Debbie: "Things went wrong, I went into anaphylactic shock just before the cesarean section"

At the very first ultrasound, it turned out that I was pregnant with twins

That meant all the follow-up appointments at the hospital. As soon as I knew that, I also knew immediately that I wanted to be with a specific gynecologist at our hospital. This very man had already been at my bedside several times: during the emergency cesarean section of our son Roël, a curettage, and an ectopic pregnancy.

At 18 weeks, the delivery was discussed

It was going to be a planned cesarean section due to the previous emergency cesarean, and in addition, it turned out that the placenta was slightly in front of the exit. Then the question was asked if I had a preference for a date around the 36 weeks of pregnancy. “No, not at all,” was my answer, “as long as you perform it”. That's how we ended up on the date of July 18, 2017. Our gynecologist would be on duty and had no planned vacation. Somehow, the date gave me peace of mind. We only told the date to my parents, so they could pick up Roël from school and bring him to us when the girls were born.

Beforehand, I had read up on a cesarean section

With our son, it was an emergency cesarean section, so I was totally unprepared. We were given a tour of the department and it turned out they could perform a mother- and baby-friendly cesarean section, where you can watch the procedure yourself and the babies are placed directly on your chest. There were even special twin surgery jackets so that both could lie with me.

On July 18, 2017, we were asked to report to the department at 10:00 AM

The beds for the girls were already prepared and I unpacked our things. I laid out the carefully chosen clothes so they could wear them after birth. Two nurses came in to set up the IV. They couldn't manage it. After several unsuccessful attempts at inserting the needle, they received a call that we could come over. They were ahead of schedule in the OR. That's when my nerves kicked in. In my special surgery jacket, so both girls could lie with me, I lay there nervously in bed. Rolf was taken to change, and I started to laugh a bit nervously. I was brought into the OR and saw a whole team ready and our own gynecologist. Rolf was by my side again. The gynecologist explained the cesarean section and explained that because of the twins, everything was doubled, including the staff. Meanwhile, I really got my IV and was prepared on the operating table for the spinal block.

I started to feel a bit nauseous

I had read that you should let someone know when you're not feeling well, so I did. The gynecologist suggested it was probably nerves. At that moment, my legs suddenly started to tingle. I reported that. Then my arms, back, actually my whole body followed. The gynecologist looked at me and asked, 'Have you been sitting in the sun?!' I looked down at my legs, which had turned red. 'How strange,' I thought. I wanted to reply that I hadn't been in the sun and certainly didn't have such a red color this morning, but I couldn't speak anymore. After that, things moved quickly. I heard them say that my husband had to say goodbye to me. I was immediately put under general anesthesia and they were able to intubate me just in time. It turned out I had gone into anaphylactic shock as a result of the antibiotics administered.

The girls were born lifeless and had to be resuscitated

Fortunately, they came to quickly! In the meantime, I was stitched up and then taken to the ICU. I stayed there for 24 hours. I remember very little from this period. There was a very kind nurse who made sure that Aliza and Yael were brought to me that night. She took photos (which I still find too intense to look at). When I see the picture, I get such a shock. All these tubes attached to me. My body, hands, and face are all swollen and bright red.

Just over 28 hours after giving birth, I consciously saw and held my twins

What a beautiful moment! Due to this birth, the girls had a rough start. They couldn't drink very well and looked very yellow. Because there was so much chaos during the delivery, the girls were not measured correctly. This may have caused them to not receive the proper nutrition. Small things that needed time. Every day I was taken to the neonatology department several times, so I could give the girls their bottles and hold them. I slept in the nursing department myself, because I had a lot of nightmares and was in a lot of pain.

After a little over a week, we were all allowed to go home

I have come a long way. Through this experience, I developed PTSD. I was off work for a long time. Through EMDR therapy, I've been able to come to terms with it. The fact that you miss the birth, not seeing the babies first with your husband, I still find difficult sometimes. It's not a situation I can redo tomorrow. Furthermore, we noticed that Aliza and Yael cried a lot and were very bad at handling crowds and other people. That made our world very small. But look at them now at the age of 3. Radiant with health. Fortunately, I am also doing well now. During busy periods, I notice that PTSD never completely goes away, but I notice it quickly enough to be able to hit the brakes. Such a smooth pregnancy with a planned cesarean and then such an outcome. No one could have imagined that...

DEBBIE