Embrace the Day
Donation protected
Elizabeth Day needs our help. I am her Mom, and this is Elizabeth's story from her Facebook page:
"A quick (...okay not quick but important!) personal anecdote because I know a lot of people are like me and google rather than/before seeking professional help to determine if their symptoms are severe.......
My pregnancy and birth with Lily were SUPER rough. Throughout the last trimester, I just didn’t really feel like “myself” at all. Then after her birth (c-section), I felt AWFUL. 1 week postpartum, I had a follow-up with my midwives and reported pain, extremely low energy, and feeling out of breath (as in - I went up the stairs and had to sit down to catch my breath). They said my incision looked great and to call if any of that got worse. At 2 weeks PP, I was still feeling the same, and at times worse so I called and went in again. They decided to do an ultrasound and said they didn’t see any cause and that things probably just needed to run their course. That didn’t seem right to me, but I hate “causing problems”, and they’re the experts right?
Last Thursday night (8/27), I was walking upstairs with Lily and felt so out of breath that it felt like stabbing pain in my chest to take a breath. I walked to our bedroom and put her down and then laid down myself to try to catch my breath. I remember almost blacking out and having so much pain that I considered having David call Bryan (he was out), or maybe even trying to call 911 for a few minutes. I decided to just lie there and try to take deep breaths and see if it got better, and after a few more minutes it did, slightly. Both Bryan and my mom basically forced me to call my doctor the next morning.
I chose to call my personal doctor, since I felt like maybe they might have different advice than my midwives, but they asked me to go ahead and call my midwife group. I told them that I’d been in a couple of times and hadn’t really felt “heard” and that I didn’t want to keep bothering them - they said they were also going to be calling to make sure someone there knew I needed to be seen and to get this elevated quickly. My midwives advised me to go into the ER. I was not able to bring Lily, and Bryan couldn’t come with me either - I almost didn’t go, but Bryan pretty much forced me since at this point I could not walk or complete sentences without getting short of breath.
Without going into detail about all of the tests they ran at the ER....it turns out I had blood clots in my lungs likely caused by pregnancy + the c section. I didn’t have any major risk factors, which is why I wasn’t treated for or really even advised that this could happen - this wasn’t even something that was on my radar really. I initially thought that maybe my iron was low (it had been after my c-section, so I’d been taking iron pills). This was a major shock!
The pain I experienced at some points after being admitted was -excruciating-. Like...to the point I couldn’t breathe at all. Bryan and I legitimately thought I was going to die (this is really not an exaggeration). Now at this point, though, I feel 100x better than I did even before Lily was born.
I ended up having to spend 3 nights in the hospital away from my family (although *thankfully* at some point they did transfer me to L&D and my MIL came down to stay with the boys so Bryan was able to bring Lily up to me some)
I guess my point in all of this is.....advocate for yourself. Like....advocate for yourself HARD. If you don’t feel like something is right, keep asking questions and keep going back until you feel heard."
As I create this GoFundMe for Elizabeth, she is back at the ER with new symptoms. The hospital bills and on-going treatments will take a toll. Just like for many others, 2020 has been nasty to this sweet family. The only thing we know for sure is that the coming days for Elizabeth, Bryan, David, Adam and Lily will be a little smoother if we can help them through this difficult time.
"A quick (...okay not quick but important!) personal anecdote because I know a lot of people are like me and google rather than/before seeking professional help to determine if their symptoms are severe.......
My pregnancy and birth with Lily were SUPER rough. Throughout the last trimester, I just didn’t really feel like “myself” at all. Then after her birth (c-section), I felt AWFUL. 1 week postpartum, I had a follow-up with my midwives and reported pain, extremely low energy, and feeling out of breath (as in - I went up the stairs and had to sit down to catch my breath). They said my incision looked great and to call if any of that got worse. At 2 weeks PP, I was still feeling the same, and at times worse so I called and went in again. They decided to do an ultrasound and said they didn’t see any cause and that things probably just needed to run their course. That didn’t seem right to me, but I hate “causing problems”, and they’re the experts right?
Last Thursday night (8/27), I was walking upstairs with Lily and felt so out of breath that it felt like stabbing pain in my chest to take a breath. I walked to our bedroom and put her down and then laid down myself to try to catch my breath. I remember almost blacking out and having so much pain that I considered having David call Bryan (he was out), or maybe even trying to call 911 for a few minutes. I decided to just lie there and try to take deep breaths and see if it got better, and after a few more minutes it did, slightly. Both Bryan and my mom basically forced me to call my doctor the next morning.
I chose to call my personal doctor, since I felt like maybe they might have different advice than my midwives, but they asked me to go ahead and call my midwife group. I told them that I’d been in a couple of times and hadn’t really felt “heard” and that I didn’t want to keep bothering them - they said they were also going to be calling to make sure someone there knew I needed to be seen and to get this elevated quickly. My midwives advised me to go into the ER. I was not able to bring Lily, and Bryan couldn’t come with me either - I almost didn’t go, but Bryan pretty much forced me since at this point I could not walk or complete sentences without getting short of breath.
Without going into detail about all of the tests they ran at the ER....it turns out I had blood clots in my lungs likely caused by pregnancy + the c section. I didn’t have any major risk factors, which is why I wasn’t treated for or really even advised that this could happen - this wasn’t even something that was on my radar really. I initially thought that maybe my iron was low (it had been after my c-section, so I’d been taking iron pills). This was a major shock!
The pain I experienced at some points after being admitted was -excruciating-. Like...to the point I couldn’t breathe at all. Bryan and I legitimately thought I was going to die (this is really not an exaggeration). Now at this point, though, I feel 100x better than I did even before Lily was born.
I ended up having to spend 3 nights in the hospital away from my family (although *thankfully* at some point they did transfer me to L&D and my MIL came down to stay with the boys so Bryan was able to bring Lily up to me some)
I guess my point in all of this is.....advocate for yourself. Like....advocate for yourself HARD. If you don’t feel like something is right, keep asking questions and keep going back until you feel heard."
As I create this GoFundMe for Elizabeth, she is back at the ER with new symptoms. The hospital bills and on-going treatments will take a toll. Just like for many others, 2020 has been nasty to this sweet family. The only thing we know for sure is that the coming days for Elizabeth, Bryan, David, Adam and Lily will be a little smoother if we can help them through this difficult time.
Organizer and beneficiary
Beth Braunstein
Organizer
Noblesville, IN
Elizabeth Day
Beneficiary