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.

Lucy!

Since little Lucy had decided she didn't want to come out on her own, I went in for my scheduled c-section on Thursday, November 1, 2012. I was asked to fast for 12 hours before coming in and to arrive 2 hours early. Tyler and I arrived at Banner Gateway at 10am, and I was feeling very nervous and hungry.

When we got there we waited for awhile and then met with with the registrar and gave them all our info. When we were done with that we were taken to a recovery room (all the prep rooms were full) and very slowly they started prepping me for the surgery. Tyler's prepping part was easy, he just had to put on this lovely jumpsuit and hairnet. They actually traded the hairnet in for a surgeon cap late but we didn't get a picture of it. It was a lot more flattering ;)

My prepping was less fun. They put an IV in me and the nurse had a hard time doing it. She tried to put it in what she thought would be  a more comfortable place on my arm but was unsuccessful so she had to retry it somewhere else on my arm. During that process my nerves started to get to me and I began to get dizzy. It was not a great start. 

Then my Dr came in and decided to check my cervix. I had dilated to 4 centimeters and she knew I had wanted a VBAC so she asked me if I wanted her to break my water and give it one more try. Lack of food, water, and heightened nerves caused me to freak out and shake when given this choice. I had come in prepared to get the c-section and the idea of having to go through labor terrified me (especially when I was feeling so weak from fasting and would still be unable to eat anything). Plus there was a risk that breaking my water wouldn't work and I could end up with a c-section anyways. I told Tyler I would rather not do either and that we should just go home but after lots of freaking out I ended up deciding to get the c-section. It was a tough choice but it felt like the right one.

After I made the decision they gave me my hairnet and then wheeled me in for my spinal tap. Unfortunately, Tyler was not allowed to go in with me and I was really nervous. Fortunately, I have a great doctor who helped position me for the needle and comfort me and I got through it. 

When Tyler came in I finally was able to get my shakes under control and the surgery began. It felt a lot more uncomfortable this time and there is very yucky smells that filled the room but thanks to my loving hubby I made it through. At 12:44pm my Lucy Louise Hatch left my womb. She was sunny side up, with wide open eyes, and weighed 8lbs. 3oz, has a 14in head and is 20 inches long.

 It took awhile before I got to see her pretty face and then once I saw her she left with Tyler and I was left alone for more uncomfortableness as they stitched me up. This time I had no hubby to help me through but I did have a very touchy, Brazilian anesthesiologist who did his best to comfort me. He was interesting...

Once I was all stitched and stapled up (they had to cut out my old scar so it took awhile) I was taken to the recovery room where I got to see my baby & hubby again. I also began shaking really bad again so they gave me some drugs which made me feel very sleepy. Here are some pictures of us, my baby girl & Dr. Bullaro. Don't I look fantastic!?

Here we are later with our little pumpkin. We had a fun nurse who got her one of the hats that was remaining from Halloween.

And more pictures of my sweet baby girl. I am really loving dressing her up. The Minnie Mouse hat has been by far the biggest hit though :)