give me more meds. and he sat next to me through it all....bless him for caring so much!
~The midwife performed a Manual DNC on me to remove the remaining placenta from my uterus. During it all I kept getting my stomach pushed on and meds. up my rear~end and orally to control the bleeding. I guess the bleeding was so extreme that my baby's father threw up and my mother was in shock over how bad it got so fast.
~Now I am being told that it was all removed but I had to be kept on some heavy~duty meds all night to recover from it all. The baby had to stay in the nursery due to all of the bleeding I was having.
~I was told the next day by the staff that what happened to me was serious and not very common. I was released 2 days later with my baby girl.

~A week goes by and I am not recovering well. I feel weaker each day and have lost 21 lbs. in 8 days?! I had to take my baby to the hospital for thrush a week later. The doctor treating the baby told me I looked horriable and I needed to be seen immediately.
~I have an ultrasound done and I am told that I have retained product still inside me. The E.R. doctor was not suprised after hearing my birth expierence and admitted me back in at the hospital where I delivered.
~Next day my O.B. shows up to perform a DNC and I go back to my room after the surgery was finished to recover. Within an hour I pass a blood clot the size of a melon. The nurses keep calling my O.B. to inform him of the bleeding/clots. I am still released 4 hours later against my nurse's wishes but I trusted the doctor and discharged out.
~Within 20 mns. of leaving the hospital, we are at the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions and I begin to hemhorrage in the parking lot. I passed an even larger clot this time. The store manager goes and gets towels and clothing for me but I insisted on making it to my home. The bleeding at home was so severe that it sprayed out of me and I lost consiousness. They called an ambulance and took me back to the hospital triage unit.
~The high~risk O.B's took over and I had to have a 4-unit blood transfusion that night. The bleeding just would not stop!
~Next day, I have another ultrasound and the tech. was not supposed to but did tell me that I was still not clean yet. I was at a loss but was told by the O.B./GYN group that it was most likely blood clots and not retained product again. I was released 2 days later.
~Within 5 days, I passed large clots again with the bleeding that had never stopped. My dad brings me to an emergency room in Tampa. I have another ultrasound done and I am told that I have retained product in my uterus. I was admitted again. The O.B. on call did not want to perform another DNC on me until I recovered better from the the 1st one a week prior. I was to be observed for 7 more days.
~I end up leaving Florida to get help from my sister in Louisiana. On July 5th I go back to the E.R. here in LA. because I knew I had a bad infection. I have an ultrasound & bloodwork done and guess what.....it all comes back that I have retained product in the uterus and a raging infection.
~I am admitted and immediately put on back to back antibiotics. I had my 2nd DNC on July 9th. I had to have an MRI done after the surgery because of a "suspicious area that could not be seen well during the surgery". 30 hours after my surgery a doctor finally comes in to see me? Is this normal? I am told that the MRI results are still not in and when they were they would come back.
~Next morning, I am told that "it is more than likely that I have an accretia that has grown into my uterus and I may need a hysterectomy." However, the MRI results are still not in at this point?.....2 days later.
~Later in the afternoon, another doctor comes in and tells me that the MRI came back ok with minor problems and I could go home if I felt ready.
~At this point my family and I are totally confused and I decide to be discharged. Trust me I questioned the discharge doctor on how all 3 doctors treating me were coming back to me with different opinions and facts? I never really got a clear answer. I was told that "pathology results would come back in a week and give them a clearer picture."
~Yesterday on July 21st I went back for the second time for a check-up and to be given the pathology results. I was greeted by the doctor that performed the surgery and told that "there were no pathology results to be given" and "he was more sorry about this than I". The reason given is that" there was not enough tissue to test." I will not go into how shocked and upset I became over this.
~I consider myself to be a smart~educated person. I am in no way an expert on anything medical. However, it does not take an expert to know that somthing is very wrong with this picture. Where have I gone wrong and what have I missed?

Please help me out there. If you have had a similar expierence or you are a physician that can offer me advice, I will take it. It is 2 1/2 months later after giving birth and I know I am not well yet. I am still struggling to take care of my baby. I want to trust the medical community and get well but I am having a really hard time doing this.
I know this was extremely long to read but it is my story and it is emotional for my family and I. I will welcome any and all advice.....thank you in advance for taking the time to reply.

Teagan514


  

[40smama]

Teagan - this is truly horrible - bless your heart & I'm sure you've had no time or health to enjoy your baby!!  I think you should post this question on the ask-the-expert forum.  I wish to hell they hadn't dismissed you all of those times until they were d@mn sure everything was out.  It sounds like they kept dropping the ball - inexcusable!!

I've never experienced anything like this - I can't imagine all what you're going through. You might want to pm Peekawho - she's a labor/delivery nurse and will lend her expertise if she can.  I will pray for you and a speedy recovery & a dr who knows what the heck he/she's talking about!!

[leighanne143]

it sounds to me like there was more than just elft over tissues and things in there with all that bleeding.  It sound slike there was a tear that they were missing.  did they go in with a camera to assure that you have no tears yet?

i would be flipping mad if i were you.  there is no need that you had to go through that much trauma.  I am so sorry you experienced that.

[PamelaBee]

OMG!  Can you say Lawsuit??  Listen...this happened to me as well, I had my first child at 42...a flawless pregnancy!  I was induced as well, and delivered vaginally.  My OB did his thing down there, and he left.  15 minutes later I was in a blood bath!  Nurses were freaking out, pushing down hard on my stomach, saying "Get Dr. Freedman STAT"!!!!  My husband was crying, I was sooo out of it...my OB shows up, I am asked to sign a consent form for a D&C, and possibly hysterectomy...I do so, then am rushed to the OR for an emergency D&C.  I too had to have a blood transfusion.  When I asked my OB what happened he said it could have been a number of things but danced his way around it...I obtained a copy of my med records from the hospital several months later, and apparantly there was a retained product left.  My husband wanted to sue!  After the hell I went through and the care I received-Ii was livid.  I had hoped for such a beautiful delivery experience and I got a frickin nightmare!  I recently had a consult with a female high risk OB and she said the best way to prevent that from happening again is to have a planned csection.  I could talk for the next hour about all of this, but mainly I wanted you to know that I experienced the same thing you did, but not to your degree.  I would look into seeking counsel to represent yourself...I hear too many stories like this, and it seems like the OBs/staff always have their buts covered one way or another by juggling their take in the medical report and such!  Please take care, and feel free to mail me back!!