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| UTERINE RUPTURE STORY When we found out in 1997 that we were having a baby, we were a family of mom, dad and two daughters. Samantha was 8 and Danielle was 6. The girls were so excited to learn they would soon have another sibling. Especially when we found out that our next little one would be a boy. A brother, a baby to play mommy with. Dani even naively promised to change all the "poopie" diapers. They excitedly rubbed my growing tummy and laughed when the baby kicked their hands. Dani began a ritual of singing Que Sera to the baby, a song that I sang to her each night at bedtime ~ only she would sing it "Que Eli, Eli" as this was the name we had chosen for our son, "Eli Dwaine." The pregnancy progressed as normal. Eli was due to join our family on June 2, 1998. A date that came and passed. On June 9, 1998, we had an ultra sound (u/s) done, which showed the baby was doing well. However, there was some concern about the amount of amniotic fluid. My AFI (amniotic fluid index) was 39 - normal is a range of 8.1 to 24. Although this can be a sign of genetic problems with the baby, our Eli appeared perfect and the doctor told us that in many cases there is no known cause for an elevated AFI. On June 12, 1998, we went for a non-stress test. The baby was non-reactive, so the doctor sent us to the hospital for more testing. At the hospital they monitored the baby's heartrate ~ which was great ~ and my contractions ~ which I was having but not feeling. The doctor at the hospital offered to try inducing labor which I agreed to. But after 5 hours of Pitocin, I was told that I was not getting into a "good labor pattern" and should go home, eat a good meal, get a good night's rest and return in the morning. I was somewhat reluctant to do that because the next day was Danielle's birthday party. However, after discussing it with my husband, we decided that would be best. June 13, 1998 (It is important to note here that both of my daughters had been born vaginally. My first daughter was born after 20+ hours of labor and was 7lbs 10ozs. My second daughter was born after 6 hours of labor and was 8lbs 11ozs. I had not had any surgeries on my uterus at this point) My sister accompanied me to the hospital so that my husband could take charge of Dani's birthday party. We arrived at the hospital around 11:30 am. After having the usual checks, getting a room and being monitored for a short time, they began the Pitocin drip around 1:00 pm. At 3:00 pm my water broke and by that time my husband had joined as at the hospital. The nurses had some concern at this point because the baby was still very high in my uterus. At one point, they brought in an ultra sound machine and called the doctor to the room. After expressing their concern, the doctor told them, "We don't need that," (referring to the ultrasound machine) "Sometimes we just do this," and he proceeded to grab my tummy and give it a twist and a shove. Then he just left the room. Not a word passed between the nurses as they wheeled the u/s out of the room. Eli still did not drop down in my uterus and at one point, I heard the head nurse say to the trainee nurse, "This is a good case to learn on because this is unusual." I was progressing in labor, my cervix was dilating and the contractions were getting stronger. I asked for some pain medication and was given Stadol. That helped some, but not enough, so I asked for an epidural. I had never had one before and a friend of mine had told me this was "The way to go." After the epidural was placed, the anesthesiologist noticed a drop in the baby's heartrate and mentioned it to the nurses. They gave me oxygen and turned me from side to side. The baby's heartrate came up and I continued to labor. I did mention that I continued to have pain on my right side, but it was explained away as a "hot spot." A spot that was not being covered by the epidural. I was dilating, but the baby still was not dropping. When I was fully dilated, the doctor came into the room. He asked me if I felt the urge to push. I told him that I didn't. He asked me to, "Give it a try for me." I pushed and pushed to no avail. The baby's heartrate was dropping and not fully rebounding with each contraction. It got lower and lower. The doctor decided to have the nurse push on my stomach, while he reached in and pulled and twisted on my baby. Again, no success. At this point the baby's heartrate declined to the point where it is called bradycardia.......a persistent low heartrate. So the doctor tried to use a vacuum extractor on the baby. He placed and pulled the v/e 5 times. Each time it would pop off with a resounding "pop" and blood would spray everywhere. He then tried to use forceps twice. Still no success. It was decided that I needed to have a c-section to get this baby out. Since this was a Saturday, the hospital OR was not staffed and they had to page all the OR staff to come to the hospital, except the anesthesiologist, who was there because of my epidural. It took some time for them all to get there. When the staff was fully assembled, they took me to the OR, knocked me out and did an emergency c-section. When the doctor made the skin incision, he saw that my uterus had ruptured. He reached through the tear and pulled out my 9lb 2oz baby boy. Eli was unresponsive at birth. They gave him CPR and his heart started again, but he was not breathing. They intubated him. When I woke up in recovery, the doctor told me that I had had a uterine rupture. That he was able to save my uterus. I asked about my baby and he said that he was in serious condition, would need to be placed on a life flight to Children's Hospital, but if anyone could save him, Children's could. I was so groggy and out of it, I didn't comprehend what he was telling me. I didn't understand that my son could die. Before they took my son, they brought him to me in an isolette. He was being ventilated by hand. I was able to reach through the opening in the incubator and touch his leg. I said, "He's cold. He's shivering." The life flight nurse just looked at me and said, "Honey, he's not shivering, he's having seizures." |
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