Raleigh's Birth Story ~ Part 2

My Loooong Recovery

Well, According to both my doctor and the pediatrician Raleigh was actually born at 34 weeks and 5 days, a couple days earlier than we thought. Before he was born our pediatrician came in to speak with us and said that he might need to be on oxygen for a week or 2, so we had to (quickly) prepare ourselves for the possibility that our baby may not be 100% healthy or even be able to go home with us. Boy were they wrong!! The birth may not have gone how I wanted, but all along my main goal was to have a healthy baby and God heard everyone's prayers that day. Not only did Raleigh not need any oxygen, but he was technically discharged before I was! (The only issue was that his blood sugar a little low and once they gave him a little "high-powered" formula he was completely fine.)

Unfortunately, this momma was not faring so well. I talked about "the mag" in my previous post and it took 24 hours to wear off, so I was still feeling some of the effects of that and the epidural well in to Tuesday. I had gotten some morphine the night before to help with the pain from the surgery and I was able to sleep off and on. Tuesday, however, I developed a horrible headache from my epidural. During that procedure I was throwing up from the magnesium and contracting and I flinched at the wrong time. I heard something "snap" and a jolt of pain went down my left leg. The anesthesiologist said, "Oh, you're probably going to get a headache from that" and he was right. So not only was I in pain from the c-section, but my headache was so severe my shoulders hurt so badly I literally couldn't breathe. I couldn't sit up and wasn't even able to start breastfeeding because of that. (When you lie flat it's supposed to help with the headache pain, but that made my not being able to breathe much worse.)

My doctor (Dr. Aamodt) came in mid-morning to check on my progress and he recommended doing a blood patch. Basically, what happened was some of my spinal fluid leaked out during the epidural and my brain settled causing this worse-than-migraine headache. He had an anesthesiologist come in to discuss the procedure and the risks. (Thankfully the anes. that did my epidural left everything in my back so the blood patch was relatively easy to do.) After some thought and hearing that 80% of people have instant relief from the patch I decided to go ahead with it. Since I had been stuck SO many times over the past 2 days they had to IV Therapy draw my blood. They took 20 ccs of blood from my left arm and pushed it through the tube back into my spine to "refloat" my brain. Yes, it was just as disgusting as it sounds! The (female) doctor was struggling during the procedure and looked at Tom and said, "Here. You're a man and have stronger hands." That's right, my husband, the teacher, was the one that did the blood patch. (And yes, I am in the process of filing a formal complaint against the doctor.)

I wouldn't say the relief was instant, but within an hour or so the pain in my shoulders left as well as my headache. Later Tuesday afternoon they removed my catheter and I was feebly able to get to the bathroom and back. It was struggle having been in bed for 3 days, but Tom was right there every minute to help me. I don't know what I would have done without him! He stayed with me all 4 nights in the hospital and only left the room for as long as needed. (Secretly I think he was more worried about me than he let on. What a good husband he is!) Once I was able to sit up they brought Raleigh in as I hadn't even seen my baby in almost 24 hours. I won't go in to detail, but another prayer was answered in that he's a great breastfeeder! He latched on the first time and went to town! I was able to get up during the night a few times, hunched over and holding on to Tom the whole time. And even with the steady regiment of ibuprofen and percocet it barely took the edge of my incision pain. But I am not a wimp or a complainer, so I just tried to make the best of it. It took a lot of encouragement from my hubby, but I did finally eat something Tuesday night.....for the first time in three days. Something about getting my energy back. Haha!

Sometime Wednesday the worst happened, well at the time it was the worst thing to me, my headache came back (though this time without the severe shoulder/neck pain). So back I went to lying flat in bed, on my back, no lights on, and cold washcloths on my forehead. The worst part was that I couldn't even bring myself to sit up to breastfeed. Going to the bathroom and back was a 20-minute, and very painful, ordeal. And I was bummed we had to keep turning away visitors over the past few days. So many people wanted to come and visit and I just wasn't up for it. :-(

Basically Wednesday and Thursday was spent trying to manage the headache and surgery pain, a task which was not going well. Sleeping was difficult and moving was nearly impossible. Sometimes I'd try to roll over in bed and "get stuck" because it hurt too much to go on, so I go back in the same uncomfortable position. Finally Thursday came and that morning I had a fever of 100. Thankfully, it was just because I was really hot when they took my temperature and not for any other reason. Though the doctor was a little concerned because of it and talked about not sending me home that day. She was also concerned that my headache had returned and both she and the anes. on call came to talk to me about doing another blood patch. My response: "Not interested. It didn't work the first time and there's no way I am going through getting another epidural when it may not work again." I think they were less than thrilled. Haha! Since I refused another patch there was nothing else they could do to ease the pain other than send me home with some useless percocet. I was finally discharged that evening, and was very, very glad to be home!

So, there you have it. My headache finally went away a week later. Ugh! And to top it all off I have a keloid, which is extra scar tissue around my incision and it will always be there. Not surprisingly my mantra since Raleigh's birth has been: "I don't think I am stupid enough to do this a third time." But after everything I went through it's SO worth it!!! And yes, I would do it all again if it meant getting our sweet, adorable, precious little Raleigh. We have been so blessed beyond what we could have ever imagined with two healthy boys!

Tomorrow I'll try and post some photos of Tennyson and Raleigh that my friend, Lisa, took. They are amazing!