Baby Born, bloody hell!

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I met Vanessa* for lunch time in Amstelveen Centrum. After ordering some lunch, she started to tell me her story: 

“Never have kids in Holland.  Try to have them at your own country”.   

Why?  I asked with curiosity. And then her story begins: 

“I was 41 years old when I had my second child. That was in 2008.  Of course, because of my age, I needed extra care.  I come from Italy and in Italy if the water breaks or you have pain, you are transported immediately to the hospital and receive urgent attention.  Here in the Netherlands that is not the case.    

When you are pregnant you have to go to a “verloskundige vrouw” (Midwife).  She checks you in all your pregnancy.  The Dutch women prefer to deliver at home.  That was not what I wanted.  My first kid was delivered in the hospital and I wanted the second one to be delivered there as well.  I felt more comfortable knowing that. 

On a cold day in October, one week before the delivery date, the water broke. It was around 19:30 Hrs.  I called the midwife and told her about it.  Do you know what did she asked me?”

I have no idea!  I said...somehow I knew the story was going to get interesting.   

“She asked me what color the water was”.  What? Was it because maybe it was blood? I couldn’t believe it! 

“I was wearing a black sport pants and blue underwear.   How did I know the color didn’t get mixed up?  She told me not to worry, that nothing was going to happened at least till next day.   I had cramps, but no contractions. I’ve called her another time after dinner but she told me not to worry.  Later at night I couldn’t sleep.  My husband called her again and told her what I was feeling.  My body was asking me to push.  I had the sensation that I wanted to go to the toilet.  She finally show up around 3:00 in the morning.  

The funny thing is that I was sitting at the toilet.  I just felt that I had to shit.  Till now I didn’t have any contractions, just felt bad and had cramps.  She told me to get the hell out of the toilet.  The baby’s head was already showing and I didn’t know.  I almost had him at the toilet!” 

I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard this, I wonder why she didn’t have the normal contractions. I asked her to continue her story: 

“The Midwife told me that I couldn’t deliver at the hospital.  It was almost delivery time and if I was going to the hospital probably I will deliver at the car.  The thing is:  I wasn’t prepare to deliver at home. I had the luggage ready to go. My insurance company sent a package a few months earlier to deliver at home  and I didn’t have any idea where I left it.  We had to call the neighbor to help since my other kid was there as well.  So in less than ten minutes we got everything ready to deliver at home. It was so crazy!  I had to push three times and PLUCK!  There he was.” 

I’ve noticed that Vanessa didn’t called the Midwife by her name.  Apparently there was no connection?  Is there a good connection between Midwives and patients around the Netherlands I wonder?  I guess I have to get pregnant to figure it out. 

“But the story doesn’t end here.  My baby was born but the Placenta remained inside.  And that is when I started to have the contractions. I was pushing and pushing and after fifteen minutes the Midwife called the Ambulance.  I was at my bedroom at the second floor.  When the ambulance came, they couldn’t get the stretcher upstairs.  I was loosing a lot of blood and had to walk downstairs to be able to go to the hospital.  I had so much pain at my belly and all around that area.” 

Was the Placenta still inside after you walked? I asked.  She replied: 

“Yes, it was still inside.  Did you know the doctors only work till 17:00 Hrs in the Netherlands?”  

No, I guess not all of them, right? 

“Well, there was no doctor at the hospital to attend me.  I was there around 4:15 in the morning.  There was this nurse that I hated with all my heart.  She started to push really hard on my belly leaving me without breath.  I was so weak because I was still loosing a lot of blood.  My belly was hurting so much. She continued pushing and pushing and in one moment she wanted me to hold the baby while she continued pushing. What the fuck?  I don’t want to hold no baby!  Leave me alone!  She told me:  “Poor baby, he needs to eat” I was bleeding so much, she was pushing so hard, and still wanted me to breast feed my baby?  There was a moment I couldn’t anymore and I shouted:  Genoeg is Genoeg! (Enough is Enough!).  

Then the doctor came and checked me. He said that they will try with one more push and if the Placenta didn’t come out by then, he had to operate.  After that last push I was rush to the operation room.  All this time I had my glasses on.  The horrible nurse wanted to remove them as I was going to be put to sleep while I was operated.  I was so annoyed that I said:  Leave the glasses on! And she did.

It was a fast operation.  I woke up around 5:15 Hrs and  immediately after went to sleep a couple of hours more.  They gave me a probe to avoid going to the toilet.  They gave me a painkiller, something stronger than Paracetamol.  The doctor came and told me that they needed to make a blood transfusion because I’ve lost a lot of blood.  I answered:  As long as is tested I don’t have any problem.” 

I’ve asked about the baby.  She responded: 

“He was coming and going. I couldn’t take care or breast feed him.  Do you want to know what happened next?  They made the blood transfusion and immediately after I had fever.  They were putting a thermometer on my ass every half of hour.  The fever didn’t dissapeared.  They gave me some antibiotics and some kind of liquid coming from the blood.  My blood pressure went down.  After sometime they told me  that I had an infection, probably from moving from my house to the hospital.  They didn’t know exactly why.  They took a sample and sent it to the laboratory. 

The doctor came and told me that I needed another blood transfusion (from the same donor).  I was suspicious that the blood was the one that provoked the infection.  The doctor said: ‘I assure you that in the Netherlands everything is checked and cleaned’.  I requested the doctor a nurse to stay with me when the second infusion was done. I was scared that something happen to me and nobody was there to rescue me.  

The second blood transfusion was done.  Sometime after I wanted to walk a little.  I was laying in the bed for three days and was tired of it.  I told the nurse (which was different than the first one) to remove the probe as I was going to try to pee on my own.  I went slowly to the toilet while she was busy doing something with the probe and some other stuff.  When I came out from the toilet she was gone.  It took me a long time to go back to the bed.  When she came back I was upset.  I’ve asked her: ‘How could you leave me alone when you know I am weak and walking for the first time in days?  Couldn’t you wait?  What about if I fainted or something else happened?’. 

I was a little bit concerned about the nurses.  Did Vanessa only had bad experiences with them? I have asked her and she responded: 

“No, not all of them were bad.  There were some of them that really showed sympathy and came to ask me how I was.  Some of them even had a coffee while chatting with me.  The first nurse that was pushing my belly so hard at the first day came to apologize.  I guess the doctor told her to do so. 

I stayed there for a week.  There were sometimes I was feeling really hot and I thought I had fever again.  The nurses told me that I needed to sleep, to rest.  On Saturday, six days after the delivery, they told me that I could go.  They had had the results of the sample and everything was okay.  They didn’t tell me the reason why I had the infection and since I just wanted to go home I didn’t ask.

In the meantime, I was weak but recovering very slowly.  I have lost a lot of weight and people told me I looked very pale.   

Forty days after being in the hospital I went for a check.  They had me waiting for a very long time. When they finally attended me, they told me that they lost my file.  I’ve found it a bit weird but what could I do?  They asked me how I felt and if I was feeling better.  As I was, they sent me home. 

Four days later, I’ve received a phone call.  It was Saturday around 17:00 Hrs  and I was having a chat with a friend of mine.  It was a nurse from the hospital.  She apologized for loosing my file and said: ‘We have found the reason why you had the infection.  The first blood transfusion that we performed was infected by a virus.  Probably that day the donor had something because the second blood transfusion from the same donor didn’t have it and help to stabilize you. We apologize for any inconvenience caused’. 

I got so angry after this phone call.  They’ve told me many times that probably it was my fault.  Why they were not honest with me when I was at the appointment and tell me on my face?  Was that too hard to do?”

Few months after, Vanessa’s health and weight was back to normal.  The baby was always in good health and growing up strong.  Many persons advised Vanessa to sue the hospital but she didn’t feel like doing it.   

Vanessa read this article before it was published.  She told me the Midwife’s name which I will keep for myself.  During her pregnancy midwives were rotated for her consultations. 

*Vanessa is a fictitious name.

LINK:  Blood Transfusion:  Knowing your options http://www.bloodtransfusion.com/

Do you know what is the worst job from the World?

“Do you know what is the worst job from the World?” Asked me Sarah* on a terrace in Prinsengracht while she puts some sugar to her coffee.  It was a sunny day from August 2010.

I replied: “I think it is being a diver on black waters”.  She said: “Naah, that is nothing!  I tell you:  Is being a practitioner on a Colonoscopy test”.   I have no idea what is she talking about, so when she saw my puzzled expression, she began with her story:

“I became really sick in June 2009.  I was already feeling extremely tired for days.  I thought it was because I was working so hard and I had some personal issues which got me stressed out.   I’ve tried to be less stressed by going to the gym but that only made me more tired.  Then one Saturday of June, I was enjoying a boat trip when I felt like I couldn’t stay awake anymore.  I made a real effort to stay at the boat till the end.  When the boat trip finished around 19:00 Hrs., I just went straight to bed and slept for about 20 hours.  My boyfriend is the type of person that feels that sleeping is a waste of your time, so he woke me up and I’ve made the big effort to stay awake.  This was already Sunday afternoon.  I just lasted for one hour awake and went straight to bed.  On Monday morning I couldn’t get myself out of the bed.

I’ve called the “huisarts” (general doctor) to make an appointment and the assistant told me that the first appointment available was for next Friday.  I told her that I needed medicine soon as I couldn’t be in bed waiting for one week as I had important things to do at my job.  She told me: “Have a Paracetamol in the morning and another one in the afternoon”.   That was it...I didn’t know what to do”.

I asked: “Did you wait till Friday? “.  Sarah responded: “Hell NO!  I was working on a special project at work so I couldn’t really wait that long”.  I replied:  “What did you do then?”.  She gave me this mischievous look and answered: “I went to the doctor on Tuesday morning on the inloop spreekuur (walk-in hour)”.

After a sip of her coffee, she continues her story:  “Probably that is wrong but I couldn’t wait for a week!  So I get there, told the doctor my symptoms and told him I didn’t want any Paracetamol.  I knew why the way I was feeling that it was much more than taking a stupid little pill.  He sent me a handful tests from a scan to a gynecology test, blood test, urine test, etc.  Of course, in between test to test past a period of three weeks.  You make a test appointment and it always take 2 to 3 days to take it and other 5 to get the results.  In the meantime I got some strength back and even if I was still feeling weak I went to work.  There were days that I was so sick that I have to tell my supervisor if I could go home earlier.  My supervisor was very nice and understood that I was not 100% healthy.

One day all the tests results where back and they couldn’t find anything.  Then the doctor told me: “For sure you have an Irritated Bowel Syndrome (IBS)”.  He gave me a powder called Movicolon and sent me home with a page written in Dutch over what IBS was all about.   As I never doubted my doctor’s diagnose, I just simply started to gather information about that sickness.  I got some books, articles, stories, etc.  Some of the symptoms were comparable to mine:  bloating, sometimes diarrhea, flatulence. I couldn’t eat everything.  But there were other symptoms which I couldn’t really read anywhere and that was the constant feeling of being exhausted, sometimes I had blood on my stool or urine, irritability, stomach pain that came and left.

The Movicolon powder instead of helping made me have much more diarrhea. I stopped with it.  Went back to the doctor and told him that I was not that sure that I had IBS.  Told him everything what I’ve read about it and what I was feeling.  Asked him some questions.  He just looked at me with that face like: “I don’t know what to do with this woman?” and told me that he was going to give me a medicine called Duspatal which was going to help me with the pain.  It didn’t.

I continued reading about IBS and read one article that said if I wanted to be completely sure about it, I needed to have a Colonoscopy test.  This is the worse test a human being can do!  You lay there while your ass is exposed to strangers (not exactly on a pleasant way) and you get a tube at it all the way in!.  Believe me, I thought very much if wanted to do that test for at least two months!  How could I do that to myself?”

I burst in laughter.  I mean:  Really?  Sarah was going to do that just to prove the doctor that she didn’t have IBS?

“But I did it anyway.  I just wanted to make sure about the doctor’s diagnose. I went to have the Colonoscopy test around December.  It was already six and half months after the diagnose and instead of feeling better I felt worse.  I was not able to eat properly and I couldn’t have a normal life.  Was skipping seeing friends and socialize because I didn’t have the energy to do it.  I just simply couldn’t.  Going to work drained most of my energy and I was even feeling sorry for my boyfriend.  He was very supportive but I couldn’t go everywhere he wanted me to. 

So as I told you at the beginning, a Colonoscopy test is the worst job of the world!  There were four individuals all looking like doctors but they weren’t. One of these individuals was about 20 years old and he made me change my clothes and put an hospital gown.  You know how they are:  with a hole at your back.  They made me get into this white room with a huge machine and one stretcher.  These four individuals looked important with their notes and pens talking softly and looking serious.  They asked me to lay on my left side and, of course, expose my ass.  The 20 years old kid told me that I was going to feel cramps and have the feeling of farting but that was normal.  Okey, normal maybe for him but not for me! Farting in front of strangers...God!

I lay there and noticed a TV screen and realize that they were going to see inside my intestines and have a show about it.  I mean...really?  Do they need to have that big screen?  I just decided to close my eyes and think of something nice:  beach, next vacation, flowers, nice food.

While I try to disconnect myself mentally, a tube was getting into my ass.   Suddenly I start to feel the cramps which were quite painful.  I’ve heard the four individuals changing words about it.  I am not understand and don’t want to understand <flowers, beach, next vacation>.  Then the feeling of farting comes and I am making a superhuman effort not to do so <mountains, summer, nice food>. While I am finally getting into the disconnected mood, the 20 years old kiddo says:  “Please look at the screen”.  And I looked and saw the most horrible thing:  Looked like a big pink warm with some dirt.  Then I realize is inside my intestine.  He talked some none sense words to me about it and then he told me that he needed my permission to get a sample.  I replied: “get whatever you want but don’t make me watch!”.  Closed my eyes again <flowers, beach, MY INTESTINE!, summer, next vacation, THAT WAS INSIDE MY INTESTINE!, nice food, beach, SHIT! WAS THAT SHIT?...>”.

At this point I was even crying of laughter.  How horrible experience!  I couldn’t believe that it was only to prove the doctor wrong.  I ‘ve asked Sarah why she considered a Colonoscopy test the worst job?.  She answered:

“After the tube was finally out of my ass, I had the feeling that I was raped.  I stood up feeling a bit shame.  I asked the 20 years old kiddo how many of those tests they made during the day.  The 20 year old kid replied:  “It depends:  sometimes 10 sometimes up to 20”. Can you imagine seeing inside 10 intestines a day?  Can you imagine this 20 years old kid’s answer to a girl he wants to date, about what kind of job he does?”

The result of Sarah Colonoscopy proved that she didn’t have IBS but the doctor was still on denial about it.  He gave her some other pills.  As Sarah was about to go to a vacation in Bali after the test <beach, summer, vacation> she decided to take the pills afterward.  At the vacation she considered the possibility to go to her country in America to get some good doctor or diagnose there.  When Sarah came back from vacations, she was trying the pill that the doctor gave her but no with no results.  After a week trying the pain that she had on her lower abdomen changed to the right kidney.  In one day time she couldn’t walk from the pain.  That day she was wrongly diagnosed with Kidney Stones.  As next day she had fever and fainted the doctor realize that what she had was Pyelonephritis.

Pyelonephritis is a kidney infection caused by the bacteria E. Coli.  E. Coli had caused all those mix symptoms since June 2009 till January 2010 when it finally exposed itself with the kidney infection.  At that moment the doctor finally realise that Sarah didn't have IBS.  After one month treatment with the strongest antibiotic to combat it, she finally started to feel better. It took her other six months to recover.  Now Sarah lives a normal life like any other person.  No IBS symptoms after this.

*Sarah is a fictitious name.