A big one for me was a few days after I was admitted to the hospital with pre-e & preterm labor and I started bleeding in the middle of the night. I had placenta previa as well and I was about 31 weeks pregnant with my twins. I kept thinking I was going to bleed out, the boys were going to be born too soon,the mag was messing with me hard core and made me feel like I was dying anyway, and I couldn't keep it together. It didn't help that H (a physician) was the most terrified that I have ever seen him.
Thinking of that reminds me of how angry I was when the Ils came to visit while I was in the hospital (before the boys were born) and brought preemie outfits as a gift. I wanted to throw them at MIL and tell her she was a complete bitch for bringing them to me when the boys hadn't been born yet and we were doing everything we could to prevent them from being preemies. Also, the boys would wear clothes home form the hospital that I bought, thank you very much. I had H get rid of the clothes the second they left my room.
Right after I had DS1. I had had HELLP syndrome and was basically out of it for a few days. DS was in the NICU and they wouldn't let me see him. I had convinced myself that he had died but they were all too scared to tell me because I was so ill. I ended up throwing an enormous fit so they brought him to me to prove he was alive.
The day that I took my hand off of Logan for a split second on the changing table and he sat up and proceeded to dive head first onto the terrazzo floor.
I thought he had died or was brain damaged. Thankfully the diaper cart slowed his fall and he didn't really fall as much as got lodged between the cart and the table. Holy crap! I almost lost my mind.
Post by bananapancakes on Dec 11, 2013 13:50:00 GMT -5
Definitely when I found out that the ship my H was on had sunk at they weren't sure about the status of those on board. It was many, many hours before I found out that he was alive. Definitely the scariest couple of days of my life. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
Post by cuddlyevil on Dec 11, 2013 13:51:01 GMT -5
Seeing DS #2 in the PICU after his surgery when he was 9 weeks old. The failure to thrive was scary enough, but seeing him intubated--cold and greyish on the bassinet was something I was totally unprepared for. Then when he woke up while intubated and started crying, I will never forget how that sounded.
We seriously thought we were going to lose him, then to see him like that.
When I was in labor and C's heart rate dropped to like 50 and they immediately whisked me away for an emergency c-section. I still remember laying on the gurney while they were taking me to the OR and watching the ceiling lights go by and just repeating "please god let her be ok, please god let her be ok, please god let her be ok".
Post by noodleskooze on Dec 11, 2013 13:53:11 GMT -5
We were on a family trip in Italy for my grandparents' 50th. Our flight was delayed by two days, so we were put up in a cheapy hotel in Rome near the airport. We were eating dinner when my grandpa suddenly just went silent and limp. He was like that for about five loooong minutes before he suddenly came to. We still don't know why, but it was so scary. The whole family, including us kids were there. I can still remember my dad holding onto his dad and just crying "Don't leave us! Please come back!" I'm crying now.
Other than today it was the afternoon that E coughed up blood. I was panicking and I couldn't get anywhere because I didn't have the car and the nearest open UC was almost an hour away. It turned out to just be a sucking blister.
Two years ago my H had surgery to remove a hernia. He was still feeling the effects of the anesthetic and "felt totally fine." He got home and even though I asked him not to, he started emptying the dishwasher, making food, etc. All of a sudden he said "I don't feel so good" and he went into the bedroom. I heard a loud thump and went running. He was laying on the floor, unresponsive. His eyes rolled back and he didn't appear to be breathing. I FLIPPED. I was running around our apartment looking for my phone to call 911. When I finally found my phone, he came to. Afterwards, I realized he had just passed out and it wasn't the end of the world. But in that moment, I was terrified.
Post by ElizabethBennet on Dec 11, 2013 13:54:54 GMT -5
One day when D was about 12 months old we were sitting in the living room and I had given her a slice of american cheese to eat. I had been giving small pieces to her but I guess the one I had given her wasn't small enough and she started choking. She wasn't facing me, she was in my lap with her back to me, and it took me about 30 seconds to realize that she was making this really odd clicking noise and I realized that she was choking. I turned her around and I will never forget the look of panic on her face. I was able to get her to spit the cheese out by smacking her on the back and both of us had a good cry after that.
Or when I got the call about my brother's car accident. I was 13 and he was 11. He had been hit by a car and all I, or my parents knew, was that he was being air lifted to a hospital an hour and a half away. My parents immediately left for the hospital but none of us knew what was going on for a few hours. He had been hit by a car while standing on a street corner waiting to cross and his leg was severed at the scene. It was horrific.
Post by hisno1girl on Dec 11, 2013 13:59:01 GMT -5
I was at home w/my daughter about 10 yrs ago and my cell phone battery was dead. My sister called and was screaming and crying that my mom & dad's house was on fire.
My parents, my younger sister, BIL, and nephew were all home at the time.
DD & I jumped in the car and tore down the roads to the house. We were a mile away and we saw the smoke. My daughter, who was about 13 at the time, started screeching in the car, NO MOMMY NOT MY GRANDMA! NOT MY GRANDPA!
We get there and both ends of the street were blocked off. I practically dove out of my car and we ran to the house. We were hysterical, looking for my family. Finally I saw them and we both ran to all of them and fell to the ground together.
For that time between when my sister called and when I saw that they were all okay, it was the most horrific moment of my life.
I have tears streaming down my face right now, just thinking about it.
Also, when we were walking home for the Boston marathon a couple blocks from the finish line when the bombs went off. We had the boys with us, who were a few days shy of 1.
I wasn't actually scared (didn't realize the noises were bombs) until I got home and turned the TV on and saw how close we were to what happened. I frantically started calling my friends who I knew where in the VIP stands and the friend that had been with us but had stayed to be at the finish line, and everyone that I knew was down there. The phones werent allowing calls. I was a sobbing hysterical mess.
I was driving down the freeway in the middle of the night and I saw the outline of a plastic garbage bag in the lane right ahead of me. I was going to just drive over it so I wouldn't have to swerve but at the last minute I decided to swerve anyway. As I was driving past the "bag," I realized it was actually a man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the freeway.
I still feel sick to my stomach when I think what was avoided by barely seconds. I must have been driving 70 mph. I often wonder whether that guy made it off the freeway alive that night.
Post by fivechickens on Dec 11, 2013 14:08:22 GMT -5
I have three:
When i was having my emergency c-section. Really the moments leading up to that. It was all very overwhelming. My Dr checked me, she sat on my bed with this defeated look, and told me baby c was hanging out of my cervix. Within minutes I had nurses, NICU Drs, respiratory therapists swarming my bed. I had to call my husband, my aunt, and my BFF. the Dr ended up talking to my aunt because I was a mess at that point. Then I got the epidural and all was right for a moment.
We didn't know if any of them were going to make it, especially baby B (Vivian) because she wasn't expected to survive long past birth, so I was scared about that. Luckily they all made it.
And, finally
While in the NICU a month later, late at night the Neo called us at 2am telling us to get to the hospital because she wasn't sure V was going to live through the night.
I was driving down the freeway in the middle of the night and I saw the outline of a plastic garbage bag in the lane right ahead of me. I was going to just drive over it so I wouldn't have to swerve but at the last minute I decided to swerve anyway. As I was driving past the "bag," I realized it was actually a man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the freeway.
I still feel sick to my stomach when I think what was avoided by barely seconds. I must have been driving 70 mph. I often wonder whether that guy made it off the freeway alive that night.
What?! Did you ever hear about what happened to him? Crazy!
My H almost died on our honeymoon. We went swimming in the ocean off the east coast of Oahu. I went in first, and came back out because I can't swim and the current scared me. I went back to our spot and decided to call a friend. My back was to the water. My H had decided to go in. I was leaving my friend a message when I turned around and couldn't see H. I stopped talking for about ten seconds, then began screaming and dropped my phone (which was still recording) when I saw him floating about a half a football field's length away, totally motionless. The current brought him back in and he was alive, and started puking up saltwater everywhere. He'd been fighting the current and finally realized that going still would let the current bring him back in. He hadn't gone out far when the undercurrent grabbed him and dragged him out. The whole beach we were on was surrounded by huge jagged rocks, so I thought he'd have been slammed into those, but he wasn't. Oh, and I never called my friend back after the message I left, I'd completely forgotten by that point that I'd been leaving her a message. She called me the next day totally hysterical thinking I was a widow on my honeymoon. Whoops.
I was driving down the freeway in the middle of the night and I saw the outline of a plastic garbage bag in the lane right ahead of me. I was going to just drive over it so I wouldn't have to swerve but at the last minute I decided to swerve anyway. As I was driving past the "bag," I realized it was actually a man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the freeway.
I still feel sick to my stomach when I think what was avoided by barely seconds. I must have been driving 70 mph. I often wonder whether that guy made it off the freeway alive that night.
What?! Did you ever hear about what happened to him? Crazy!
No, I called 911 right away and they said they had received multiple other calls so I really hope the police got to him in time. But there was a semi-truck in my lane just a few hundred feet behind me and it was really dark so I don't know...
Post by thebreakfastclub on Dec 11, 2013 14:13:33 GMT -5
My father was almost killed in a hunting accident when I was 15. His friend shot at a pheasant that was too low and the BBs hit my dad in the face.
I vividly remember seeing him in the ICU, when it was a very real possibility that it would be the last time.
It might have been worse though to see him in the rehab hospital where he recovered for a year. He was not the greatest dad by any means, but I could at least say that he had some wisdom, knew things that I didn't, or could give some advice. But seeing him learn to walk, write, talk again...it really drove it home that I could never rely on him again, and that my life had pretty much changed forever.
I remember my friend's dad's admin asst was typing up her college applications; meanwhile, I was on the phone with financial aid figuring out the options on my own. Side note, remembering that college applications were completed via typewriter is making me feel old!
Two times 1- When DS split his head open in a hotel room in Dallas. BTW, they have an excellent Children's hospital there. 2- When he fell down our stairs and broke his collar bone.
fivechickens how early did you deliver? Based on your avatar, your girls are doing great now!
They were born at 27 weeks 2 days. A & C were just over 2lbs and V was 1lb 2ozs. They are doing awesome now. C has mild cerebral palsy so she can not walk without assistance yet. V had many health issues but most have resolved with help of Drs and now her only 'issue' is not yet eating on her own. Looking at her you'd never tell how her life began. A is the least affected by her prematurity.
The first time was when I went grocery shopping and when I went to put the cart away, Sofia escaped my hand and booked it into the parking lot. I couldn't move fast enough because I had a newborn Theo I was dealing with as well. She ran right in front of a car. Thank god the driver was paying attention because he slammed the brakes and I could tell he was scared as shit too.
The second time was a few weeks ago. I put theo in his high chair and gave him a mum mum, then Sofia started freaking the fuck out about something, so I left theo for like 10 seconds, tops. I came back and he was slumped in his chair and I thought for sure he was dead or something. He was just chilling, looking down at the cracker he dropped in his lap.
I had to have an emergency Csection. They put the epidural too high and I could feel my lungs freezing. I tried to talk but I couldn't. I couldn't breathe and nobody was paying attention. I gripped the surgeons arm and the anaesthetist said 'she's just having a panic attack'. Thank god the surgeon actually looked me in the eye, and he screamed for someone to intubate me and that was that. The scariest moment of my life was trying to get someone to look at me. They had to sedate me again when I woke up because my lungs were still a bit frozen and I did have a legit panic attack.
Omg, that is HORRIFYING. Thank god the surgeon realized what was going on.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Dec 11, 2013 14:19:00 GMT -5
The day N slipped and fell off the kitchen chair (was climbing into her booster seat) and landed on her head. Like, nothing broke her fall, and her head hitting the floor was the most awful noise I've ever heard. At first she wouldn't stop crying/wasn't settling for her normal "help you feel better" treats, then she wouldn't respond to me. Couldn't tell me her name, couldn't tell me who I was, sort of acted like she wasn't even seeing me, and then started losing consciousness. I have never been more terrified in my life, and I'm not sure how I drove her to the hospital.
When my DD was a baby and taken via ambulance to the ER for a seizure and stopped breathing right there in the hopsital bed. I felt my whole world collapsing around me. There were over 8 doctors surrounding her and I was screaming like a mad woman "WHATS HAPPENING TO MY BAAAAAAAAAABY!!??" and no one could tell me.
I still have nightmares about it. She stopped breathing because the EMTs overdosed her on antiseizure meds. I am still fucking reeling about that.
I am realizing that strangely when my mom was diagnosed with cancer what I felt was different. I was worried and depressed but not "scared". It all happened so gradually I didn't have just one single moment of panic. Rather a long strung out sadness.