McKennah C.

On January 1 of 2023 I went into the hospital to deliver my baby. The next day I had my healthy baby boy and a pretty easy birth. Nearly 12 hours later after feeling fine and normal healing after birth I started getting the shivers which I thought was pretty normal since I just gave birth and thought that it was supposed to be a dreadful healing process. (Sepsis and Pregnancy & Childbirth) I remember bringing it up to my nurse but it was shaken off for a couple hours.

Later that night the nurse came in to see how I was doing and my boyfriend had came back from an errand he had to run. That’s when my temperature had reached 102 degrees F. The nurse did not say much but gave me Tylenol to bring down the fever. This is where it starts to get blurry, I can’t remember every detail but I do recall my nurse saying I could have sepsis. I had never heard of sepsis in my life but I felt too tired and too out of it to ask any questions. After some blood tests I was admitted to another room in the labor and delivery department to be taken care of. I indeed did have sepsis and I thank GOD I was in the hospital for the quick care.

I had to lay in bed for days, I did not have the energy to walk and tried to drink less so I did not have to get up and use the restroom. The doctor had came in a couple days later and had told me the infection was in my uterus and if they could not clear it up they might have to give me a hysterectomy. I am only 22 years old with my first child. I was not ready for this news at all and it freaked me out. This is when I knew it was serious. I asked my nurse that night if sepsis could kill me, she said yes. After that I started researching and I was so scared that I was going die. I was not ready to leave my new family behind, what would my baby do without me? What would I do without him?

After some antibiotic treatment they took another blood test and the infection in my blood was gone. I was prescribed some antibiotics to go home and a few weeks later I got the chills and a fever again and rushed back to the hospital, this time- C. Diff (Thanks antibiotics). Anyways, I am home now and healthy, enjoying watching my baby grow. Even after going home I was afraid of getting sick again. The thought of being in a hospital bed again scared me or even catching a cold and getting the blood infection back. It took awhile to get back to normal and to this day I still am a little nervous about getting a fever.