Ah, if only it were that easy. Two weeks ago I was sitting on my couch looking at some gorgeous photos our friend Jeff took of Grady and us (new post to follow with these awesome pics!), all of the sudden I shot up in the air with the most horrific pain I have ever felt - yes, including labor contractions - and told Dave he had to take me to the hospital ASAP because I couldn't breathe. I wasn't sure if I had a blood clot in my lungs, was having a heart attack, or what was going on but I knew I needed help ASAP. Poor Dave, he looked like a deer in headlights as he had just fallen asleep watching TV when I woke him up. He grabbed Grady and ran him over to our next door neighbor's house until his parents could get to our house and then we raced to the hospital. Turned out I wasn't having a heart attack, I was having a gall bladder attack. Final diagnosis - gall bladder stones, pancreatitis, and chronic colonitis. Not sure what all of that meant exactly but I was admitted and had my gall bladder removed the next day. Although I wasn't feeling perfect and had a fever, the hospital discharged me on day 3 and I came home for what I thought would be a relatively easy recovery considering I just had a c-section and that was pretty rough. Well, not so much. Dave called the surgeon because I was only getting worse and we ended up back in the hospital 24 hours later. This time, I was really doing bad. I was jaundice, had a fever, wasn't eating, etc. Turns out the seal didn't hold where my gall bladder was removed and I had a slow leak of bile going into my liver and abdominal cavity. Awesome! I had to have a second procedure which was a stint inserted to stop the leak - which it did. However, the damage was done and I spent the next 4-5 days in the hospital slowly trying to recover and eat and feel better. The worst part about this whole ordeal was being away from Grady for 10 days. It was the worst feeling in the world. Thank God for family because I don't know what we would have done! Grady was fine with Nona, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Katie, and Grandma and Grandpa Schoen. As long as he had a bottle, he was happy as a clam. I, on the other hand, was a mess and had multiple meltdowns each day missing my little guy and feeling like a failure as a mother for abandoning him for so long. Dave was so sweet, he came to my hospital room every night after racing home from work to see Grady for an hour and he stayed with me every single night I was there. He is such an amazing husband and father, I am so blessed!
Well I'm home now and every day I feel a little better than the last. It will take a long time to get my energy back and to be able to keep up with Grady's nursing demands. This kid is such a serious eater, this may be one of the reasons I had the gall bladder attack in the first place - I just couldn't keep up. I had a pretty decent supply of frozen breastmilk so the transition from breastmilk to formula was smooth for Grady. I was so worried about it while I was in the hospital. Now we are switching back and I hope it goes as smoothly.
This little hiccup in life has given me perspective on what is important, who will be there for you, etc. There is nothing more important that family! I could care less that there is dust all over the house or that I didn't make it out to pick out a cute Easter outfit for Grady, or anything really. All I care about is holding my little guy and for the three of us to be together as much as possible. This is our little family and we are so blessed!
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, meals, help, etc. We really appreciate it. Grady is one very loved little guy!
XOXO,
Court
No comments:
Post a Comment