My but it has been a long time since I last posted. I haven't avoided posting on purpose, and I certainly have had things to fill everyone in on, but life got in the way. Boy oh boy did life get in the way!
Everyone knows life with a newborn can be rough. One sleepless night follows another. Growth spurts require round the clock feeding cycles. The diapers pile up almost as fast as the dishes and the laundry. And we have certainly faced all of that, but we had an extra wrench thrown into the works. You see on Monday I was given the go ahead to resume life as normal. That meant no more restrictions from the surgeon and I was really looking forward to being able to really pull my own weight (ever diminishing as it was!) By Wednesday our world was back in a crazy whirl.
Wednesday night Hubby offered to take care of the baby and let me get a little rest so that I would be able to take the kiddo to her grandparents the next day. I happily agreed but almost immediately felt this horrible pain in my back. That pain lasted all night long and rapidly grew to the front of my abdomen. It hurt worse that the c-section had and that frightened me, if I am being completely honest. I took some leftover pain pills from the section and still the pain pushed on. By the morning I had to inform Hubby that there was no way I could drive since I hadn't slept due to the pain. I explained it all to him and he seemed pretty sure it was a pulled muscle. It hurt four times worse than any pulled muscle I had ever had before but I trusted he knew best. We did the drop off and the pain still remained. By the time we returned I was fighting very hard to not cry in front of people. At 20 hours the pain was bad enough to make me sick. At that point Hubby had a eureka moment and immediately took me to the emergency room rather certain that the pain was being caused by my gallbladder.
UGH... the next two days were full of aggravation. First the er doc said it was my gallbladder and then changed his mind. Then he had me admitted so I could have an ultrasound but no one knew when that would happen. The doctor that saw me on the floor just totally blew off everything I had to say. She wanted to believe that it was acid reflux, despite the problems my liver was already having. Ummm, honey, I know how acid reflux feels. I would never go the er for acid reflux! When I finally had the ultrasound no one came to give me results for 12 hours! The nurses were rude and, despite my asking both the doctors and the nurses if the meds were safe while breastfeeding, gave me meds that could have caused Will issues!
By the time the second doctor came around and told me it was probably just acid reflux I was ready to just go home and find a doctor who was willing to listen to me! I had to actually ask what the ultrasound showed... she hadn't even looked it over. They treated me like some homeless person who was making things up just to have a bed to sleep in. The whole thing was aggravating! Obviously, when the doctor said she wanted to send me home I didn't argue. No one had listened to me thus far, why stay and be ignored some more?
So home I went. Over the next 5 days I had 8 more pain attacks. At least they were only lasting hours instead of days, but I couldn't get them under control. I tried only eating really healthy food but still the attacks came. I tried only drinking but still the attacks came. I tried drinking only water but still the attacks came. I finally stopped eating or drinking and the attacks still came. Eventually I decided that if the attacks were going to come anyway I should eat whatever was best for Will so I could keep him healthy. Nothing helped honestly. Hubby and I spent hours researching solutions on the Internet and nothing kept the attacks at bay. I was frequently so frustrated that I would just cry and cry.
And then, one week after the first attacks, I went to the internist. She set up appointments for me to have a test on my gallbladder to see if it worked (why they didn't do that in the hospital I will never know!) and to see a surgeon. She also had some blood work done before I left, just to be sure my liver was working fine again.
Three hours later we got the wits scared out of us. As we waited in line at Subway the doctor called. Not the receptionist, not the nurse, but the doctor. She told us to go straight to the emergency room again because my liver function was significantly worse. Fun! Hubby drove while I called our families for a little help and support. (Shout out to our parents... Thanks so much!) When we got there the emergency room apparently hadn't gotten the memo. We went right back in to the wait around and see mode.
I have to say that at this point my stress level was pretty well pegged. Sometime the next day the decision was made to just go ahead and take my gallbladder out and be done with it. A few hours later they did just that and the attacks left with the gallbladder. Hmmm... I guess it wasn't just acid reflux, eh? Haha!
Before the surgery I had read and heard stories of people being back to work after two days. Even the paper from the hospital said that the recovery takes five to ten days. Well, I don't know if it is a result of how far downhill my body had gone before the surgery or if it is from having the surgery so soon after that third c-section but I am still not back up to par. I am finally able to sleep on my side again, though getting into that position hurts. I am finally moving like a normal human though that can cause some serious soreness. I am still on restrictions as far as how much I can lift and that sort of thing, though I honestly just do what I feel ok doing. All I know is that I am slowly getting back to normal, whatever that may be.
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