The Recovery Time

If I thought that the labor and delivery of Ryder was hard, and I had another thing coming to me. Things only continued to get rocky.

I distinctly remember being SO shocked after I had Brody that my body 'down south' could be so messed up! It was just so much more messy and bloody than i could have ever imagined. I thought to myself over and over, "nobody told me about this!!!" So, this time I was prepared. I had all the things I could possibly need so that Trevor wouldn't have to go to the store for anything 'embarassing' (let's be honest....he would have sent my just-home-from-the-hospital butt to the store instead of doing that for me). I was totally ready for that, but completely unprepared for the aftermath of my epidural.

In basically every aspect of my life I'm what you would consider average. Average smarts, looks, height, etc. Wouldn't you know that the one time I decide to be unique its in an aspect that no one wants to be unique. Anytime you get an epidural there is like a 1 to 2% chance of the dr. going through a membrane and causing spinal fluid to drip in your back which then causes a MASSIVE migraine. I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of these lovely headaches!!!

We got home from the hospital on Friday and my head was killing me but I really thougt that it was normal. The next day we woke up and Trevor suggested we go get lunch at the fair. I wasn't feeling well, but I thought I could do it. We got to the county fair walked from the car to where the food was and I told Trevor, "I can't do this. I really don't feel well at all." Turned around and went home. I honestly went home took off clothes, put on pjs, and got into bed and pretty much stayed there the rest of the day. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were not much better. In fact, I would say it continued to get worse. My head literally felt like it was going to explode. The only small amount of relief was when I was laying down. Sitting up and standing was excruciating. Normally showering can make me feel a little better anytime I'm sick, but it only made me want to pass out.

On Monday and Tuesday I began throwing up and couldn't eat anything. Trevor was basically doing EVERYTHING for me. He changed almost all diapers for both boys, he made meals, fed Brody, bathed kids (gave Ryder his 1st bath and I bawled because I wasn't doing it), cleaned toilets, washed dishes, did laundry, and just took over everything else. I cried because I hurt so much, and cried more because I felt like a failure as a mom and wife. The worse day was on Tuesday when he took Ryder to get circumsized and Brody to his 2 year check-up and shots. I was just too sick to go and I could not stand the idea of not being able to go and comfort either of my boys. I just cried and cried when they left until I fell asleep.

I finally wised up and called the dr. realizing that things were not going to get better on their own and they prescribed me a VERY potent migraine medicine that night and scheduled me to come in the next day. After paying over 25 bucks for one pill I took the medicine that night and woke up pleasantly surprised to find that the headache that had also seeped down into my neck and back as well was gone, and the headache itself was a little bit relieved but not gone.

I went to the dr. and they prescribed me another one of those pills to see if it would help knock the rest of the headache out, but they sent me to the hospital to see about getting a blood patch done. I had no clue what a blood patch was and when they described it, I only cried more. They take blood from your arm and then go back into your epidural site and put the blood in there. It seals off the leaking spinal fluid and it has an 85% chance of working. If it DOES work you will feel relief within 20 minutes. I just could not stand the idea of them even touching my back after everything I had gone through, but this headache was so ridiculous that I talked myself into it.

I go in and put on my gown and wait for the lady to come in and they decide to instead send in the SAME EXACT DOCTOR that messed me up in the first place!!!! You have got to be kidding me..... Not only did this dude act like he didn't want to do my blood patch, but he also acted like he didn't think he COULD do it! If he isn't confident in his abilities how can I be??? So, I decided not to get it. I went home in the hoped that my second $25 pill would take care of it.

Thursday I woke up and finally, FINALLY felt a little bit like a real human being! Friday was even better. It only was like a whole week later, but I felt better. I have continued with just a tinge of a headache, but nothing like what I had before. I could finally start to enjoy my baby...just a week after he was born.

Saturday I was feeling great but Brody decided to get major sick for the 1st time in his life. We spent hours at an urgent care only to have Brody puke all over me and get no answers. We spent the whole weekend trying to figure out what was going on and if we needed to go the ER or not. Could things get anymore awful at this point? I'm really not sure. We got to the pediatrician on Monday and were told he had hand, foot, and mouth disease. I guess its fairly normal in kids. There's really not much you can do but let it run its course and by then he really was a lot better but we were just happy to have an answer!!! Trevor and I had both spilled more than a few tears worrying about this little boy. It was really bad.

By Tuesday Brody was WAY better but I was aching all over, I had the chills, and a fever started. I thought maybe I was getting sick, but when the fever broke that night and I felt so much better I wasn't sure. I looked in a book I have and after thinking about how my chest has been really sore I realized that I probably have Mastitis. That would explain all the achiness and the sore lumps I had.

I really have felt like these first 2 weeks of Ryder's life have been 2 of the most challenging weeks of my life. I have cried and cried and cried because it has seemed like one problem on top of the other. I thought that since I had a hard delivery I could hope for and easy recovery but I was wrong. Its been pretty tough, I almost feel like I was robbed of Ryder's first 2 weeks, but things are FINALLY starting to look up. Everyone seems to be well. Somehow Ryder has escaped getting sick himself. We'll keep our fingers crossed that things will be normal for a while.