Recovery

Since my next baby will have to be a c-section, I wanted to make sure I blogged about the recovery part of it all so I can remember what I am in for and compare... 

The first day out of surgery is always the roughest. Transferring into my new bed was the hardest thing ever and all I had to do really was lift my bottom up. After that  I was literally trapped in the bed for the rest of the day. I was attached to an IV & a catheter and I had these lovely things attached to both my calves which were a lot like a blood pressure cuffs- they would tighten & vibrate frequently to prevent blood clots. I didn't mind being trapped when my bottom half was still numb from the spinal tap but once I regained feeling I really wanted to get up and move. I felt like I was molding into the hospital bed. 

Thankfully I had a nice nurse who let me try and walk to the potty that evening. It was SO hard to get out of bed that first time but once I did I was able to not only walk to the potty but I also did a walk around the maternity floor. After that the nurse took off the annoying cuffs that were on my calves and a few hours later (12 hours after surgery) I was able to get the catheter out. I was a little less tied down.

That first night was rough. Nurses were in and out checking on me & Lucy and Lucy was not sleeping well. At one point we sent Lucy to the nursery but then I couldn't sleep because I was worried she might not come back. It was one of those lack of sleep induced paranoias. I also got my blood drawn at 3am & was given a respiratory exercise at that same time. Long, awful night.

The next day (Friday) was full of challenges. 1) Going #1 after having a catheter is a lot harder than I remembered. Especially made harder by the nurses watching you. I did meet that challenge late that morning.  2) Getting up & walking like a normal person. It took until the end of the day to feel like I was a semi-normal person. 3) Passing gas- a requirement that must be met before leaving the hospital & trust me I wanted to meet it. My tummy felt so gassy and yucky that whole day. I finally met that challenge that night after warm lemon & honey water and warm blankets around the tummy. No shame when you are at the hospital...

Also on Friday I got unattached from the IV (24 hours after surgery). It was SO nice to be cordless. That night went so much better and I have to say by Saturday morning I was feeling pretty good and by Saturday night I was thinking we should have got discharged already instead of waiting for Sunday to leave. 

At this point (5 days later) I'm feeling good as long as I take my 1 oxycodone pill every 6 hours (up to this point I had been taking it with Motrin too but have weened off that). I can't walk a lot or I will my incision will start to hurt but walking around the house is just fine (though I try to avoid the stairs as much as possible). Coughing & laughing are also getting less painful. And on one last gross note it took until day 4 for me to have a bowel movement and despite the stool softeners I had been taking- it was not fun. 

So that sums up recovery & such things- and a much less yucky note and much more happier note here are some fun pictures from the last couple of days...

Getting ready to leave the hospital:

Picking up the boys from Grandma Hatch's house:

First full day home with no Tyler (Monday). Poppy was nice enough to get Ben & Steven Angry Bird blankets as a welcome home present and they absolutely love them. My mom and dad were nice enough to come over around lunch time for a few hours to help out. My dad took the boys down to the park while my mom and I put Lucy in a cute dress. Also that night I was given dinner from the Ward. I am so blessed to have such a good Ward and such a great family.