Jill's Story- 9 lbs., 4 oz.- Hospital (1st Child)

9 lbs., 4 oz.

22 inches long

14.5 inch head

Hospital

Mother's Height: 5' 8"

How was your pregnancy? 

Uneventful.  My son was born "late" at 41 weeks + 1 day

How did you feel about your upcoming birth?

Excited, nervous, desired a natural birth

Description of your birth experience: 

I went to the hospital with my waters broken and contractions 90 seconds apart around 7:30am.  After 5 hours of "not progressing well enough" (but they never checked my progress, so I'm not sure how they could say that), I was put on a Pitocin drip.  After a few hours of being over-medicated and in complete agony, I begged for an epidural from a woman that told me I wasn't in labor, and consulted my chart to announce I was 2cm (which is what I told them I measured a week before my water broke).  I was given an epidural and everything stopped completely.  I felt nothing.  After several more hours I was told I could push, but I couldn't feel anything at all.  I begged for them to turn down the epidural so I could feel to push, but they refused.  I laid there spread-eagled in front of several strangers being encouraged to PUSH!!!, but couldn't feel anything.  After an exhausting 2-3 hours, my son was born by episiotomy, was whisked away by someone from the NICU who told us he was in trouble because of his low Apgar.  A few minutes later they gave him back to us and said he was fine.  They never explained that part.  It was 8:44 pm. 

That night around midnight they got us into a room.  I hadn't eaten all day and requested food, but they said the kitchen was closed and I couldn't get a meal.  About 2 hours later I started passing large clots - the first one was the size of a football, and several more were to come over the next 36 hours.  They yelled at me for not walking around - it was my fault I was clotting.  I was actually starting to bleed out slowly.  A day later the nurse told me it was time to go home, and I panicked.  I couldn't stand or walk, I was passing clots, and I was starting to get very weak.  I felt I would die at home.  I begged for medical help.  She sent in a resident who made me feel like a piece of meat on the table.  He ordered stat IM drugs to help my uterus contract and help the bleeding.  Over the next 12 hours the nurse forgot my subsequent doses of medication.  They tried to draw blood to get an iron count but had enormous trouble finding any vein at all in my arms.  I finally went home a few days later, not feeling very well at all.  I should have had a transplant due to my blood numbers, but they apparently forgot.

They refused to give me more pads to wear in my underwear, and gave me adult diapers instead.

How did you feel after the birth (first month)? 

Anemic, tired, humiliated, ashamed, incapable of birthing, raked over the coals

How did you feel six months after the birth? One year? Now?

Six months later and one year later - scared of birthing. 

Now, I feel like I was duped and taken advantage of by a system that couldn't have cared less for me.  I still feel ashamed of the time I was laid out on the table in a diaper and some strange resident opened my diaper and stuck his hand inside me without even talking to me.

What did you learn from this birth? 

The hospital is a bad place for a healthy pregnant woman.  They easily could have killed me if I hadn't complained about how bad I felt.

Any words of wisdom to impart?

Sorry, not from that experience