14 days of... {updated}

I have had one heck of a start to motherhood with Morgan. This last two weeks has been incredibly exhausting!

We welcomed our baby girl November 30, 2011. This was an amazing day.

Then I spent three days in the hospital recovering from the c-section. I could complain all day long about how uncomfortable hospital beds are but most of you already know. It's not even worth getting into how much pain I was in either! I just wanted to go HOME!

Finally Saturday Dec. 3 2011- I was able to go home and relax. Just 3 days later I got a headache. This headache lasted all day long. Then through to the next day. Then the next day my headache developed into a migraine on and off. I thought : you have got to be kidding me. My ankles, feet, and calves were also really swollen. This wasn't right. I finally called my Dr. while in town with Grandma Rush and they told me to go to triage to get checked out. So I did.

Little did I know that "getting checked out" would end up meaning another 3 days in the hospital. 

I had developed post-partum preeclampsia. Preeclampsia during pregnancy isn't normal but it does happen. Post-partum preeclampsia is rare and not normal.

I was scared out of my mind! I didn't really know exactly what it was until the nurse explained. The Dr. came in and told me I couldn't leave due to the possibility of seizures. I really freaked out then. 

The boys were in school when I was admitted. I had about 30 minutes to get them off school bus. This really stressed me out. I called Kale like 5 times. No answer. The one time I really needed him to answer! So then the Dr. called the police to pick up my kids and bring them to me. I thought it was a genius but scary idea. Then I got a hold of my girlfriend Beth. She said she would go and get the boys. The nurses called the police back to cancel the request. Then Kale finally called me back. He left work right away and was home before my girlfriend Beth even showed up. I felt terrible sending her but I didn't know when Kale would have called back. So they both were there to get boys off the bus- thank the LORD! Beth brought Kale to hospital. 

They put me on pain killers (again) and magnesium sulfate. I barely ate anything my first 3 days in hospital post-surgery and here I was again not eating anything but crackers and jello just so I wouldn't get sick from pain meds. This was absolutely terrible. Before admitting me into hospital I was told I could keep Morgan with me. I mean for heavens sake I just delivered her. There was no way she was leaving my sight! So we had to talk this through with the hospital. I was told it wasn't a good idea to keep her because of the magnesium making me extremely loopy and out of it. I fought the idea they were trying to push and asked them to let her stay with me. They agreed and assigned the nurses to help watch me with the baby. I was so happy.  During some of the worst times in your life- your kids being around just makes the difficult time worth going through. I really needed her beside me!

Kale was gone with boys almost the entire next day. Another reason I wanted to keep baby. She couldn't handle the drive. He had a 6-8 hour drive to and from STL airport to take Grandma Rush to fly home. I didn't want her to leave during this crazy time. We had a few plans that we didn't get to but maybe next time will be better.

So I sat in hospital for a few days. Bored. Missing my husband and boys. Really needing some help with baby. In lots of pain. Sick from pain meds. This wasn't really the experience I wanted with the new baby but I guess it could always be worse.

They finally took me off the magnesium sulfate which was supposed to "cure" the preeclampsia. It didn't. My headaches/migraines were still on a roll. I couldn't stand this anymore. My head was killing me! Finally the Dr. ordered a cat scan. This really had my mind going. I kept questioning what was wrong with me. I wasn't too sure about this whole thing in the first place. I guess they didn't want to freak me out so they didn't tell me anything at all. This was frustrating. 

The cat scan came back negative. The Dr finally admitted that it is rare but some pregnant women develop aneurysms. I clearly did not. We were sort of all at a loss on why I still had a headache. Then all of a sudden it started fading away. I was thrilled but skeptical. Skeptical on the fact I was scared it would come back. It didn't. It kept fading. They monitored me for a while longer and I was out that Sunday December 11, 2011. Yay. Finally home! With my family and my warm comfy bed. 

Then this last Monday I went to my first Dr. appointment post-birth. I had a section of my cesarean that was swollen, red, and painful. I thought I was still healing. Of course I was wrong! I had what my Dr. called a stitch abscess. Great! She went in with scissors and cut a stitch out. This didn't feel too hot!

The nurse was also a little concerned with the amount of weight I had lost as well. I just smiled and said ya know... I haven't eaten 6 days of 14! This also put a little damper on breastfeeding baby as well. My body wasn't getting what it needed to provide for her. This made me sad as I had plans for a no formula diet for little Morgan. But as the days go by and my eating habits are better, things are better for Morgan and her eating habits. She's a little eater! :)

This has been a crazy 14 days.

Now for my pride and joy:

My kiddos!

They are so worth going through anything for. Love Love Love!!!