MRSA (Golden Staph) Infection

The chiropractor diagnosed our daughter has having back and neck issues, as with our son and after taking her on a regular basis for the first few weeks, she did settle down somewhat and I was able to enjoy her. She was feeding well and I was enjoying breastfeeding her, unlike with my son. She was a very happy little baby and starting smiling at around 6 weeks, she was a real delight. I was up feeding twice during the night, so was quite tired, but overall coping quite well. I had stopped seeing the counsellor, but was still seeing the clinical psych and having hypnotherapy on a somewhat regular basis (ie. fortnightly).

When our daughter was around 7 weeks old, I stepped out of the shower one night and passed a blood clot on the floor (sorry to gross you out....). I thought this a bit odd, but had been feeling fine overall, so I rang the hospital where I gave birth and mentioned what had happened. They suggested I come in, so I packed up the kids and headed to the hospital that day. They booked me in for an internal ultrasound for the next week and took some blood.

At the ultrasound, I had both kids with me, so my son just sat next to me while I had the ultrasound and a nurse had my daughter as she started to squawk a bit in the capsule. It took about 15 minutes and I was told nothing, but to make another appointment with the doctor, which I did. They didnt tell me if they had found anything.

At the appointment with the doctor, I was told really confusing information. They kind of told me that I had an infection and they needed to treat this, but they weren't sure what with, then they said that I had to have a DNC (which is basically my uterus scraped out) as they thought that there might be something leftover from the birth in there, but they weren't really sure of that either, but I needed this to happen ASAP, like the next day. I had to start taking medication that afternoon, but the medication wasn't ready, so I had to go home and then come back to pick this up (yay....just what I need with 2 kids). I made arrangements with my husband so that he could take the following day off as I needed to have this DNC which was just for the day, so he could look after the kids. I was confused about the medication and the effects this may have on my daughter due to breastfeeding, but I has told that it was safe, which is why they were having trouble finding the right one to give me to start with.

So the following day my husband and kids took me into the hospital and dropped me off for the surgery (DNC). When I woke up after the surgery, I was in recovery and I could hear nurses talking and I figured it was about me and I started thinking, what the hell happened, did I have a hysterectomy or something. I was told nothing and wheeled into my room, where I found my husband and kids waiting. When I arrived in the room, I looked at my husband and said - Do you know what happened, did I have a hysterectomy? He said, didnt they tell you and I said, no what the hell happened. He then told me that I had a MRSA infection in my uterus or golden staph infection and it had nearly eaten a hole through my uterus and while they were scrapping out birth remnants, they put a hole in my uterus, so they had to go through my bellybutton to fix the hole. I was shocked, but kind of relieved that it wasnt a hysterectomy, but that did explain why I felt like a train wreck, I couldnt really move, couldnt walk, I was in quite a bit of pain. My husband also mentioned that I was going to be in hospital for about 5 days on intravenous drugs, they just werent quite sure what at this stage.

Our poor daughter was screaming by this stage because she was soooo hungry. My husband had asked the nurses to get her a bottle so she could have something to eat. I couldnt do anything, I had no idea what was happening. Finally a bottle came and my husband fed her. Reality was starting to sink in and I was thinking, how am I going to feed her, I can hardly move, I cant have her in here with me, I was starting to feel quite devastated and started crying. My husband took the kids home and I was left in the hospital not really knowing what was happening. I had several doctors come and see me and try to explain what had happened and more importantly what was going to happen. I broke down on several occasions as the drugs they were giving me were the most potent of antibiotics you can get as MRSA infection is hard to kill. I wanted to breastfeed my daughter, but couldnt. Eventually, I had a doctor from infectious diseases come and see me and explain what MRSA is and about the antibiotics. Basically I was told that they were probably safe for my baby, but if I had a choice, I probably shouldnt feed her. Now, I was devastated.

I rang my mum in tears and asked her to fly over and help my husband out while I was in hospital. This she did and jumped on a plane and came over the next day. My husband had to organise bottles and formula for our daughter and take some time off work to sort things out. I was left in a sterile quarantine room on intravenous anti-biotics. The nurses that came into my room were wearing gowns and masks. I felt very sad and alone. I wanted to keep feeding my daughter after this was all over, so I pumped my milk every 4 hours and threw it out. I now felt like a cow, both boobs hanging out on a pump, yay.....could my life get any better!!! My milk supply slowly reduced over the 5 - 7 days I was in hospital and it was heartbreaking to pump about 100 - 180ml on each side and then throw it down the sink.

I passed my days watching movies and reading books. My family came to see me every day which was great, but exhausting at the same time, I couldnt hold my daughter because of the pain and our son just got bored, so their stay was generally fairly short.

My mum stayed with us for a couple of weeks and was still at home to help out when I came out of hospital after about a week.