Kelly Antoine

After the birth of my son, I was sent home 3 days after an emergency C-section. After being home for 24 hours I knew something wasn’t right as I had no appetite, my temp was low, my blood pressure was low and I was unable to get comfortable. The doctor said it was normal but my husband knew this was something more. The next day I ended up back in the hospital and CT scan showed I had free fluid in my abdomen. Turns out I was septic but they were unable to determine why, as they believed I had a perforated bowel from the C-section. (Sepsis and Pregnancy & Childbirth)

After 4 exploratory surgeries and a week intubated, it turns out my uterus has opened. During the exploratory surgeries, they found bacteria in my abdomen that’s commonly found in your mouth, which caused the sepsis. After a few weeks I finally got to go home and be with my son. I will never have an answer as to how a bacterial infection ended up in my abdomen and I’ll never have those “firsts” with my son, but I am truly thankful to still be here with him and my family.