April 7, 2008

My Friend in Time of Crisis

Rate this encounter:[an error occurred while processing this directive] Michelle, Waterbury, Connecticut, August 14, 2000

I was four months pregnant and was at the doctor's office for a routine exam. He found that I had a yeast infection and prescribed a new medicine for me that you only had to take one pill and the infection would clear up in a few days. I'm not one for taking meds to begin with, but something new during a pregnancy didn't sit well with me, so I asked him if it was safe to take and he said that he used it all the time. So like the trusting person that I am, I left his office trusting in what he said, but still didn't feel right about it. It actually took me three days to get the prescription filled. I finally took it around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. A couple of hours had gone by, and I started to feel sick to me stomach and get abdominal pains and eventually some bleeding. It was now around 8-9 PM. I called the doctor and he said that he'd see me in the morning. I hated the idea of waiting, knowing that he just figured that it was a miscarriage and had the attitude of "oh well." I was in a lot of pain and trying to decide what to do. I needed to lay down and ended up falling asleep. I woke up to a hand caressing my cheek in a circular motion and as I awoke, I realized that I was bleeding badly. I thought it was my husband that was touching my cheek, but when I started yelling, he woke up and I knew it wasn't him. I went into the bathroom to see what was happening and found out that I miscarried my child. I went into a total panic, not having ever experienced anything that traumatic before. I was bleeding way too much and didn't think about what was happening to me. Now it was 3AM, my husband was half asleep, and I'm in a total panic. We were upstairs and There was a really loud knocking on my front door that snapped me out of my panic. I looked at my husband and said, "Who is at our door this time of night?" While he went to see, I realized that I was bleeding. I called the doctor and got ready to go to the ER. My husband came upstairs saying there was nobody at the door and he looked so confused. While we were at the ER, the staff said that I came in just in time. I was losing a lot of blood. While I was there, I started to put everything together. It came to me in a flash. My best friend had died a little over a year before this incident, and she used to put my kids to sleep by doing the cheek rubbing in a circular motion. I believe it was her at the door saying, "Wake up and move it or else!" I thank God for the short time that I was able to have with my child and for the wonderful gift of friendship that I am blessed with in Sharon. I've learned that we are always with spirit and I am most thankful for that.