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I want to offer a special thanks to
Kathy Miranda for sharing her experience with us. Here is her story:
Hi Barbara,
Reading Karen's story in the September 1st newsletter,
http://www.barbarathompsonnewsletter.com/sep_1_2011.htm,
I was reminded of my hospital experience when giving birth
to our daughter 19 years ago.
The hospital scale didn't go up high
enough in numbers. An attendant got a wheelchair, but I
couldn't fit into it and the attendant had to get the
largest one in the hospital. I could hear the attendant
complaining about having to get a larger one for me.
I wasn't sure where he was taking me,
but soon found we were heading to the laundry room located
in the basement of the hospital. I had to be weighed on
the laundry scale where my weight was projected on a large
digital screen for all the laundry workers to see. It
read 335
lbs. There was laughter. I was mortified. They were saying
things in Spanish, and having taken a few years of the
language in high school, I heard one man say
"Gordo," meaning "Fatso." I bit my lip to keep from
crying.
I had a difficult labor due to my
weight, at least that's what the nursing staff kept saying.
After a whole day of pushing, it was decided that a
c-section was needed. When our daughter was delivered, it
was discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped around
her neck twice. Chances are that she wouldn't ever have been
delivered vaginally, but no one apologized for the rude
comments made earlier in the day. One nurse patted me on the
leg and said, "Honey, the next time you have a baby, try to
lose some weight first." And then she walked away. The whole
experience affected me so greatly and the hurt was so deep
that I decided I never wanted to be pregnant again,
therefore we have one beautiful daughter.
Everything happens for a reason, and I
know that my weight was to blame for the difficulty I
experienced in that pregnancy and delivery. I'm not blaming
anyone else for that, but the comments I heard were uncalled
for, and I'll never forget those hurtful comments.
I've never written out my experience like this, and
doing so has created a lump in my throat, and tears to my
eyes. I've forgiven those people for their ignorance, but
I'll never forget.
Thank you for the opportunity to let
this out...finally. I truly enjoy your newsletters.
Sincerely,
Kathy Miranda
kmiranda2000@yahoo.com
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