The Day I Almost Died

(As told from both Emily and Christian's perspectives)

Emily: Since discovering I was pregnant in February, I have been anxiously awaiting that moment when I could trade in all the nausea, vomiting, heart burn, and swelling for a squishy, adorable baby girl! After two successful inductions with past pregnancies, I figured another induction would be like clockwork. We arrived at the hospital to start my induction, but after 33 hours of ‘failing to progress’, we decided to go home and try again when the baby was more ready. I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong inside of me so I asked Christian and my dad to give me a blessing. My dad blessed me to have a healthy baby girl and a successful delivery.

A few days later I saw my doctor. My blood pressure was high, the baby was measuring large, and something didn’t look right with my placenta. She scheduled me for a medical induction the following morning.

Christian: On Wednesday at 7:30 am Emily and I arrived at the hospital (for the second time) to be induced. After a full day of nothing going on I drove the kids to stay at their Grandma's house. I returned to the hospital around 10:30 pm.  At around midnight Emily had not progressed much. The on-call doctor said that if Emily had not progressed by 2:30 am she would strongly recommend a C-section.  We decided to try to sleep for a few hours to pass the time. 

Emily: By 2:30 am my contractions started to become more regular and intense. I prayed fervently that I had made some progress. When the doctor checked me, she said I had made just enough progress to continue trying to have our baby vaginally. By 6:30 am I had progressed to six centimeters and the baby’s head was coming down. Finally! I got an epidural and we tried to catch a bit of sleep.

Christian: At 7:30 am the night crew swapped places with the day crew and another doctor took over. A few minutes later Emily complained of some sharp pain and pressure in her groin. The nurse said this was a good sign and gave her a quick exam.  Emily was now dilated to 10 centimeters and perhaps ready to go. I forced myself to wake up. This was very exciting after having spent 65 hours in the hospital trying to get to this point. 

Emily: By 8:00 am I felt some pressure to push. The nurse rushed for the doctor. He checked me and confirmed I was ‘complete’. He asked me to push and before I could finish one push, he told me to stop so he could get ready. One push later and our baby girl was here.

Christian: It was so quick and emotional that Emily and I both started to cry. After 65 long hours with lots of disappointments and changes to the plan, our little daughter was here! They quickly put the baby on Emily’s chest and we got to look at this beautiful baby girl.  I cut the cord and just enjoyed seeing Emily love this new baby girl.

Emily: She was perfect and beautiful and everything seemed right in the world. Christian and I were both so relieved that she made it. I was so relieved not to have a C-section. I just sat there staring into her perfect little eyes. But our moment of bliss did not last long.

Christian: I noticed the doctor immediately go to work delivering the placenta. Since some of the placenta stayed in the uterus after Emily’s last pregnancy he knew to be extra thorough.  I was surprised to see him forcefully tugging on the cord to no effect. He was working pretty aggressively to get the placenta out, but it would not come. I knew this was not normal so I tried to keep an eye on what he was doing and the other on Emily and our new baby. Finally the placenta came out, but he believed there were still pieces inside. This entire time there was lots of blood gushing out. He gathered more and more parts of the placenta using a tool to scrape it out.  He was asking for more tools and people to help. Our little room started to get full of people. I tried to keep smiling at Emily but clearly things were not going well. Emily appeared to be lost in her baby's eyes, though she did comment on how weird it felt for him to be reaching up so far.

Emily: As I sat staring at our perfect little girl, I noticed the doctor reaching deep inside of me but I was oblivious to the concern on his face until he started to speak in a loud, hurried voice to the nurses around me. One got on the phone and called for the anesthesiology team. Another reached for equipment and the doctor yelled, “I NEED IT NOW!” People began swarming into the room and there seemed to be mad chaos.

Christian: The blood did not stop. He went through 10 sponges, then 10 more. I could not believe how much blood Emily had lost by this point. Every time he would press on her stomach, blood would pour out like he was emptying a pitcher. I was really worried, but knew the best thing to do was try to keep Emily calm and ensure she was not going to pass out. When Emily looked at me I tried to show a bright smile to prolong the euphoria of the new baby. As Emily would turn down to our girl I would look back to the commotion going on and continue my silent prayer. The doctor had a decided urgency in his voice as he repeated requests for blood transfusions, extra IVs and someone to scrub in to help him. He was asking for one tool after another. He wanted a speculum, then a weighted speculum, then a different size. Again he said he needed someone to scrub in and help him, and where was that IV? Then, “tell them they need to hurry!” With the help he needed he was able to confirm that the bleeding was not coming from the vagina or cervix, so he moved his attention to the uterus. They took the baby away from Emily and the doctor worked with a nurse to put a balloon of sorts into the uterus to try to stop the bleeding.

Emily: I looked at Christian and he smiled at me as if to say, “Everything is fine. There’s no need to worry.” But I could tell his smile was not sincere. I could see his concern peering through. I finally asked, “Is everything ok?”

The doctor looked at me and said, “I can’t get you to stop bleeding. I am going to try one more thing, and if it doesn’t work we are going to have to take you to the OR and do an emergency hysterectomy.”

Christian: The anesthesiologist looked into the bag at the end of the bed, now full of blood, and asked the doctor how much longer he would wait to make the call. Within a moment the doctor told everyone they needed to move to the operating room and the frantic hive of people around us doubled their speed. Everything was unplugged, pushed aside or rolled out. Emily looked at me one last time and with tears in her eyes said “I love you”.  I think I said I love you back, but at that moment my emotions gave way and my brave face and forced smile fell. I tried to follow Emily out but was told that I could not go to the OR with her. And with that they were all gone.

Emily: They started to roll me away and I looked up at Christian. Could this be the last time I saw him? I said, “I love you Christian,” with tears swelling in my eyes. I saw the tears in his eyes as he said, “I love you too.”

Then I was whisked away to the OR. I looked up at my nurse and asked, “Is my life in danger?” She responded “Yes. But you’re in good hands and these doctors are going to do everything they can to save you.”

I was so light headed and sleepy. I didn’t know how to process what was happening. One minute I was having a baby, and the next minute I was dying.

You know how they say that in near death experiences your life flashes before your eyes? My life didn’t flash before my eyes. My kids’ lives did. I saw my husband raising 4 children alone. I wondered how they would survive without a mother. I saw my baby growing up never knowing me. And all I wanted to was to hold them and tell them how much I loved them. Would I ever get that chance again?

I began to shiver uncontrollably. I was so scared and still so sleepy. I asked if I could fall asleep. They told me I could in a moment. My regular doctor arrived and said, “Emily I’m here. I’m going to do everything I can to save you, okay?”

Then they held something to my face and told me to take a few deep breaths and it was over. I was asleep.

Christian: Two new nurses escorted me into the NICU where they had taken our baby. I was too emotional to hold her just yet. I quickly sent a short text to Emily’s dad and then to my mom asking them to pray for Emily who was going into an emergency hysterectomy. The nurses tried offering me this or that but I had to brush them off because I just could not talk right then. After a minute or two I walked over to our baby girl, sat down in a rocking chair and just held her.

It was frustrating being so powerless and not knowing what was going on. I tried to focus on our new baby as much as possible and block out any thoughts about the surgery and the “what ifs” associated with it. The first news I heard was that they would finish the surgery in about 20 minutes. This was a huge relief as it seemed to imply that Emily was going to make it.  Then about 20 minutes later the doctor came in and told me they were able to save her. The surgery had been so rushed that they were not able to follow full procedure of counting all the tools (sponges etc.) so they needed to do an x-ray to ensure they got everything out. Then, after that they would let me see her.

Emily: After surgery the first thing I heard was, “Emily? Emily? Can you wake up?” I’d had this horrible dream about almost dying in the OR. “Emily? Emily?” Then I opened my eyes for a few brief moments and realized it hadn’t been a dream.

Christian: As I carried our baby girl back to see Emily after her surgery I expected to find Emily very sleepy and calm.  I was not expecting to see her cold and stiff with her teeth chattering uncontrollably. She could not seem to open her eyes, but she could hear me and give short responses through her clenched chattering teeth.  I put my hands to her cheek and forehead to try to give her some warmth. All she could say was, I’m cold, my stomach hurts, and am I in danger?  The next time they took her temperature I noted that it was at 96.1 degrees. They said the operating room was kept very cold, and I can only imagine that the blood loss contributed to her cold temperature. It took a pretty long time before we were able to get her warm.

Emily: I was shivering uncontrollably and my stomach hurt. I felt some warm hands on my face and heard Christian’s voice. “Emily… Hi sweetie!” I was so relieved to hear his voice. I asked him if I was in danger and he replied, “No, the scary part is over and you’re going to be fine.” I wanted to open my eyes and hug him, but I was still too sedated to do anything. I was just glad to have him near.

A few minutes later my mom arrived. She had been at the airport heading home to teach her class at a university when she heard the news. At the risk of losing her job, she turned around and came to be with us at the hospital. She quickly joined in with Christian’s efforts to try to warm me up.

Christian: We were able to move Emily out of the surgery recovery room and into a regular recovery room. We piled on heated blankets and Emily finally started to warm up. After another hour or two of recovering the doctor came in to talk to us about what happened.

Emily: I was still groggy from the anesthesia but I tried hard to focus on what the doctor had to say. He brought in a bucket with him which held my uterus inside. He pulled out the uterus and showed us that chunks of my placenta were still firmly attached to the inside of my uterus. I lost 2 liters of blood and had 4 infusions of blood and one pack of platelets to save my life.

Christian: It was clear that there was no way Emily would have been able to keep the uterus with this pregnancy no matter how she delivered the baby. In fact, if they had done a C-section without knowing about this accreta, it could have been worse. After the surgery her blood count was at 21-23 Hematocrit and 12 of that was from her transfusion. A normal person has 40. Not much room for error.

Looking back on the events of the past few days, we feel very blessed.  We were pretty frustrated that this baby would not come when we wanted her to. None of the doctors could explain why Emily did not go into labor. Now we realize that this emergency surgery would have been needed no matter what, and the two most experienced doctors in this area were not at the hospital until right before this baby was born. Also, had the baby come over the weekend or at night, a second doctor would not have been on hand quickly enough to help with the surgery, which turned out to be critical.

Emily: The doctor acknowledged that it was not a surgery he could have done alone. He was so grateful to have my regular doctor by his side so they could stop my bleeding quickly enough. When she came to check on me, she kissed my forehead and told me she was so grateful to see me alive. How do you say thank you to someone who just saved your life?

For days leading up to my surgery I had felt this was a trial of patience. I thought I just needed to learn how to be more patient. It wasn’t until after my surgery that I realized Heavenly Father already knew about my placenta accreta and was looking after me, protecting me, and making sure I would deliver our baby at precisely the right time.

Christian: We were able to take Emily and our baby home after only a few days. It will take a long time for Emily to recover and build up the blood she lost. I’m lucky to have the week off to take care of her and the kids. Our family, friends, and the ward have brought meals, flowers, and have helped with the kids. Day by day Emily is getting stronger.

Emily: It’s been almost two weeks since my hysterectomy. Each day I feel a little better.

It’s strange not having a uterus. I thought this might be our last baby, but without certainty I wasn’t going to do anything permanent. I was waiting for God to give me an answer. And an answer he gave!

Since my surgery, I’ve had several moments where life just takes my breath away. I look around at my husband and four amazing children and find myself thinking, we’re all here! I feel so blessed to all be together. We have amazing parents and family and friends. What we went through was crazy and unexpected and challenging, but I feel like the luckiest girl alive! God gave me a chance to stay and be a wife and mother and I will not take that for granted. God is good and life is amazing!

Isn't she wonderful?

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