“We purchased a vacation home at the river where we could bring our daughter. Our plan was to start showing Emma a world outside of hospitals. We planned an entire summer there, living happily ever after. Little did I know life had a different plan. ‘What happened?,’ I ask. Something inside me knew Danny was hurt. ‘Don’t go to the hospital, follow those firetrucks!’”
‘Get me off speaker now!’ She hangs up. ‘We have to go, something happened.’ I see ambulances at the river.’: Woman loses husband in boating accident right after micropreemie daughter regains health, family ‘starting to live again’
‘We have to deliver this baby immediately.’ Everything went black.’: Single mom goes unconscious during birth, wakes up to ask, ‘Who is this baby?,’ after life-threatening HELLP syndrome diagnosis
“I didn’t realize until that moment that something was terribly wrong. My OB came into the delivery room and sat next to me. ‘I promise you; everything is going to be okay.’ The next morning, I looked over and saw him in the bassinet beside me. ‘Who is this baby? Where did he come from? What happened?’”
‘You guys did great. You did great 3 times,’ our doctor said as she laid out our sonogram with three little sacs. My mind was racing. Shock and fear set in.’
“Mike couldn’t speak. In fact, the doctor looked at him after we covered all the basics and said, ‘Dad, are you OK? You haven’t said anything.’”
‘We’re doing the surgery to save your wife’s life, not your child’s.’ Those are words no husband ever wants to hear, but that’s exactly what the doctor said to mine.’
“I completely lost control of my emotions and all I could do was beg the doctor not to do this. ‘She’s too small! It’s too soon!’ That was all I kept saying.”
‘I wanted to hold her, nurse her, bond with her, but we did not have that chance. We did not get to follow any birth plan. Our plan was simply to survive.’
“Little did I know that holding her for the first time could be my last, as I was diagnosed with postpartum HELLP syndrome and admitted to the ICU that night.”
‘My worst nightmare was happening. I laid on the OR table gasping for air. ‘Help me! I can’t breathe!’ I stared into my mother’s eyes. I could see the fear written all over her face.’
“A huge splash of fluid hit the curtain in my face. All I could think was, ‘I’m going to die right here. I was born on this day, and I’m going to die on this day giving birth.'”
‘She’s a Jehovah’s Witness, NO BLOOD LET’S GO.’ We don’t accept blood transfusions.’: Woman stays true to her faith in face of HELLP syndrome diagnosis
“The anesthesiologist who evidently had not read my file was very upset by this, claiming he did not know. He got in my face and told me I was leaving my children without a mother, that I was going to die on that table. ‘This is as bad as it gets. Are you sure that’s the choice you want to make?’ I knew I had to be calm if I wanted him to believe me. I told him I understood, and yes, I was sure of my choice. He went over to my mom and gave her the same speech. She, like me, kept her cool.”
‘When my water broke, it was all blood. Something was very, very wrong.’: Woman and son nearly die in ‘traumatic birth’ due to undiagnosed pre-eclampsia and HELLP
“The nurse brought me an oxygen mask. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not going to die, not today!’ and fought off the mask. My mom took my hand, came to my bedside, and said, ‘It’s not for you, it’s for Henry.’ I grabbed the mask and rallied. When everything else in my body was failing me and beginning to shut down, I pushed two times harder and fought to keep him alive.”
‘I finally blurted out through tears, ‘If my organs are starting to fail, why aren’t we doing an emergency C-section?’ I was scared. What was happening?’
“‘Oh honey,’ the doctor replied, ‘you’re just being hormonal. Every woman goes through a part of her labor where she doesn’t think she can do it.’ I was shocked. I wanted some damn answers.”
‘The doctor came in and said, ‘I’m sorry.’ My husband and I were too in shock to say, ‘Why didn’t you call us?!’’
“I kept thinking to myself, ‘Is my child alive? Why can’t someone just tell me what’s going on?’”
