5wks from postpartum hemorrhage (May 2002) -emergency hysterectomy

Anyone else have a subtotal abdominal hysterectomy as a result of a postpartum hemorrhage?

On March 28th, I gave birth to my daughter. On April 3, I had a severe postpartum hemorrhage. My OB attempted a D&C (twice actually) and uterine massage but the hemorrhaging would not stop so removal of my uterus was necessary to save my life. I had to have three blood transfusions and was able to return home 4 days later to face not only a postpartum recovery from a vaginal birth but the hysterectomy also.

Anyone else have such a thing happen postpartum? I just had my 6 wk postpartum visit (which is also my post-op visit).

Thanks.

admin note: This thread was moved from post-op forum to parenthood forum so as best to meet the needs of the thread and the post-op forum visitors.

Hi Lisa,

My hyst was for different reasons, but first, I'd like to say congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

Second, I've very sorry that you had complications resulting in your hyst. Many women find this a difficult surgery to prepare for and to cope with when it is planned, so I'm sure it's been difficult for you since it was done under emergency conditions.

Best wishes and s !

((((Lisa))))

You sure have been through a great deal! I didn't have an experience anything like this, but I did want to pop in and give you BIG HUGS and let you know we are here for you.

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your personal messages. I tried to reply here on the message board, but no luck. Hope it will work this time!
As I told you, I had a hysterectomy after childbirth. But a little different from yours.

You must have been shocked to start bleeding out of the blue, days after giving birth. This is really dangerous as your OB told you. What if you didn't take the right action?! You don't want to think about it!

As I told you in my personal messages, I experienced a hysterectomy right after giving birth. This happened only recently, like you. I gave birth to my son on March 4th. I was induced because it was two weeks and a day after my due date. Minutes after they applied the gel, contractions started, the contractions were very intense and without any breaks. For 4 hours I had contractions contineously.

After my son was born, I immidiately started to hemorrhage. As I was in the hospital already, they rushed me down to the OR right away. I was lucky to give birth on normal office hours, so all the surgeons and an OB was in the house. Otherwise ....
First they removed my placenta manually. I woke up from the anastetics, still in the OR and luckily I managed to inform the staff about my abdominal pains I was suffering. This saved my life. THey didn't notice I was still bleeding! I went into surgery again. They found my uterus limp: I suffered from an unterine atony due to the heavy contractions.
As I told you I lost 8 litres of blood, needed 16 units of pure blood. Hemoglobin went down from 8.5 to 1.7. They kept my unther anastetics for 24 hours. They were not sure if I would make it without any side effects (heart, kidney, lungs)

First I was devastated about the kind of delivery I had to go through. Only now I start to realize I had a hysterectomy too. The result is that my firstborn is going to be an only child. This is hard for me. I also have to deal with an ugly scar. Do you have a scar? Maybe I have to face hormonal changes. But I don't know yet.

The past three months I have been trying to find other women who experienced a hysterectomy after childbirth. But it is a rare condition (thank God) and it's not easy to find someone who is willing to talk about it.
How did relatives and family react? How are you dealing with what happened to you?
Hope to hear from you soon!

Dutchie

Re: hpp

Dutchie-

My daugher, Lauren was born on March 28. She was 5 wks early due to preterm labor but healthy and everything went very smoothly. (I also have two boys ages 5 and 2). When Lauren was 6 days old I started hemmorraging just out of the blue. One moment I was fine and the next I was bleeding uncontrollable amounts of blood. Rushed to the ER where my OB met me. She took one look at the amount of blood and and hurried me to the OR. She did two D&C and massaged my uterus but it wouldn't stop the bleeding so she had to remove my uterus to save my life. She said that if I had waited even 20 minutes to come to the ER or had lived farther away from the hospital she may not have been able to save me.

What she explained to me was that a small separate placenta unrelated to my baby's placenta was left behind after the delivery. Six days after delivery this "extra" placenta broke free creating a divet so to say in my uterine wall. She said my uterus became overhwhelmed with the bleeding and basically died which is why nothing would work to get it to contract and stop bleeding.

Not sure about the amount of blood loss, I know I had three blood transfusions after the surgery and my count was 3 AFTER the first transfusion.

I am so glad to have found you. You here of people who hemmorrage but I have never found anyone who has had to had a hysterectomy right after giving birth.






__________________
Lisa

postpartum hemorrhage, emergency SAH

	Quote:
Originally posted by Dutchie The result is that my firstborn is going to be an only child. This is hard for me. I also have to deal with an ugly scar. Do you have a scar? Maybe I have to face hormonal changes. But I don't know yet. The past three months I have been trying to find other women who experienced a hysterectomy after childbirth. But it is a rare condition (thank God) and it's not easy to find someone who is willing to talk about it. How did relatives and family react? How are you dealing with what happened to you? Dutchie [/b]

Dutchie-

I can understand how hard it must be to have this occur after the birth of your first born. Mine was after my third and it was still very hard to accept.

I do have a scar across the bikini line. It is fading already, I had a previous scar from fibroid surgery in '96 and it faded almost away before I got this new one right on top of it!

Thank god what happened to us is rare. I have meet people who have had a pph but no one who had to have a hysterectomy, a D&C was all that was needed.

My Mother took all this very hard. In a three week period I had bedrest, hospitalized for mag sulfate treatments for preterm labor, a premature birth and then a hysterectomy. From March 18 to April 3 was unreal. No wonder my OB prescribed some anxiety meds.

About hormones, my understanding from my OB was that I would be fine since they left my ovaries.

I was going to be induced on Monday 12-17-01, so I went to the hospital on Sunday night to "prepare my cervix" I went in to labor and labored from 11:40p.m. until 2:15 when they told me to push. I pushed until 2:53a.m. when Connor was born 2 weeks early and weighing in a 9lbs. 11ozs. Soon after my doctor said I was bleeding too much and he packed me, and gave me some medications to help my uterus contract. Nothing worked. I continued losing massive amounts of blood. At one point I heard my blood pressure was 20/30 and my DH said it went down after this. (He was allowed to stay in the delivery room while all this was going on, because we are like family with the doctor) I heard them say hysterectomy and I tried to move to say no, but I couldn't move at all. I was taken into surgery and the only thing he could save was my left ovary and cervix. I was in the I.C.U. for three days and then brought up to maternity where I immediately breastfed Connor. (I refused pain medications immediately folllowing surgery)
Connor is my first and only son, and I am still hurting from all of this. Giving birth is supposed to be the most joyous celebration and for almost a full 24 hours they didn't even know if I was going to live ot see my son.
I was given 20 liters of blood and blood products. I don't know what my clotting factor was at the lowest but I do know it went lower then three because on Tuesday it went up to three and they were happy...

Please e-mail me
erysmith@yahoo.com

Hi Erysmith,

In your story there are so many things I recognize! I know how devastated you must be. Like you, I was looking forward to have a baby, but instead a horrorstory started and now, months afterwards, there are so many disappointments to accept and to learn to live with. And the hysterectomy is only one of them. How are you now? Would you like to keep in touch to talk about it? I know I would appreciate it. If yes, here or by e-mail?
Hope to hear from you,
Dutchie

Hi Lisa,

At first the disappoitment about not being able to have more children was huge for me. Apart from the devastation of the nightmare childbirth. Now, three months later, this subsides a little. I am busy with my one little boy. I guess my pain and disappointment will flare up again by the time I would 'normally' would like expanding our family. I do feel strange, missing my uterus, but most of all I am concerned about the scar. How did your feelings evolve?

How did friends/relatives react to what happened to you? Did you tell everybody, or just your closest friends/relatives? What kind of reactions did you get in general? Are they supporting you? Did you get any painful comments? I get a bit annoyed when the person I tell my story to points out to me to be happy with my one son. Ofcourse I am, but it's not taking away the amount of grief! I try not to let it get to much to me, I try to think it's the way people talk. In a conversation they want to conclude to something happy/positive. Still for me it's the sign in the conversation of: stop sobbing!

How did you cope all the household work and taking care of Lauren after you came home from the hospital? I guess you had to keep bedrest a lot and were not allowed to carry anything etc. for quite some time. Did you get any help?
What do you think of your bikini cut scar? To me it seems so much better then my vertical scar, from my navel down. Or am I naive to think that way? Do you have any scar treatment?
In your story you are talking about a D&C. Can you tell me what this is? I am not so familiar with all kind of abbreviations and (medical) terms in English, because I am Dutch (from the Netherlands). So that's why I sometimes have difficulties expressing myself in English (and probably make quite a few mistakes)!

Bye for now,
Dutchie

I would love to keep in touch by e-mail and posting. I also have a vertical scar from my bellybutton down. Not pretty.
My husband called my family and his to come to the hospital, my mother took over from there telling everyone although I wish she hadn't.

I hate when people tell me to be happy with the one I have. I am enourmously happy with Connor, but I am still mourning the loss of the big family we always wanted. I am also mourning the fact that I couldn't do a lot of the thingsI always dreamed of post partum because I was physically unable to. It really ***** to have the memory of death staring you in the face tainting what is supposed to be the best time in your life.

Some people have asked me when I am going to have more children or how many we are planning on having, after telling them I had a hysterectomy they say well you can have a surrogate. How rude!!!!! And it certainly isn't any of their buisness. After having all the feelings of carrying a baby I don't want anyone else to carry my child. People can be so cold and unforgiving of the terrible loss we went through. The emotional and physicall healing that goes along with it. The trauma we faced after a joyous occassion, which will be forever linked in our hearts and minds. It is terrible.

Anyway Dutchie if you don't mind me asking how old are you?
Lisa how old are you?
I am 23.

Hope you have a good night. My e-mail address is above on my last post feel free to use it.

Erica