So, I Might Not Be Wonder Woman After All....A Graphic (yet entertaining) & Personal Story About Me.

I am going to tell you a very personal story about my c-section healing process. It involves gross stuff like bodily functions & fluids. Perhaps if you have a weak stomach or have some sort of adversity to TMI then stop reading here. But I must warn you...you will miss an almost funny story.

As I have mentioned before, I had a c-section. I have had c-sections for all my children and I haven't minded one bit. I was not one of those women that felt cheated or less than womanly because I had a c-section. I wasn't planning to do anything without meds in the first place and after witnessing my sister - her legs spread eagle with runway lights glaring on her privates a mere 6 days before my due date with Jude - I was more than thrilled when they said I needed to have a c-section. I know, some of you may not understand but that was me. My recovery after my first section was okay. I think I recovered fairly quick but I did have some pain to deal with. With Elise - man it was cake. If you remember I posted a picture of me hiking with Elise in a sling only 10 days after I had her. No problem. Well, this time has been slightly different.

Let me begin by saying my surgery was long. Because I have a lot of scar tissue it took an hour just to get the baby out...then they had to sew me back up. It took a while and I was grouchy by the end. Mainly I was thirsty and hungry because I wasn't allowed to eat for at least 12 hours before the surgery. Because I chose to eat dinner at a normal hour - not midnight - it ended up being almost 20 hours without food. I was starving. So, I get to the recovery room, drink a gallon of water, order food and immediately feel sick afterwords. I regained myself after chasing everyone out of the room because I was sure I would barf and felt okay after that. EXCEPT, I did not have control of my pain meds. They had put something in with my spinal block that administered Morphine for 12 hours. Let me tell you - 12 hours of Morphine is too much for me. I wasn't allowed to get out of bed for the next 12 hours. I had to have an IV and a catheter. I was ready to get up and walk around but I was stuck in bed - doped up. At one pointed I was actually seeing shiny colors on the bathroom door. Cool, eh????

Finally the next morning they let me get up and walk around. I only took half of the pain meds I was allowed and felt great. The nurses looked at me like I was crazy for passing up the drugs but honestly I was feeling good. I got dressed on Sunday - in real clothes. I had one nurse walk in and ask if I was the patient....you gotta love that. Well, my point is that it sure looked like I was on a short road to recovery. Yeah....

Then I came home....

I got home on Monday and everything was fine. Tuesday I went with the kids to tot time. It was a short walk and I didn't do anything but stand around and show off Avery. I came home and took a nap. Easy enough. I wake up from my nap and go to the bathroom (I warned you). When I stood up blood gushed everywhere. It looked like a murder scene in my bathroom. The blood was coming from my incision. In case you were wondering - uh, that isn't normal. In fact, the plan is your incision is intact and never leaks a fluid even before you leave the hospital. So, mine is bleeding. I yelled to ask Jude to get his dad. Jake came upstairs and looked at the mess. I told him I think we were going to have to go back to the hospital. He said, Okay let's call the doctor - I'll go get the phone. So...he calls her and explains what has happened. In the mean time I send Jude down to get my mom - I thought she could have murder scene clean up duty. She gets up there and probably was freaking out a little but remained calm. She starts cleaning. At this point I have disrobed from the waist down and was walking around with a wash cloth on my incision. Jake comes back and hands me the phone - the doctor wanted to talk to me. So, I take the phone in one hand, wash cloth in the other and begin to talk. The kids are running around my bedroom trying to look at "mommy's boo boo". I ask my mom to take them out and Elise starts throwing a fit. At that point my mom is explaining to Elise that she is going to spank her butt if she didn't cooperate (all while the doc is on the phone and I am holding onto my wash cloth). I am saying, "where did Jake go????" He had totally disappeared. Did he get sick? Did he pass out? No....he needed to go poop and had went to the basement bathroom to do his business. WHAT????? How can he poop at a time like this? I don't know. So, the doctor tells me I could go to the emergency room or if I felt comfortable I could wait until Thursday (she isn't in Wednesday's) and come to see her. Thinking of the insurance gap (ER care is not cheap) and the fact that I really wasn't that concerned (not sure why, looking back) I opted for going to see her on Thursday. For the time being she gave me some simple instructions about caring for my gaping wound and that was that. I sent Jake off to CVS to buy some supplies. The bleeding dramatically slowed down and the incision wasn't looking infected or anything. On Thursday I called and made an appointment. After a few minutes went by I decided I was just being neurotic and called to cancel the appointment. Why??? Who knows. By Monday I was annoyed with the incision still being open and still bleeding so I went to see the Doc. She is concerned because it is open still but on the large scale of things it isn't that bad- although she did mention she wished I would have kept my Thursday appointment and then pointed out that most normal people would have gone to the ER. But....for now she (the doctor) has ordered a visiting nurse to come out and pack my wound (sounds so graphic doesn't it???) once a day (twice today) until next Monday. Then I have to go see her again. They said it may take 2-3 weeks to get this healed up. ARGGGHHHHH. I hate not being invincible. The good thing is....she said the open incision was NOT my fault. I guess I had bled from the c-section on the inside and the blood was trapped so it had to get out somehow. It would have happened even if I had been laying in bed all day long. But for now I am supposed to be taking it easy, taking regular pain meds and getting lots of rest. None of those things come naturally to me. I get antsy real easy. So say a little prayer that I heal quickly (and properly). In the mean time I will keep you updated.