Lori H's NDE

I had my c-section at 7pm on the 18th of Aug. 1988 and my daughter was born at 7:22 pm.  I had been back in my room about 4 hours when my uterus stopped contracting and the nurses had to masage it.  Soon after that was the first time my blood pressure dropped.  I knew something was wrong with me and told my parents and my nurse as much.  I got 2 units of blood and stabilized.  But I still knew I was going to die.  This same event happened 3 more times during the night resulting in 3 more transfusions and my parents being called back 2 times.  The last time, at about 4:30 AM, the nurse came in because my B/P monitor alarm was going off, she called my name, I turned my head, vomited, and told her I was dying...at that point I had no B/P.  I remember thinking that I couldn't even remember what my daughter looked like.  My MD Met me as the nurses were trying to get another IV line in to get me ready to go back to the OR.  He placed his hand on my belly and it looked like he had laid it down on a wooden surface, that is how full of blood it was.  I was in and out of it on the way to the OR, and I couldn't see my mom and dad because I was in too bad of shape to wait.  The blood bank was out of my blood type so they were flying some in from Asheville on the medical air ambulance. I don't remember getting to the OR, but I do remember sitting on the OR lights watching nurses and MD's working on my hands, arms, feet, and legs trying to get IV lines in to give me blood and fluids to try to get my B/P back up.  It didn't hurt, I felt very calm and peaceful.  I wasn't scared.  I could see my incision line, I could see everything they were doing.  I remember thinking that I needed to see Erica, my daughter, because I didn't want to die without seeing her first.

But I could not go to the nursery, I tried very hard to, I moved around in the OR, but couldn't go out the door.  I was getting pretty mad by that time and that was when I heard someone say that my blood was there.  I remember a flash of bright light and a lot of pain.  I woke up in recovery.  I never told my MD about it because I thought he would think I had lost it completely.  I thought I had lost it completely.  I know that shock can make your perception a little off, but I should not have been able to remember all the details of who had which arm and leg trying to start IV's and I can.  I don't know if this will be of any help to you.  But I thought it was about time I shared it with someone.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?          Yes    The fact that I personally don't believe in the " afterlife" theory.  I believe that when your heart stops beating then life is over and that is all there is to it.  Or so I thought.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Yes    I was in hypovolemic shock with heart arrhythmias and no blood pressure despite multiple blood transfusions during the night before having to go back to the OR early the next morning to try to save my life.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?  If I had to guess I would say it was when I was the closest to death because the monitors were not showing any B/P , I kept looking and thinking, "that can't be good".

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?          More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain:        I thinking faster, but more clear and concise.  It was like I could see what was going to happen before it happened

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?          Yes    Lights and colors seemed brighter

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?          No     

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?          Yes

What emotions did you feel during the experience?          Calm, serene, relaxed, pain free, became agitated at the end

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?        No     

Did you see a light?         Uncertain     The room seemed very bright

Did you meet or see any other beings?         No     

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?   Uncertain    

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?         Yes    I got a feeling that my daughter was going to be very possessive and clingy.