This is a long one, and I'm so sorry, but thankyou for reading.
6 months ago I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy. The birth itself was fine, painful, but fine 😂
Afterwards however, I retained the after birth. Over 2 hours after having my son and numerous attempts by various midwives to simply pull it out, i was taken to surgery and given a spinal tap for manual removal. 3 people were in the theatre room, and they allowed my son and husband in with me.
So the first registrar begins trying to remove it while another holds me still. It comes away in chunks and not easily. After a while she asks for assistance from another registrar who comes in and tries. Same thing happens. My husband heard them talking about a procedure to remove it but it would leave me unable to have children. The registrar holding me still said it should be a last resort as I was only 26 and this was my first baby.
They then decide they need a full consultant to help, as if the pulled any more I'd either bleed out or they'd pull my whole uterus out with it. Once the consultant becomes available, she tried and cant remove it either, so opted to scan my stomach at the same time as pulling it.
Just as they were about to give up, and send me for an MRI the next day, she managed to rip the last piece out. I was then sewn up and taken to the high dependency unit for a couple of hours. A nurse told me in 30 years, she'd seen that twice and it had always previously been known about.
Fast forward, we have one more night in hospital and are released with iron tablets, injections and antibiotics but no follow up scan. 10 days after having my son, I call the GP as I felt I wasnt healing well and pieces of 'flesh' were coming away. He told me it couldnt be placenta, gave me more antibiotics and sent me on my way.
I had 2 fairly normal periods and then came on 2 weeks early for the 3rd, 9 weeks ago and have not stopped bleeding in that time.
I've seen a total of 4 GPs and mentioned the possible pieces of placenta on 8 occasions, and also told them for some unknown reason I had just stopped producing breastmilk and was unable to feed my son after 12 weeks. I was told it wasnt possible and given hormones. One doc performed an internal examination and failed to notice my cervix was still open.
Fast forward again to seeing my health visitor finally (covid stopped all visits). She was not happy with the GP response and got a scan sorted for me for 4 days later. On having the scan, they found that I had been right all along and there was indeed retained placenta still attached.
After a rigmarol trying to sort the surgery out, I finally had it yesterday. Bear in mind I've been told its retained tissue by every sonographer, hospital doctor and consultant.
When I came round after the surgery, I was told there was no placenta. It was a "calcified polyp". Which I dont believe in the slightest. A polyp would have presented differently on the scan. Less than an hour after waking up, i was sent home with just antibiotics and no follow up required.
But on returning home and going to the toilet, tissue was still coming away.
I called the hospital and she said it could be leftover pregnancy tissue, ie, placenta. Which I was categorically told wasnt there. So I told her and she changed the subject to heavy bleeding which I'm not having atm. She then swiftly put the phone down after not giving me a straight answer at all to anything.
On researching, I can find absolutely nothing on uterine polyps after pregnancy, and find it difficult to believe a polyp has spontaneously appeared, died and calcified in 6 months. That would not explain why my cervix is still open, nor why my production of breastmilk stopped. It would not explain the majority of the symptoms I've had over the past 6 months. And I now dont know where to turn as the GPs haven't listened, and theres no follow up app at the hospital.
What do I do?? I'm struggling to keep up with my son, who is an absolute dream (slept through from 4 months and is super chilled, I'm very lucky in the respect). This is certainly not how my introduction.into motherhood should have been.
Just to add, I gave birth 3 weeks before lockdown, and saw a doctor in that time before any restrictions were put in place, so they cant use that as an excuse.
Thankyou for taking the time to read! I'm sorry it's a long one. Any advice is greatly appreciated