Let the fun begin.

As I stated in my previous post, I should have known I was in for some problems with the epidural. Tuesday morning I woke up (not that I really slept) to pain in my shoulders that went down my arms and in my head. Yes, I was the lucky recipient of a spinal headache. It was manageable with laying down and pain medication. I had the option of a procedure called a blood patch, but the doctors felt that as long as I could bear it with the pain meds to put off doing the patch. I wasn't too eager for them to stick a needle in my back anytime soon either. My husband arrived with our older kiddies and my mother in law later that morning to meet the newest member of our family. My daughter is over joyed with her sister, my oldest son loves her, but only for short periods of time he has also nicknamed her the Princess with stinky farts and my youngest son calls her his baby sista Wawwen. He giggles at everything she does and never wants to give her back to us. A family friend came and brought me flowers and visited with me for a bit that afternoon. Growing up she was like a second mom to me and she was there for me through everything with my mom. It was nice having her there. She didn't know it but my mom was the only one who brought me flowers after I had my kids. One of my sisters in law came that night and visited. Besides the doctors and nurses, those were my only visitors. To say I was hurt would be an understatement. I never had many family members visit when my others kids were born, but this time was different. I lost my mom only 11 days before and I was hoping that my family would realize how painful of a time it was for me. I of course said nothing because the damage was done, so what would be the point? I'm not holding any grudges my mom's passing showed me that life was too short to linger on silly things no matter how much it might hurt. 

We were able to take our baby girl home on Wednesday evening. Thursday the pain in my head got almost too much to bear. At one point I tried to take a shower only to end up sitting in the shower sobbing my eyes out because the pain was so bad. That evening my husband took me to the ER to have the blood patch done. By the time we arrived at the hospital the pain was so bad I could barely speak. Thankfully the ER tech got me into a room right away even though there were people sitting in the waiting room for quite a while before I had arrived. The doctor came in and called the anesthesiologist. They started a saline IV and gave me a shot of pain medicine that made everything all nice and fuzzy. The anesthesiologist came down, consulted with me and told me all of the risks of getting the blood patch done. I will spare you the gory details, but basically they stick a needle back into my spine, draw 20ccs of blood from my arm and inject it into my spine. Ouch. I told my husband who sometimes gets weak in the knees not to look, but he couldn't help himself. He said it was like watching a train wreck, he tried not to watch, but couldn't stop either. He does to retell the story with every detail for anyone who wants to hear it. So they do the procedure and almost immediately my pain is better. Woohoo! I had to lay flat for an hour then got to go home. When I stood up to leave however, all the pain came back. What a disappointment! Not only did I just waste time getting a procedure done that didn't work, I missed out on four hours of my baby's life and had to pump and dump when I got home because of the pain medication they gave me. Friday I woke up with a headache, but it wasn't as bad, I did however have a ton of lower back and leg pain. That would be a side effect from the patch. I would rather have back pain then my head feeling like it was going to split open. We took Miss Lauren to the doctor where she was given a clean bill of health. She still weighed her birth weight. The hospital never told me how much she weighed when we left so I don't know how much she lost. She has a touch of jaundice, but we did not need to get her blood drawn because her eyes weren't yellow and her poop was already turning color. I am breastfeeding and she has taken to it like a champ. I know most people don't get why I would want to "tie" myself to her, but I did it with my last child and it makes me feel great to know that my baby is growing and thriving because of me. Yes it stinks right now that others can't feed her, but that does not mean they can't hold and snuggle her. (Disclaimer: I formula fed my first two, so I don't think badly of people who can't or don't want to breastfeed.) Friday afternoon I started to feel like I had a UTI brewing. Gee what more fun stuff can I add to my list? I suffer from chronic UTIs so I know my body and the symptoms. I also always get one right after giving birth, but forgot to ask for an antibiotic before I left. My doctor called in a prescription for me even though she was hesitant to do it without a test. When are doctors going to learn that we know our bodies better then they do? So I am on the path to recovery and enjoying my baby girl. Physically I do better everyday, mentally some days are a lot tougher than others. I keep expecting for my mom to call me, but I know that is a call that will never come. My dad has come by to visit and calls to check on me almost everyday. I know life needs to get back to normal, but it is hard when I am still mourning. I thank God for my awesome husband everyday. He has been my rock and I know these last weeks haven't been a picnic for him. I don't know what I would have done without him.