Trip to the ER, Part 2

As time passed, I became increasingly worried about Paul and Ian. I expected Paul would be back by the time I got out of surgery. He had been gone 2 hours by the time I was wheeled to my room, and we only live 15 minutes away from the hospital. By the time 3 hours had passed, I was in tears. Several times the nurse had tried calling his cell phone (and mine since he had both of ours), but he didn't answer the phone or return my calls (I left one voicemail around 1:30 on his phone). My pain level was also increasing because it had now been 8 hours since I had nursed Ian (or pumped). They were going to bring me ice but then found a hand pump for me to use. After I pumped (and dumped), I asked the nurse to call the ER to see if my husband had gone there due to being in a car accident. Since he had been gone almost 4 hours (when I expected the trip to take 1 hour) and wasn't answering the phones, I assumed he must have been in a car accident. I cried quite a bit during these two hours. I've never woken up from surgery and not had a family member present. I was very relieved when he walked into the room with Ian at 2:30am. I held Ian until 4am and then nursed him for the first time in 10 hours. When I pumped quite a bit spilled onto my gown. This proved to be a blessing in disguise as the nurse then gave me a nursing gown. I never used one of those before; they are very nice. It made me wonder why the other (bigger) hospital didn't have any.

I spent 16 hours with Ian in that private room in the L&D ward. Ian never came to my hospital room in December. Nadia spent about 5 minutes in my room during our stay in 2008. This was my first time to have a bassinet in my hospital room, not that Ian slept in it. We tried, but as usual he would only sleep in someone's arms. He slept in Paul's arms, my arms, and my mom's arms as my parents arrived at the hospital at about 9:30am. My dad just stayed a few minutes, and then he took Paul home. Paul's parents had picked Nadia up from the neighbor's house around 10pm the night before and stayed with her at our house. They returned to their home after my dad and Paul took over caring for Nadia. My mom stayed with Ian and I at the hospital and brought us home after I was discharged around 6pm on Tuesday night.

The first two times I walked to the bathroom in my room I almost passed out. The second time they used smelling salts on me. Not Fun! I had no idea how awful those smell and how badly they burn your nose!! The doctor thought I'd feel stronger after the blood transfusion; I think the reason I kept coming close to fainting and throwing up was my reaction to the anesthesia. For the next several hours I used a bedpan instead of attempting to go to the bathroom. After I ate breakfast, I was able to make it to the bathroom with the assistance of a nurse without feeling lightheaded. By lunch time I could go there by myself. The doctor said once I could do that I could be discharged; however at that point I hadn't received everything I was supposed to by iv. I had been given a shot in the ER to cause the uterus to contract to try to stop the bleeding. Then they had given me a pill every few hours that was for the same purpose, and they were also giving me antibiotics by iv. The doctor also gave me a prescription for 500mg of Keflex 4 times a day that Paul filled at the pharmacy on Tuesday night. I was told not to drive a car for 4-5 days and to gradually ease back into my regular routine.

During the 24 hours I was at the hospital, I only slept 2 hours - most of that was when I was under the anesthesia. First it was hard for me to fall asleep with the lights and sounds and the compression device that they had attached to both of my legs. Secondly, every time I did fall asleep a nurse would come in a few minutes later and wake me up to take my temperature or blood pressure or give me a pill. Also, I was trying to nurse Ian every 2 hours. I left the hospital feeling a million times better than I did when I went in. The bleeding had gone back to a very small amount, and the contractions had completely stopped. They said my body was trying very hard to expel the placenta. I was right when I said I felt like I was in labor again. I jokingly asked for an epidural when they were asking me how bad the pain was in the ER. I was very tired though. Two hours of sleep in a 24 hour period is NOT enough! Thankfully, my mom was very gracious and she stayed up most of the night holding Ian in between feedings so that I got 7 hours of sleep over the course of the night. I think that's the most sleep I've gotten in almost 6 weeks! Yesterday I didn't fare as well in terms of sleep. I got a 2 hour nap while Nadia was napping (my mom gave Ian a bottle so that I could nap), but I only got 2 hours of sleep last night without Ian (10pm-midnight he was in Paul's arms). Ian was wide awake from midnight to 3am, and then he slept with me in bed from 3-5am, and I did get some sleep during that time although I don't sleep well when he's in my arms. I did take a one hour nap this morning. We definitely need to find something (Moses basket, nap nanny, or ???) that will enable Ian to sleep somewhere besides someone's arms. As Paul says it is "unsustainable" for us to keep getting so little sleep at night.

My mom suggested that we ask to see a lactation specialist, and sure enough this hospital also had one. She came down and met with me twice yesterday afternoon. The second time she gave me a supplemental nursing system - a tubing system that can deliver formula or EBM while he is nursing. I plan to use that when I am ready to try to wean him off the shield. She said that we shouldn't go cold turkey with the shield until he is gaining 1 ounce a day on a regular basis. She also advised me not to allow him to nurse more than 40 minutes at a time. She said he should be gaining about 1 ounce a day, and she said I should see a big improvement in my milk supply because with part of the placenta still present, my body still thought I was pregnant and wouldn't produce prolactin.

Thankfully from Sunday morning to Wednesday morning he gained 2 ounces. I haven't weighed him yet today, but yesterday he weighed 6lb 3oz. PTL!!! On Monday morning the doctor's office had again called to schedule an appointment for Ian. The receptionist didn't specify how soon I needed to bring him in; so I suggested February 1st as I'll already be there for my postpartum appointment. It was a great relief to me to know the next weight check wouldn't take place for two weeks. That gives me more time to fatten him up! That's also only 11 days before he turns 2 months old; maybe we can make that his 2 month appointment and cancel the one scheduled for later in February. We shall see.

I am also hoping that maybe this is the reason I was still having heartburn. Time will tell. I had complained many times to Paul that my belly was very sore. After having Nadia I only had pain with the incision. This time I had pain there as well as up near my belly button. That pain has totally gone away. It seems that was from the placenta. The nurse whom I spoke with on Monday afternoon called me back on Wednesday morning to see if I wanted to come in for an appointment with Dr. Swanson. I told her what had happened since I had talked to her last. Ironically, Dr. Swanson was the OB who did my c-section; December 12th was the first time I had met him. I obviously never want to be treated by him again since he botched my c-section. The residents might have done the work, but he was ultimately responsible (and he was present).

My parents had planned to return on Wednesday, but due to my hospitalization, they are returning home today instead. It has been very helpful to have them here. My dad drove me to the grocery store and library yesterday, Ian has spent many, many hours in my mom's arms, my dad has spent many hours playing with Nadia, etc. My dad also did a few small projects around the house for me which has shortened Paul's to do list, and my mom did several loads of laundry. Ian has now met all of his grandparents. :-) I added 3 pictures to yesterday's post. The first one shows Nadia feeding herself macaroni and cheese with a fork. Way to go, Nadia! She was using a fork that my friend, Jeanie gave us. Thanks, Jeanie! :-)