The Doctor Forgot the Gauze Inside of Me
My First Birth
My daughter, Mia, came exactly on her due date. The day before, my contractions started and I timed each contraction with an app. My partner, Corey, was in law school taking his finals and I was just moving into my new apartment that week so I was still staying at my mom’s house. I tried to sleep, but was so dead set in timing each contraction that I couldn’t rest my mind.
My water broke
Around 1am my water finally broke and we got to the hospital around 2am. My labor didn’t progress much once we reached, so they started me on Pitocin. I spent so much time pushing wrong when the time finally came to push that when she was finally crowning, I was exhausted. The OB/GYN delivering my daughter and my mom casually made jokes about how they could braid Mia’s hair as I was crowning. I felt like I was completely drained of all my energy, and meanwhile they’re cracking jokes!
Important note: it’s common that going to the hospital will stall labor because mothers are suddenly in an unfamiliar environment and oxytocin will slow down until the mother feels safe and comfortable again.
I WAS READY TO ROLL
I felt like the staff wasn’t in a rush, I kept asking them to come in and check my dilation because I was ready to roll, but they kept saying I wasn’t ready. They kept pushing that pitocin. I don’t know if that helped. It definitely made everything more painful than my body kicking in by itself.
the pitocin made everything more painful
I didn’t have an epidural, I was very adamant about not having an epidural. But the pitocin definitely made things harder! I was exhausted. Nothing was offered to help me energize, like food, drinks, or even ice chips. It wasn’t until I was absolutely exhausted that my mom told me to push like I was using the bathroom then I understood how to push properly. I probably should have taken a class, but I didn’t. I wish someone had coached me to learn how to push. I don’t remember how long I was pushing, but it felt like forever! With my next two, they both came quick once I was ready to push, but with Mia it felt like forever.
I’LL NEVER FORGET
I finally gave one more push and she was out. It was 7:11am, a moment in time I will never forget. Everything was pretty standard after that, I stayed two days at the hospital and then went home. But recovery just felt so painful. I thought the discomfort was normal, so I just kept pushing through.
a piece of gauze… inside of me!
About 4 weeks after I had Mia, something inside me just didn’t feel right — like I wasn’t healing well. I investigated and pulled something hard out. After further self-investigation, I discovered a piece of gauze inside of me. I called the doctor and she completely freaked out. She called me into the office for a check-up and luckily she didn’t find anything else. I guess it had been left in when the medical staff was cleaning me up prior to putting in stitches. Everything was fine after that, but it could have been so bad. I’m grateful that I was curious and confident enough to do that brief self-assessment.