Claire's 'Birth' Day

Tuesday, March 30, 2010.

We check into the hospital at 11:30a.m. The surgery is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., but that time is subject to change. I had already preregistered and done my pre-op, so we were ready to head upstairs to get the show on the road. After paying $2400 as half of the co-pay, I officially had my hospital wristband to declare me a patient at MCA. (Medical Center of Arlington)

They wheeled me into the operating room ~2pm. The plan was to do a c-section and NOT tie my tubes. I did not want them messing with my girl parts any more than necessary.

After my spinal block was put in, we were ready to get underway. John stayed at the end of the table closest to my head. I was nervous as anything, but a lot of prayer had been prayed in preparation for this day. At 2:33p.m., Claire Coolidge Nohinek entered this world. She was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 3/4 inches long. To me, she was just perfect. Perfectly perfect.

However, when Dr. Seligman went in to remove the placenta, he discovered that I had developed placenta acredia. This is when the placenta actually starts growing into the uterine wall. The only course of action is to remove the uterus. Either that or hemorrhage to death. Those are the only two things that could occur. Dr. Seligman told us exactly what was going on and what he was going to have to do. He called in one of his partners to verify that was what it was and to help him with the surgery. Over an hour later, they finally finished. When he took the blue curtain (sterile field) down, I saw that not only did his mask have a lot of blood on it, but the nurse was covered in my blood. From chest level to her knees, her apron/scrubs were completely covered in blood. My blood. Dr. Seligman said that I had lost twice as much blood as a normal c-section. He ordered a CBC (complete blood count) and it turned out the my hemoglobin count was at 2. (from 11)

I do not remember after the surgery. I was happy that Claire was here and arrived healthy. I was still in shock about what had transpired, but knew that God was in control. He had answered my prayers and protected me from a much worse outcome. God in good.