by Kelli Christopher

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Being pregnant with my children was something that I enjoyed: what they were going to look like, how big they would be, when they will come into the world? My first child was born without a problem. I labored, had her and enjoyed her from the minute she was born. When I got pregnant a second time, I thought that experience would be much the same.

I had small contractions throughout my pregnancy. Finally, a couple of days before my due date, I knew the contractions were the "real thing". We went to the hospital and after a few hours at the hospital, I was told that while my contractions were strong, they weren't close enough together. Instead of sending me home, they let me stay overnight. By morning, my contractions were getting closer together and they decided to give me some medicine to help my labor progress.

By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I had progressed enough to have my water broken. My labor was going fine and I got my epidural. Soon after, the baby's heart rate dropped. The medical staff tried changing my position to make the baby move around, but the heart rate kept dropping. They rushed me into surgery to have a Cesarean section. They did it so quickly that my husband barely had time to get his scrubs on and get into the room with me.

Minutes after they took me to surgery, my daughter was born, holding onto her umbilical cord. That had caused the drop in her heart rate. She was healthy and beautiful. They cleaned her and handed her to my husband, he showed her to me and I cried and cried. She was perfect.

I then noticed more medical staff coming into the room. My husband and baby were taken from the room and my midwife came to sit beside me. I was not feeling well, light headed and tired. I knew that something was wrong. My husband came back periodically, but never for very long. They kept taking him across the hall. I finally asked my midwife what was wrong. She told me that they were having trouble stopping bleeding in my uterus. Later, I would be told that the arteries leading into my uterus had ruptured. She said not to worry, they would be done soon. I could tell by the look on her face that something was very wrong. The nurses started making phone calls asking for blood, STAT.

They had to leave me coherent as anesthetic would have thinned my blood and caused more bleeding. Knowing that these strangers were fighting for my life was so frightening. I laid there and thought that I was going to die. I kept thinking that my girls were going to grow up without their mother.

It seemed like an eternity before they told me that I was being sewn shut. It had been three hours since I had been taken into surgery. I was in and out of consciousness. I lost 4 pints of blood. My family was aloud to come in and see me and I finally got to get a good look at my beautiful new daughter. My oldest daughter came in and told me "You did a good job having my sister". That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever told me.

It took a blood transfusion and a couple of days to feel good, but I did recover. The doctor told me that he had never seen anything like that and that he didn't think that I was going to make it. He was in tears. I knew, at that moment, how lucky I had been.

An experience like that does make you realize how precious life is and that you need to take the time to enjoy every minute. It makes you let go of the small things that used to bother you and pay attention to the small things you used to let pass you by. I feel blessed to be alive every day. I only wish that it wouldn't have taken a near death experience to make me feel that way.

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