 |
| Look how puffy I look |
 |
| Skinny face |
Readers Digest Version: I tried to die after Silas was born. I spent two days in the hospital, but I'm better now.
Silas and I came home from the hospital on Saturday the 14th. I did not feel good when we got home. I felt achy and had the chills and the swelling in my feet was so bad that it spread up into my legs. I figured the chills and aches were from my pertussis shot I got at the hospital and didn't think much of it. Ben and I got the kids to bed and tried to go to bed ourselves. Silas had a rough night and didn't sleep much (at all). I started coughing and feeling worse, but I just figured it was due to being exhausted. Silas finally went to sleep at 4:30 and Ben crashed out too. I laid in bed and tried to go to sleep, but I kept shivering like mad. My chest hurt and my cough was getting worse. I remember asking Ben just before he went to sleep if he thought it was possible to get pneumonia from all the extra fluid in my body. He laughed and went to sleep. At 6:30 I was so miserable and coughing so hard, I got up and went in the bathroom. WARNING-grossness ahead! I started coughing up gunk and so I spit it in the toilet. I was spitting up blood. The first thought through my head was "oh no, I've thrown a blood clot. I don't have much time." I woke Ben up and told him he needed to take me to the hospital. I told him what was wrong and he immediately called my mom to come over and stay with the kids. At this point I felt like my lungs were full of stuff and I couldn't breathe. Minutes later my mom showed up and we were on our way to the emergency room. I remember praying all the way to the hospital and pleading with Heavenly Father. I kept telling him that he trusted me enough to bring these children into the world, I needed to be the one to raise them. I prayed a lot on the way to the hospital. Finally we got to the hospital. After dealing with a surly receptionist at the ER, we were taken back to a room. When I explained to the nurse that I had a c-section a few days earlier and was now coughing up blood, I immediately had his attention and the doctors attention. I remember being asked lots of questions and then the fun of having the nurse and tech try to start an IV on me. After many needle sticks they finally got an IV in and drew labs. I was hooked up to all of the monitors. My blood pressure was through the roof and my oxygen saturation was really low. I can't remember everything that happened that morning, I was just trying to concentrate on breathing. I had such a feeling of impending doom. I kept praying and telling Heavenly Father that I didn't want to die, I wasn't ready. My dad came over to help Ben give me a blessing. Things were so busy that they had to wait for a while before they could. My poor dad was there during the worst time. I was coughing and hacking and spitting. I was a complete mess. I was taken for a CT scan of my lungs to check for a blood clot. That was miserable. Every time I would lay back it felt like my lungs were filling up and I couldn't breathe. I had to lay back for the CT scan. The voice in the tube would tell me when to hold my breath and when to let it out. I had to lay super still. It was awful. When I got back to my room in the ER Ben and my dad were finally able to give me a blessing. I don't remember what was said, but I was able to calm down some. The doctor came back with the results of the CT. Thankfully there wasn't a blood clot. The preeclampsia had caused my body to go into fluid overload and my lungs were full of fluid which was causing me to feel like I was drowning. It was also causing symptoms of congestive heart failure. The treatment-lots of Lasix. Lasix is a diuretic that helps to rid the body of excess water. My nurse gave me 60 mg in my IV which is a lot. So while struggling to breathe and feeling horrible, I now had to go to the bathroom, A LOT! I spent a lot of time going back and forth to the bathroom trying to get rid of all that fluid. As soon as I could get out of the bathroom for a few minutes, I was taken to the ICU where I spent the next day and a half. When I got to the ICU, I was a little worried because one, the bathroom in my room was a toilet in the corner with a curtain that went around it, and two because I had a male nurse. Male nurses are great, but I had just had a baby, I was still bleeding like crazy (TMI) and my milk had come in during the night. I was just a miserable mess. It turned out that my nurse was really cool and despite having to ask him to get me some pads and having him check my incision every day, I enjoyed having him as my nurse. All day Sunday I sat in my bed in the ICU and struggled to breathe. I had to have an oxygen mask to keep my sats up and I had heart, oxygen and BP monitors on. I'm sure I was quite the sight. I had an echocardiogram to check my heart and multiple blood tests done. I think my veins may have finally recovered. Everyone had a hard time drawing blood from me. I ended up being stuck 12 times. I had 2 IV's put in and multiple blood draws. The only one that could hit the vein on the first try was the girl from the lab. It was quite the adventure. I laid in bed all day Sunday and waited for the doctor to come in and give me the plan for continuous treatment. He came in Sunday evening and gave me my choice of either having an IV drip of magnesium sulfate which is a totally awful drug. It lowers blood pressure, but it makes you feel awful. Option two was to continue with the lasix and IV blood pressure meds which is what I was already doing. Ben and I talked about it for a long time and went back and forth between the two. We finally decided to just stick with the treatment I was already being given because it seemed to be working. I really didn't want to have the mag again, I was finally starting to feel better and I didn't want to feel worse again. I had to stay overnight in the ICU, thankfully I had another good nurse. I was actually able to get some sleep, that is until I woke up with the girl from the lab tying a tourniquet around my arm. I think she was a vampire or something. Monday morning came and with it came another doctor and more tests. This time I had a chest x-ray. The doctor said my lungs looked fluffy. The rest of my vitals were looking better, but I still needed oxygen and I wasn't quite well enough to go home. Ben had to take the baby down to Utah Valley hospital for a doctors appointment and I was stuck in bed missing my baby, missing my kids and feeling like a horrible mom. I felt guilty because my mom had to drop everything to take care of my kids and I felt bad because Ben had to juggle everything at night and take care of the baby all night. Every time I thought about my kids I would start to cry. By Monday afternoon, I was doing a lot better. I was transferred to the med/surg unit where I wasn't monitored 24/7. I had a real bathroom with a door and a shower. I was excited about the shower. I hadn't showered since Saturday morning just before I left the hospital the first time. My blood pressure was finally starting to come down and I was able to have the oxygen off and keep my sats up. I was grateful to be in the med/surg unit because my j
kids could come see me. They weren't allowed in the ICU. Silas stayed home with my mom, I knew it was the best for him, but I really missed my baby. That night Ben called me after the kids were in bed. Maren drank some hand sanitizer and Ben had to call poison control. She didn't get much and was fine. As if we needed anything else to worry about. Tuesday morning I had another chest x-ray. My lungs were looking a lot better. The doctor came in to see me and checked me out. He asked if I was feeling up to going home, I almost yelled Yes!!! I called Ben and asked him to bring me some clothes and take me home. I was sent home on blood pressure medication and told to take it easy. I am doing much better now. My legs and feet are skinny again and my blood pressure is almost back to normal. My lungs were in pretty bad shape and I now have bronchitis, but otherwise I'm feeling good. I am so grateful for my sweet husband and all that he has done to take care of me and our kids. I am so grateful for my mom who took care of my kids while I was in the hospital, she really is the best. I am grateful for all of our other family members who helped us out through this hard time, we are truly blessed to live close to family. I' grateful to be alive, I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me and spared my life. I'm grateful to be the one who gets to raise my kids. I;m truly grateful that Silas was delivered early, I'm pretty sure that if I would have had these problems while still pregnant that neither one of us would have survived.
No comments:
Post a Comment