My actual review of the hospital that I had my Cesarean section surgery done at.
"The most thoroughly pleased with any single experience that I have ever been. Upon return from my experience from SGMC I realized that many amazing experiences go unmentioned. I have to say thank you to SGMC and my OB and midwife for saving me and my baby's life this week.
When I arrived in OBED, Victoria helped me by checking my vitals and had Shannon to come and check my dilation which was at 2cm. Somehow during the day, my contractions had stopped and my blood pressure had began to rise steadily. I knew I needed intervention, but had no idea.
Midwife Sharon came to see me after Victoria so graciously called her in in preference over the doctor on call, since she had been expecting me that day for an induction. Since the first IV attempt was faulty after the second tube of blood, Victoria was kind enough to get me to Labor and Delivery to where someone who was able to find a vein could be found. Once in Labor and Delivery, Ashlyn introduced me to Devoney who was incredible with inserting an IV in a part of my left arm that was the only available vein. This IV lasted me the duration of my 3 day stay without ever causing me any significant pain.
My midwife Sharon had called for a 30 minute ultrasound, done by Scott, during which the most precarious thing happened. My baby turned breech in my womb. The technician Scott did not tell me but my husband let me know while the probe was on the top part of my belly that the baby had moved head up. Sharon came in and shed tears with me, because she knew that it meant I would have to have a C-section surgery done. This then put me also in tears but the anesthesiologist Tommy explained the risks and advocated for the spinal anesthesia, as did Dr. Sharon, who was my OB and would be the one performing my surgery. Tommy prayed with me that my baby would turn, and my nurse, Aalysse (forgive my spelling if wrong), helped me survive and also helped me pray and have faith. The nurse Ashley who had been my nurse during multiple other deliveries came in to support me, and a bright spirited nurse named Paige came to help me stay positive during my operation as well. I chose the spinal. Aalysse held both of my hands and even let me cry on her neck while I messed several attempts at the spinal needle insertion. She was my strength as I was super nervous to the point of shaking but I knew that my daughter had to come out of me one way or another, and this was the safest way for her with my age and being 41 weeks along.
Aalysee and Tommy got me calm and coached me into the final completion of the spinal numbing, and the procedure was done safely within what felt like only a few minutes of my life. A before and after pic of my bikini line showed that I was sewn up beautifully. The hospital honored my request for delayed cord clamping and not to stick any fingers in the baby's mouth. Aalysee observed me for another hour tentatively ensuring she gently pushed out as many blood clots as she could from my post surgery uterus. Super thank you to Aalysse and Tommy. I want to say a special thank you to Tamara and Delaney in the Nursery who were the first two people to care for my baby and ensured she got much needed oxygen and brought her to me whenever I was cognizant enough to see her.
Ashlynn was my first postpartum nurse along with Brandi. Post partum recovery was of course awful but my health was taken care of and I had incredible support from Jordan, the charge nurse Hillary and the service lady Stephanie who placed a sheet over the window to enable me to sleep during the day. Thank you to Ashlyn who advocated for me to get off of the Pitocin once the first cleaning was done and it was understood that my bleeding level was normal for a first time cleaning done 4 hours after my arrival from Labor and Delivery. Pitocin was gruesome even with the morphine, but I never did end up having to do the second bag of Pitocin. Ashlynn also told me about using the bathroom every 2 hours to 3 to about extra pain.
At a few times the nurses had to help me walk but underestimated the importance of clearing the bladder in order to prevent the burning feeling in the lower pelvis area on the side that was the most pulled during the procedure. One of my nurses, Bella, did insist I take my prescribed labetalol when my bp was reading only100 over 51, which induced a reaction of shortness of breath and faintness and dizziness. The result was I missed my bathroom trip and had to cancel my family visit for the evening only to awake in excruciating pain from the full bladder. Brandi and Shakyra came to rescue me when I was screaming help multiple times and the pain only got worse until I got to the toilet. Since this was my first C-section I can honestly say that if your nurse does not know what to tell you to expect, they can and will seem to think you are faking despite you being in excruciating pain. Be strong for yourself to say no if a drug seems wrong for you to take, since my second night nurse Bella only could offer me a hug or to hold my hand once the side effects started kicking in. She was still great though overall and also brought me tons of ice and water and ice packs and showed me lots of love.
Brittany brightened my morning once the dark night had passed, and I had began to get some bearings about my new body condition. I related with her about the situation and did not take anymore labetalol for the rest of my stay. My doctor Dr. Sharon pulled the labetalol for the rest of the stay but allowed me one more day to get my strength before leaving. I did have one nurse pull my blood who missed a vein just to show me that she didn't see anything there. I was disappointed in that. I won't share her name.
My food was delicious to include a barbecue salmon with cream corn and spinach that was incredibly flavored and well done. I was able to easily have a Walmart order delivered to me for drinks and waters. The final evening, my family finally came and sat with me from about midnight to 4am on a Saturday, and we were given such warm hospitality. When my pain level went up the nurses brought me medicine as quickly as they could and I was placed right beside the nurses station so that I could be able to have more support with my surgery and my baby when needed.
When we were checking out, the charge nurse Hillary made sure the carseat was adjusted safely for me while I laid recovering from Percocet that had made me very dizzy and tired. I was given a wrap for my belly and a manual breast pump as well as extra formula and breast pads on request. The nurses got to know my baby and loved on her as if she was theirs. They kept her healthy and despite the blood type her bilirubin levels never went high enough to need a phototherapy. Dr. Anderson came in and was very friendly but the mouth inspection did distort my baby's latch and make her exceptionally and noticeably cranky the rest of the last day when she had been latching well and enjoying her pacifier prior to that inspection. I think docctors should leave out the mouth inspection for babies because their entire demeanor depends on the preservation of their bite and some babies have teeny mouths. I wasn't able to stop him from doing the check fast enough to save her. But he did confirm to me that her breech condition was indeed short term and that her hips were well. I appreciate that he supports but families and also said the C-section was the best choice for the wide shoulders of my baby.
Overall, I am home and alive after 41 weeks of the longest pregnancy of my life. Thank you SGMC for making my life better and for all of the incredible things you all do for moms every day. Thank you also for the family sized Stouffer's lasagna and 4 Otis Spunkenmeyer cookies and the beautiful pink cooler bag we were sent home with along with the card, the footprints, and the silver spoon. But especially for Jordan who sent me home with a hug and a God bless you to which I responded, I will have to do a review to say thank you. This is my thank you. Thanks everyone who helped me and my family this week, you are forever loved. I'm sure the new SGMC women's tower next year will be a haven with all of you there."
