Before I start part two of my labor story I have to say a very fond welcome back to my ankles. After two months of swelling I again can see my ankles and I'd forgotten how lovely my feet can look when they aren't swollen like big, fat marshmallows. Also, this post is LOOOOONG.
So my doc had told me to be at the hospital that afternoon for my C-section. I mentioned in my previous post I had gotten morphine the night before for my pain. Actually it was Monday morning technically because it was at 1:00 a.m. so I hope none of you were on the road when I drove into my doc's that morning around 10:00 a.m. because I'm not sure I had my eyes open for most of the drive.
I called Jesse and told him that once again a child of our was going to be making a suprisingly early entrance. It was about 11:00 a.m by now and we were scheduled for a 5:00 C-section, meaning we had to be at the hospital at 3:30 p.m. I was exhausted and took a nap when I got home and then packed a bag for myself and things for Jackson to stay with Jesse’s mom until that night when my mom would watch him until the next day. We are so lucky to have two grandmas so near by and Jackson LOVES hanging out with both of them.
We got to the hospital and Jesse headed downstairs to register me, yet again. He was quite an expert by this point. I changed into my lovely gown. They hooked me up to the monitors and I was happy to listen to my little one’s heart beat steadily, is there a better sound in the world? They started getting me ready and I was happy to find I didn’t get sick from the medicine they gave me this time to empty my stomach. With Jackson I got quite ill and had to have Jesse sign documents and talk with the nurse while I concentrated on not throwing up. This time around was much better maybe because I’d already suffered enough discomfort. I was even happier when my anesthesiologist came in and it was the same one who had done my C-section with Jackson. He did a great job and was also very helpful during the surgery, telling me what was happening and what to expect. I was thinking about asking for him before but hadn’t so I was very glad to see him there.
The spinal block by the anesthesiologist and surgery went well. I think it was easier for me this time around because I knew what to expect and my doc is awesome so I hoped to have as little discomfort after the surgery as I had with the last one. The anesthesiologist said they were bringing the baby out and I heard a nice little cry so I knew he was okay. Then I heard the doctor say, “Looks like we have a red head!” Yep, my little one seems to be taking after his daddy’s side. I think as the days go by he will be a strawberry blonde. He also has very dark blue eyes which just might turn out to be brown like his mommy. He was born a little after 6 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz and was 19 inches long, nice and healthy.
My mom, dad and sister got to see little Ethan and agreed he was a cute red head. Jesse’s mom brought Jackson to the hospital and also brought me some beautiful flowers and a baby blanket. Jackson was a bit confused by his mommy shaking from the anesthesia and I so made sure he didn’t stay long in my recovery room but played with his grandmas and saw his new baby brother. The first time he saw Ethan he said “sick” which my mom thought he was saying because he looked weird, fresh from being born and not like he might expect. We later came to realize he was saying Baby Ethan was sick because he was at the hospital and you go to the hospital when you are sick. Smart little boy, sometimes too smart. My mom explained Ethan wasn’t sick but was just staying at the hospital with mommy until they were strong enough to come home.
I didn’t get to have Jackson in my room at all when he was born because he was hooked up to monitors and kept in an isolette so I thought I would want Ethan with me 24/7. I will pause for the laughter from other moms. I was exhausted that night and happily sent Ethan back to the nursery and kind nurses after a feeding. They brought him down to my room for every feeding and then took him back to watch in the nursery so I could rest.
I woke up the next morning with a horrific, severe neck ache. I figured it was from sleeping in a hospital bed and having surgery the night before. I mentioned it to my doctor when she came by and she said it could be from that or it might be a spinal headache, which can happen after an epidural or spinal block, which is what I had for my C-section. Usually the symptoms are a really severe frontal headache that is much better when you lay down but my doc said the neck pain is also a possible symptom. I hadn’t taken any pain pills because again I had no pain from the C-section (yea for Dr. Robinson!!!) but she recommended I take a Percocet and some caffeine. For some reason the combination of pain pills and caffeine are very effective with spinal headaches. I worried because I was breastfeeding that it would affect Ethan but they said it wouldn’t. So I downed two pills with a Dr. Pepper and kept swilling caffeine all day. As Jackson would say “ta ta!” the pain went away. Unfortunately the pain came back later that day and my neck also felt really weak, like I couldn’t hold my own head up. They wanted me to walk the halls to make sure my blood was pumping after the surgery and it was all I could do to scrunch my neck down and hold onto my mom was I walked. It only felt better when I laid on the bed just right and didn’t move. My doc had an anesthesiologist come talk to me, not the one who had done my surgery, and he said he didn’t think it sounded like a spinal headache. I had never heard of neck pain associated with it so I thought it probably wasn’t after all.
The neck pain continued throughout the hospital stay. My doc even had me try using a heating pad on my neck and back whenever I was in bed and that was a little better. I kept taking Percocet until I noticed how very sleepy Ethan was. I know newborns are pretty sleepy but it didn’t seem right to be pumping drugs into my brand new boy. So I stopped taking the pain pills and just dealt with the pain. Ethan was a darling, content boy in the hospital and did well.
We were discharged from the hospital on Thursday evening. Jesse and I took Ethan home and then Jesse’s mom brought Jackson home from her house. My mom and sister came over to help out and bring us food. The minute I opened the door and saw my mommy I started bawling. The hormone drop, the stress of childbirth and recovery was all too much. My mom was a lifesaver and immediately hugged me, told me I would be okay and best of all she had brought me some Chunky Monkey ice cream which she knows is my ultimate comfort food. She straightened up my house, Krissy gave my dirty little Jackson a nice long bath and got him ready for bed and both of them listened to me cry about my neck discomfort and life in general.
I got Jackson in bed and my mom and sister left around 10 p.m. Ethan started to fuss so I was trying to feed him but it was so hard with the neck pain which had now spread into my shoulders and up into my head. I finally decided to give him a bottle. I was so grateful I had bought bottles and formula before I left for the hospital, just in case I went that route, since it was now 10:30 at night and I was exhausted. Jesse helped feed Ethan and we both fell into bed that night knowing our nights of exhaustion were just starting.
Ethan is a very content little guy who only cries when he is hungry or soaking wet because his mom put his diaper on badly. Even when he cries it is only once like “um, when you get a minute could you come help me?” and if we don’t come right away he does a second little cry like “no, I mean like right now if that is convenient.” The only time I have heard him cry really loud and long is when we got his PKU test done at the doctor’s yesterday and I would cry too if someone poked my foot and kept squeezing blood out of it. He still has his days and nights mixed up which makes his mommy want to cry sometimes but I think he is getting better and I’m lucky to have Jesse home in the morning for a bit and he volunteers to watch the boys while I sleep a bit longer. My true and deep desire at this time is for a stretch of sleep longer than 2 hours. But my boys are miracles and worth their weight in gold.
A side note: I did end up having a spinal headache. I found an article on the Internet that described my symptoms exactly, like the researcher had studied me. Neck pain and weakness spreading into the arms and shoulders is a symptom and for a few days after I got home from the hospital the pain moved into my head and all I could do was drink caffeine and lay down as much as possible. They can fix spinal headaches with a blood patch where they inject your own blood into your spine and it fixes the hole where the fluid leaked out but fortunately my headache while quite bad didn’t get to the point I needed to do that.
And now, more picture of Ethan!!
So my doc had told me to be at the hospital that afternoon for my C-section. I mentioned in my previous post I had gotten morphine the night before for my pain. Actually it was Monday morning technically because it was at 1:00 a.m. so I hope none of you were on the road when I drove into my doc's that morning around 10:00 a.m. because I'm not sure I had my eyes open for most of the drive.
I called Jesse and told him that once again a child of our was going to be making a suprisingly early entrance. It was about 11:00 a.m by now and we were scheduled for a 5:00 C-section, meaning we had to be at the hospital at 3:30 p.m. I was exhausted and took a nap when I got home and then packed a bag for myself and things for Jackson to stay with Jesse’s mom until that night when my mom would watch him until the next day. We are so lucky to have two grandmas so near by and Jackson LOVES hanging out with both of them.
We got to the hospital and Jesse headed downstairs to register me, yet again. He was quite an expert by this point. I changed into my lovely gown. They hooked me up to the monitors and I was happy to listen to my little one’s heart beat steadily, is there a better sound in the world? They started getting me ready and I was happy to find I didn’t get sick from the medicine they gave me this time to empty my stomach. With Jackson I got quite ill and had to have Jesse sign documents and talk with the nurse while I concentrated on not throwing up. This time around was much better maybe because I’d already suffered enough discomfort. I was even happier when my anesthesiologist came in and it was the same one who had done my C-section with Jackson. He did a great job and was also very helpful during the surgery, telling me what was happening and what to expect. I was thinking about asking for him before but hadn’t so I was very glad to see him there.
The spinal block by the anesthesiologist and surgery went well. I think it was easier for me this time around because I knew what to expect and my doc is awesome so I hoped to have as little discomfort after the surgery as I had with the last one. The anesthesiologist said they were bringing the baby out and I heard a nice little cry so I knew he was okay. Then I heard the doctor say, “Looks like we have a red head!” Yep, my little one seems to be taking after his daddy’s side. I think as the days go by he will be a strawberry blonde. He also has very dark blue eyes which just might turn out to be brown like his mommy. He was born a little after 6 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz and was 19 inches long, nice and healthy.
My mom, dad and sister got to see little Ethan and agreed he was a cute red head. Jesse’s mom brought Jackson to the hospital and also brought me some beautiful flowers and a baby blanket. Jackson was a bit confused by his mommy shaking from the anesthesia and I so made sure he didn’t stay long in my recovery room but played with his grandmas and saw his new baby brother. The first time he saw Ethan he said “sick” which my mom thought he was saying because he looked weird, fresh from being born and not like he might expect. We later came to realize he was saying Baby Ethan was sick because he was at the hospital and you go to the hospital when you are sick. Smart little boy, sometimes too smart. My mom explained Ethan wasn’t sick but was just staying at the hospital with mommy until they were strong enough to come home.
I didn’t get to have Jackson in my room at all when he was born because he was hooked up to monitors and kept in an isolette so I thought I would want Ethan with me 24/7. I will pause for the laughter from other moms. I was exhausted that night and happily sent Ethan back to the nursery and kind nurses after a feeding. They brought him down to my room for every feeding and then took him back to watch in the nursery so I could rest.
I woke up the next morning with a horrific, severe neck ache. I figured it was from sleeping in a hospital bed and having surgery the night before. I mentioned it to my doctor when she came by and she said it could be from that or it might be a spinal headache, which can happen after an epidural or spinal block, which is what I had for my C-section. Usually the symptoms are a really severe frontal headache that is much better when you lay down but my doc said the neck pain is also a possible symptom. I hadn’t taken any pain pills because again I had no pain from the C-section (yea for Dr. Robinson!!!) but she recommended I take a Percocet and some caffeine. For some reason the combination of pain pills and caffeine are very effective with spinal headaches. I worried because I was breastfeeding that it would affect Ethan but they said it wouldn’t. So I downed two pills with a Dr. Pepper and kept swilling caffeine all day. As Jackson would say “ta ta!” the pain went away. Unfortunately the pain came back later that day and my neck also felt really weak, like I couldn’t hold my own head up. They wanted me to walk the halls to make sure my blood was pumping after the surgery and it was all I could do to scrunch my neck down and hold onto my mom was I walked. It only felt better when I laid on the bed just right and didn’t move. My doc had an anesthesiologist come talk to me, not the one who had done my surgery, and he said he didn’t think it sounded like a spinal headache. I had never heard of neck pain associated with it so I thought it probably wasn’t after all.
The neck pain continued throughout the hospital stay. My doc even had me try using a heating pad on my neck and back whenever I was in bed and that was a little better. I kept taking Percocet until I noticed how very sleepy Ethan was. I know newborns are pretty sleepy but it didn’t seem right to be pumping drugs into my brand new boy. So I stopped taking the pain pills and just dealt with the pain. Ethan was a darling, content boy in the hospital and did well.
We were discharged from the hospital on Thursday evening. Jesse and I took Ethan home and then Jesse’s mom brought Jackson home from her house. My mom and sister came over to help out and bring us food. The minute I opened the door and saw my mommy I started bawling. The hormone drop, the stress of childbirth and recovery was all too much. My mom was a lifesaver and immediately hugged me, told me I would be okay and best of all she had brought me some Chunky Monkey ice cream which she knows is my ultimate comfort food. She straightened up my house, Krissy gave my dirty little Jackson a nice long bath and got him ready for bed and both of them listened to me cry about my neck discomfort and life in general.
I got Jackson in bed and my mom and sister left around 10 p.m. Ethan started to fuss so I was trying to feed him but it was so hard with the neck pain which had now spread into my shoulders and up into my head. I finally decided to give him a bottle. I was so grateful I had bought bottles and formula before I left for the hospital, just in case I went that route, since it was now 10:30 at night and I was exhausted. Jesse helped feed Ethan and we both fell into bed that night knowing our nights of exhaustion were just starting.
Ethan is a very content little guy who only cries when he is hungry or soaking wet because his mom put his diaper on badly. Even when he cries it is only once like “um, when you get a minute could you come help me?” and if we don’t come right away he does a second little cry like “no, I mean like right now if that is convenient.” The only time I have heard him cry really loud and long is when we got his PKU test done at the doctor’s yesterday and I would cry too if someone poked my foot and kept squeezing blood out of it. He still has his days and nights mixed up which makes his mommy want to cry sometimes but I think he is getting better and I’m lucky to have Jesse home in the morning for a bit and he volunteers to watch the boys while I sleep a bit longer. My true and deep desire at this time is for a stretch of sleep longer than 2 hours. But my boys are miracles and worth their weight in gold.
A side note: I did end up having a spinal headache. I found an article on the Internet that described my symptoms exactly, like the researcher had studied me. Neck pain and weakness spreading into the arms and shoulders is a symptom and for a few days after I got home from the hospital the pain moved into my head and all I could do was drink caffeine and lay down as much as possible. They can fix spinal headaches with a blood patch where they inject your own blood into your spine and it fixes the hole where the fluid leaked out but fortunately my headache while quite bad didn’t get to the point I needed to do that.
And now, more picture of Ethan!!
3 comments:
Giving birth has got to be on the list of things that get you into heaven. All that suffering just to bring another soul into this world! But yes, so worth it.
Glad your doing better.
Sorry you had to go through all the pain. But like you said seeing your two boys is worth it all. I hope you are continuing to recover and adjust to having two kids.
Sorry friend, I haven't checked your blog because 1) I forget that now that it's private it doesn't move to the top of my list when you have a new post, and 2) I have a newborn and a 1-year-old (I know you understand!). Anyway, I'm glad I finally got here and got to see these pictures of adorable Ethan. He is beautiful! I'm so sorry to hear about all your aches and pains (it just kept going...CHEST PAIN...CONTRACTIONS...SURGERY... NECK PAIN...HEADACHE...ARMS...on and on!).
When we are both up to it, and all four (FOUR!?!) of our boys are up to it, I'm excited to get together. Take care, and call anytime!
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