My Newborn Son SAVED My Life

Our happy little family

On November 6,2015  the birth of my son was life or death situation for me.

Any parent-to-be can come up with numerous worst-case scenarios when it comes to the birth of their child. It is natural to have anxiety about giving birth especially when everyone is offering their horror stories.

But what happens when the unexpected really does happen?

I have been hesitant about publically discussing this story but in talking with my midwife, I realized that I NEEDED to share my story. It is an imprint on my fabric. As November is the month of giving thanks, I cannot express my thanks to my son Gage Emerson, my 8lb 6oz lifesaver!

My labor started as many do; uncomfortable contractions, sleepless nights and anxiety that soon our lives were going to CHANGE! We went to the hospital on Thursday November 5^th around 9:30 am and were told to go walk the mall for two hours (yup went too soon but something in my gut said we needed to be there). After walking every level of the mall, we went back and surprise, no progress but the midwives admitted us anyway.

After several hours with little progress, I opted for the epidural, where I met the other man that saved my life. As my epidural was placed, the anesthesiologist noticed that my O2 level in my blood was low, 92%. A normal level for a healthy person (and if you followed my pregnancy you would know I focused on being at optimal health) is between 98-100%. So I was put on oxygen, which would increase my O2 level immediately, but it didn’t.

So the question my anesthesiologist wanted answered was WHY? I was asked question like “have you been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder?” “Have you ever had numbness in your leg or severe swelling?” “Any instances of  shortness of breath or heart racing while at rest?”. My answer to all, “no”.  After continued persistence from the anesthesiologist the internal medicine physician on call was consulted, who ordered an x-ray and sonogram of my legs in addition to more blood draws.

The scary verdict… massive blood clots in my left leg or deep vein thrombosis (DVT)!

The game plan… place me on blood thinners. There were two concerns. First, while giving birth the current clots could dislodge and travel to my lungs (pulmonary embolism). Although blood thinners cannot treat the current clot is can prevent any new clots from forming. The second, being on blood thinners during a vaginal delivery has high risk of increased bleeding of the perineum. At this point, the perinatal neonatal specialist (high risk OB specialists) were consulted.

So blessed to be holding my son 

There was more unfortunate news, the epidural had to be removed since blood thinners cannot be given while an epidural is in place. I immediately went into defeat mode “I can’t do this” I cried. All I heard from the entire room of people (about 7-8 including Kurt and my mother) was “YES YOU CAN!” The epidural was removed around midnight and it was a waiting game; for the epidural to wear off, for my labor to progress and for the 4 hour time lapse so blood thinners could be started.

We didn’t wait long because my water broke and I progressed from 4cm to 8cm in less than 15 min. So things were expedited. It appeared Baby K was coming in a hurry all the sudden… As we began to discuss the labor process I was introduced to the infamous midwife known as “No tear Jerry”. For those not familiar with child birth, there is a section known as the perineum (between vagina and anus) that often time tears as the baby is born. Jerry began prepping me for my un-medicated journey and her approach was very non-conventional.

I was NOT going to push this baby out! Say what?! No pushing. Instead Baby K would make his way down the birth canal with the help of the contractions. When I get to this part of the story, everyone asks “how do you NOT push?” It’s instinct to push regardless if you have an epidural or not. I wasn’t given any instruction on how to NOT push but everyone trusted that my body would do what it needed to.

The OR was completely SILENT except for me screaming, my amazing no nonsense nurse and Jerry. I cannot tell you exactly how I did it. I can only say that there was a greater power within me that took over. The neonatal specialist said she had never seen anything like it; the left side of my body was completely limp while the right side of my body took all the pressure and stress. My mother (a total rock star) endured over an hour and a half of me squeezing her hand (I popped several blood vessels in her hand) and supporting my right arm. After what seemed like an eternity the first cries of my precious little angel filled the OR.

My first official photo with my little man

With only a slight tear, the midwife certainly lived up to her name! As they cleaned up little sir I lay on the OR table dazed, almost an out of body experience. I was responding to questions but extremely lethargic. My body however was convulsing uncontrollably and then they moved me from the OR table to an ICU bed and handed me Gage. No one rushed me, I just held my sweet sir and kissed him and stared at my perfect savior. Finally, I knew the time had come where I had to say goodbye to him and head to the ICU while he went to the nursery.  Such a hard thing to do and the second time I have departed from my newborn child due to complications (after Lorelai was born she spontaneously popped both her lungs and spent 12 days in the NICU).

oh man 6 months of self injections

Where I have to inject myself

While in the ICU numerous tests were order including CTC scan, EKG with bubble, endless blood samples, and more. The verdict… the clots in my leg were not new and had not broken off and traveled to my lungs. I was placed on heparin finally but then the next concern, how to prevent new clots from forming long term and was it safe to breast feed while on therapy? After discussion with the vascular surgeon I decided to do twice daily injections of Lovenox for a minimum of six months.

As I continue to relive this event in my mind and through discussion the recurring theme is how blessed I am to be holding my son. My labor is certainly a case study that will be discussed by not only OB but vascular, cardiac and anesthesiology departments.

I cannot express my unending gratitude to everyone involved in this miraculous delivery. It was certainly orchestrated chaos. My son saved my life. Had we not conceived this little miracle who knows if the blood clots would ever have been discovered until it was too late to resolve.

Gage thank you so much for coming into our lives when we needed you the most and did not know it! I LOVE YOU!