On Thursday, February 16, 2006, I’d guess between 7 and 8 am, our baby miscarried. I still haven’t really had a chance to absorb the impact of this fact, because Rona started hemorrhaging. She was losing prodigious amounts of blood, and passed out at least once at home. I made various calls to our midwives, and the three of us got in the car at about 9 to head in to their office so they could do something about the bleeding.
Before they could do anything about the bleeding, she passed out in Dr. Tracy’s arms. 911 was called, wake-up juice was waved (some ammonia-based thing to smell, I think), and oxygen was provided. A horde of incredibly quick-to-arrive firefighters and medics arrived in two different vehicles, and then a low-urgency aid car (a Cabulance or something) came to take her to University of Washington Medical Center.
We spent the day in the E.R., and then Rona was transferred to a room on the sixth floor. During the two days at the hospital, my Sweetie received 5.5 liters of saline to replace the blood she lost. Yes, picture a 2-liter bottle of pop, and then imagine someone pumping almost three of those into your veins. Except with saline and not Mountain Dew. I’m sure it’s not a one-for-one exchange, but she lost a lot of blood.
The night was completely restless for both of us. Whenever we almost drifted off to sleep someone would come in to check Rona’s blood pressure. I was sleeping on a chair in the room that folded almost but not quite flat—just enough unflat to make your kidneys ache if you’re a side-sleeper. Of course, my discomfort was nothing compared to Rona’s, so you should take that as more of an observation than a complaint.
The second day was spent waiting hours for everything, from Advil to food to hematocrit counts to permission to go home. But we finally did make it home after stops at our docs’ office and the drug store. We can’t express enough thanks to Shandra, Robert & Barb, or Susan, Prydwyn, & Aiavel for taking such good care of Zoey while we were in the hospital. You guys are awesome!
Stay tuned, as the first of Rona’s observations is coming up next…
February 20th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
You guys are so brave and competent, and so fortunate to have each other and your support group of family and friends. While grieving with you, I’m also proud of you both, for I know that much of that support in a difficult time comes from how generously you live your lives, both with each other and with those close to you. My love and best wishes to you both, Grandpa Lou