Birth story: “We wonder whose blood it is that our baby received”
They didn't want to take any more risks
I had to report myself the next day, Wednesday, November 25, 2015, at 07:00 AM to be induced. At that moment, I wasn't quite sure how to feel. Relief, fear, joy, tension... We had no idea what to expect. In the worst-case scenario, our little girl had to be immediately taken to Leiden and undergo an exchange transfusion. The possibility of the incubator was also not ruled out. It was so uncertain. And suddenly, a delivery was scheduled. One that is planned with some urgency for a reason. That's just a bit different than waiting for a spontaneous delivery.
That evening I had dinner, arranged care for Levi, and packed my things. Then we went to bed and I fell asleep surprisingly quickly. So tired from all the events, information, and tension. After all, it was nice to go into labor as rested as possible. When I woke up in the morning, I was extremely nervous. Eat quickly, drop off Levi, and head to the hospital. With trembling knees, I walked into the delivery room. Not knowing what was going to happen. The balloon was inserted and at 11:00 AM they would come to check again. They advised me to walk around a bit, so I did just that. At 11:00 AM, I was 2 centimeters dilated and there was some irregular activity in my belly. Our little girl was doing just fine. Everything was going according to plan. The next check was supposed to be around 2:00 PM. The wait felt long. My legs were shaking from all the tension. After talking with the nurse, it turned out that I hadn't fully processed the birth of Levi yet. That's why, partly due to the situation we were now in, I was so incredibly scared and tense for this birth. Therefore, at 2:00 PM my waters were broken and meanwhile my legs were bouncing up and down past the midwife. 'Let it go, it doesn't matter,' I was told several times. I fought so hard against the tension and fear! But not long after, there was no escaping it. It really started. It was serious. The contractions followed one another in quick succession and became increasingly intense.
By 5 p.m., I was completely done with it
I couldn't handle all the emotions and the pain anymore. I wanted the epidural NOW! Unfortunately, it wasn't administered until 6 p.m., and afterwards, on the nurse's advice, I decided to take a nap. It was wonderful not to feel those sharp edges, such a pleasure! My boyfriend and mother, who were to be present at the birth, went to eat and play cards on the other side of the room, as it was going to take a while longer. I was only 6 centimeters dilated at that time. After a few minutes, I called out because I felt very light-headed and felt myself fading away. My mother pressed the red button and the nursing staff came immediately. It was hypotension. They administered a drug immediately to get my blood pressure back to normal. After I had recovered a bit, I tried to sleep again. After dozing off, at 7:30 p.m., I had a very strong feeling that I needed to poop. Of course, I knew what this meant. Then panic set in. I didn't want to. I was terrified of everything that awaited me. Once we had informed the nursing staff, the room became busy. Various items were brought in and prepared, and the incubator was wheeled in. By 8 p.m., it was just the gynecologist, the nurse, my boyfriend, and mother. These people brought a blanket of calm with them. I was allowed to start pushing gently, and after 7 minutes, I was able to take our little girl myself and lay her on my belly. There was our beautiful girl Vikki. She cried immediately and was gorgeous! The doctor was calm, and after a brief check, I got her back on my belly. She had a very good Apgar score. Despite everything, this was a very nice and calm birth. I didn't know a birth could be so calm and quiet. The incubator remained standing, empty. Absolutely great! We were allowed to cuddle with her, and her big brother came to meet her. It seemed to be going perfectly.
We already knew beforehand that we had to stay for at least five days, so we were taken to our room in the neonatology department. During the night, when it was time for her feeding, she was very sluggish and had absolutely no energy to drink. Her blood sugar turned out to be too low, so she was given a feeding tube. In the morning, her bilirubin (bili) levels were also tested. Because I have positive C antibodies, I was breaking down her red blood cells. Bilirubin is released during this breakdown. This substance can cause a yellow discoloration of the skin. Very high levels of bilirubin can lead to brain damage. Therefore, it is necessary to break down the substance as quickly as possible through phototherapy (blue light) and an exchange transfusion. Her levels were so high that she needed phototherapy, so the incubator was still useful. It is important to illuminate as much of the skin surface as possible and the phototherapy should be interrupted as little as possible. Therefore, breastfeeding and holding her during phototherapy is not intended. Completely naked with just a diaper on, she was placed in the incubator. She was given glasses to protect against the bright blue light and an IV for extra fluids. Fortunately, her blood sugars remained good. But what a terrible time it was while she was in that incubator! You are so happy as a mother and as a family with your newborn baby. You want to cuddle her, kiss her, and just hold her. At the same time, you also want her to get better and you know that it is better for her to be in the incubator as long as possible. So all we could do was look at her. Our beautiful strong girl, so small in that big transparent box.
Levi came in that morning and turned pale. "What have they done to my little sister?". That immediately set us all off crying again. Meanwhile, her feedings were being increased because she wasn't gaining weight. That tough day in the incubator had at least paid off. On the second day, she was allowed out of the incubator, into the bilibed. This is a bed with a lamp built into the bottom. There was a sleeping bag attached to the bed where she was laid on her back so that the lamp could shine on her backside. But at least she was in a normal bed instead of that large incubator. Every now and then she started to finish her bottle by herself, but often still through the feeding tube. Fortunately, the fluids were no longer needed, but the IV had to stay in just to be sure. Whenever the doctor entered, Levi would stand guard in front of Vikki's bed. The incubator had made such an impression on him that despite our explanations, he kept saying: "stay away from my little sister!"
A day later, due to the transition from the incubator to the bili bed, the bilirubin levels had risen again, but were still below the threshold. It was therefore still important not to take her out of the bili bed too often, only for feeding if she had enough energy to drink on her own. We were also allowed to give her a nice bath. Since I had barely held her until then, giving her a bath was a celebration. It's truly heart-wrenching to only be able to stroke your child's little head, hold her hand, or give her a small kiss.
The days passed and the bilirubin levels thankfully continued to decrease
The IV could be removed but she still had to spend another day on the bili-bed. Her bilirubin levels were checked several times a day. Her little ankles and hands were by now blue from all the pricks and the IV. Fortunately, her drinking was improving on her own. The last bits usually still had to go through the feeding tube. Finally, the time to go home was in sight! I had suffered little to no physical consequences from the delivery. After two nights, Stefan also went back home to sleep with Levi. Of course, I stayed with our girl, but after five days in the hospital, you're completely fed up. We were so longing to be together in our own home with our own things!
On day 6, the values had dropped nicely. Finally, she was allowed to get off the bilibed and put on her beautiful clothes. We noticed that she drank her bottle best when with me, so I gave all the bottles myself. Wonderful! Finally, we could cuddle with her for 'unlimited' time. Not having to think about what is medically better for a moment. Being close to us, that's good for our baby. I think we held and cuddled her all day long. The next day she continued to drink well and after one week and one day in the hospital, she was allowed to go home if she finished the 1:00 PM bottle. I must honestly admit that we cheated a bit with the milliliters, because we really wanted to go home, complete!
We immediately got an appointment to have her bilirubin levels checked again at the hospital six days later. It's not uncommon for the values to take a nosedive afterwards. The first few days at home went really well. She drank and grew well. The day before the appointment, she drank poorly, fell asleep halfway through the bottle, and then couldn't be woken up for the next few hours. Normally, this might not be alarming, but in this case, it was. In terms of weight, she was still close to the lower limit. I already had a gut feeling. The next day at the hospital, in the same room we had left just under a week before, she was pricked again in her blue little ankles. A little later, the nurse came in with the results. We had to wait for the pediatrician for an explanation. After some insistence from me, the nurse told me that the result was above 6, and I knew enough. After all the pricks and information I had gathered by then, I knew that an exchange transfusion was coming. The pediatrician came in and dropped the bomb. "When will this be over!?", I thought. Blood was arranged immediately and the transfusion took place the next day.
In the pediatric treatment room, for an hour, with five different nurses and doctors and who knows how many different needles, they poked our little girl to insert an IV. They kept calling another nurse who could 'better' perform the injection or find the vein more easily. She was so upset by then. The sucrose wasn't really working anymore either. They pulled out all the stops. They tried to inject her while she was lying in bed, in my arms, in her arm, hand, ankle. Anything to get the IV in. How she cried, and so did we! Sometimes I just wanted to walk away because I couldn't bear to watch. How could they cause her so much pain? I knew it was necessary to make her better, but didn't they have another, more humane option? Oh, those hormones were raging through my body... But I had to be there for our girl, because she needed me more than anyone else! Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, they told us they could also insert an IV into her little skull. That was really hard to swallow. She had to get better. We had no choice. After one attempt, the IV was in. It looked terrible! But finally, she was calm, I could comfort her, and we were allowed to go to her room. Everything was connected. Before the blood could start flowing, the IV failed again! Our world crumbled beneath us. Vikki had fallen asleep by then, exhausted from all the fuss with her body. Yet another nurse came who could really inject the best. She reassured us and gave us two options: We could postpone the transfusion for a day because it had been too much for our girl. Or they would try one more time with the smallest needle to insert an IV in her little arm. Despite the fact that I really couldn't take it anymore, I didn't feel like facing another day like this. 'Just do it now,' I said. She inserted the IV very calmly. We put Vikki to bed, she was so tired she barely moved. The blood could start flowing and after a few hours, it was done! Finally, we could go home and never come back!
In the days that followed
you noticed that her skin color changed and she had much more energy. She was awake more often and it was then that we really started to get to know our girl. Finally enjoying time with the four of us! Every four weeks we had to go for a check-up with the pediatrician. All blood results and physical examinations were consistently good. So after three months, she was 'discharged' and no longer needed to go for check-ups. She didn't suffer any consequences, no reduced immunity, nothing at all. Her body recovered with just a little help. She's a healthy girl with a lot of spunk. We still sometimes wonder whose blood it was that they gave to Vikki?
NICOLE
