A Labor Horror Story

It was seven days before my due date. I didn't expect to wake up and find that my water was leaking. I woke up at nine that morning, prepared myself for what was to come, and called the doctor.

All morning and into the afternoon I was cramping. I remember telling my older sister that if this was the worst pain of labor I was going to have twenty children. I had no clue that I was in for a long night, or that the pain would get much worse.

Around four that afternoon my cramping was less than four minutes apart. At 4:30 I was on my way to the hospital. Less than four miles from the hospital true labor set in and the pain seemed to be unbearable.

By six I was in my room with all the necessary medical equipment. Nurses were appearing often and I kept passing out from the pain. I finally agreed to have an epidural and was expecting to be fully relieved of any pain from the contractions.

The epidural didn't work on the left side of my body. The pain was intense and I started to go in and out of consciousness even more often.

The nurses and doctor would tell me I was over exaggerating and it wasn't possible that I was still in pain. I was too weak to argue.

When ten that night came I was too weak to push. I tried and tried but I couldn't 'perform' at the level the doctor expected.

The doctor would realize about quarter after ten that my child was lodged in the birth canal and even if I had not been so weak I probably would not have been able to deliver my son without assistance.

My son was born at 10:37 that night but the doctor had to force delivery. I thought the delivery was the worst part and the pain and the worry was over. I saw my son for the first time, and held him in my arms. Despite my weakness and the level of pain I was in I couldn't help but smile. Other than my son having a 'cone-head' from being lodged for so long, he was in perfect health.

The nurse would then whisk my son away while the doctor remained at the end of the delivery table. He was pushing on my stomach so hard that I was bruising instantly.

This was my first child; I had no idea what was going on. I managed to slide up a little on the delivery table, and that is when I looked at the floor. The white tiled floor was bright red. I asked the doctor if it was my blood, and he confirmed with a nod of the head and a very worried look on his face.

Being my first child, and having no idea what to expect or what was going on, I asked the doctor if I was going to die. He said, 'I don't know'.

I don't remember much after that point until the next morning. The doctor would come in and explain that I suffered a postpartum hemorrhage. He informed me that it took a few hours but they were able to stop the hemorrhaging and that I had lost an extraordinary amount of blood.

He said, 'To be blunt, you almost lost your life'.

While I lay there I recalled some of the events on my own. My sister, who was in the room with me during the delivery, filled me in on some of what I missed through the times I had passed out.

It would be months before I completely healed, but only weeks to find out what caused the problems. Through exploratory surgeries, exams, and sonograms the doctors were able to determine my conditions and correct them.

That night was the best worst night of my life. My first child was born and he was healthy. I had suffered the worst pain of my life, and nearly died. Both of us came out clean and happy on the other side, and it was all worth it.