March 14, 2013

3 weeks on...

Newborns don't really do much at this age other than eat, sleep, nurse, cry, pee and poop.  Occasionally I'll get a quiet alert moment where we stare at each other, but for the most part it's the above list.  He was awake when we watched the new Pope take office so he got to see history being made.

Yet I can't seem to get much done around here.  The fact that he is doing most of these activities in my arms may have something to do with that.  Though truth be told, that's probably a good thing because apparently I'm pushing myself too hard re activity--my incision has been killing me, among other S&Sx--and so I need to go back to sitting on the couch imitating a vegetable for a few days.

I did scale back on my Investigation Discovery so my mood has been lighter.  I'm now catching up on all sorts of classic movies, as well as watching my fill of Duck Dynasty.   I also started reading my addiction book, so I don't feel as guilty for not working and slacking on school.

I did fire up MyFitnessPal and start tackling the weight gain.  Little one #2 likes to cry and be fussy at dinnertime, so he may be my greatest weight-loss aid yet.  As soon as I sit down to eat, he lets it go...so I have to get up and take care of him.  By the time I've settled him down (or not) and go back to my dinner, I'm not that hungry anymore.  He's also a snuggler...as in, if he's got a choice between being in the crib and in someone's arms, he wants the arms hands down and will let you know that.    Hence why he's in my arms all the time...what can I say?  I come down on the side of attachment parenting.

All the grandparents will be arriving shortly, though not at the same time, thank God.  My parents are coming out in less than 10 days (eek!) so I better start cleaning now, especially since I can't strain myself.  Better half's parents follow a few days after mine leave.

March 11, 2013

So I went to my PCP today

PCP:  Do you have hypertension in your family?

Me:  Both parents.  My maternal grandmother also died of a stroke.

PCP:  Are you adopted?

Me:  No.

PCP:  Darn it.

Me:  Yeah, I know.

The blood pressure is back up, and my PCP is not pleased.   I am, in his words, too young to have a pressure of 140/95.  I explained my past history of HTN, which I was able to resolve on my own with the help of some Norvasc.  I also told him about my family history of HTN, which as you have probably guessed, was not what he wanted to hear.

The game plan is a low dose of labetalol, frequent monitoring of my BP, losing some weight, dietary changes, and once I get the go-ahead from my OB, exercise.   If the weight loss, diet changes and exercise don't do it, it may be that my HTN is genetic and like it or not, I may have to live with being on an antihypertensive for the long term.

I know all of this, which is why I want to fix the HTN now.  My goal is to not to have to be on an antihypertensive now...or if I am going to have to be on one, to just keep it at one and not two or three or seven.

Since I had a feeling that this visit would result in a prescription, I did a little research on what medications I could take.  Labetalol was chosen as it's one of the safest for breastfeeding:  it doesn't interfere with milk production and there have been no serious effects reported in infants.  I've never taken a beta-blocker before.  Its not 100% safe, but no drug is, alas.  The other safe drugs were propanolol (another beta-blocker) and hydralazine (vasodilator).  All the others were either unsafe either for milk production and/or for the infant, or had unknown safety.

As for the burn, my PCP says that it's healing very well--I've been taking excellent care of it.  On Wednesday I can stop the ointment and gauze, though I may want to put a light dressing on if I'm wearing any clothing that may irritate it.  It still looks horrible though.

In other news, my PCP's new medical assistant looks like a supermodel.  This would have been depressing had it been a she, but it was a he.  Very easy on the eyes, and sweet to boot.  Every doctor's office should have one of these.  I'll let him draw my blood anytime.

March 9, 2013

The burn is healing, I think

I had one burn blister that kept refilling and draining and refilling...well, today, I think it finally stopped refilling.  The burn looks marginally better.  I'm not expecting return to the original skin tone anytime soon.  I'll just be happy if there's no more broken skin.

Secondary casualty of the burn:  one pair of shorts.  Burn blister serous fluid plus Neosporin equals a grease stain that gauze can't fully contain.  

*sigh*

I did make an appointment with my PCP for him to evaluate the burn, as well as for my blood pressure.  The headache returned a couple of days ago and finally broke today.  I think what wasn't helping either headache or blood pressure issues was the fact that because of the various pains I've been having (incision, headache, burn) I've been taking ibuprofen nonstop (800mg q6h) for the last two weeks:  I think my kidneys finally said "no mas."  So I'm now on only APAP for any pain.

In other news, I'm getting TV-ed out.  I spent the last week on the couch with little one #2, healing and imitating a vegetable.  It's worked--my abdomen feels much better.  But I've watched so much Investigation Discovery that I'm delirious with conspiracy theories.  I think that this week, I really need to start working on some of those addiction CEUs--I can read my journals while breastfeeding.  I should also start getting myself and little one #2 out for walks, or at least sitting in the backyard.

March 5, 2013

Burning down...

The leg burn is ugly.  The area is a rich red and the blisters have blossomed.  There's one blister that is the size of a silver dollar...as much as I'm tempted to post a picture of it, I won't as it really IS in the TMI category.  At least the burn is not hurting anymore, which is good.

I'd say so much for the swimsuit modeling career, except that went out the door in 1999 anyway.  This just confirms it.

Yesterday, I stocked up on some non-stick gauze, tape and antiseptic wound wash.  I already have plenty of antibiotic ointment.  I'm keeping the burn anointed and gently covered, more so that the monster blister doesn't accidentally burst than for anything else.  It's really in a bad spot on my lap:  nursing (breast, not psych) is impossible without a pillow to keep the littler one off of it, and I have to keep reminding the little one not to sit on me.

I'm debating about hauling myself over to my regular PCP to have him look at it.  Though to be honest, I'm not sure there's much more he can do for it.  Keep it clean, check.  Change dressing daily, check.  Keep it from sticking to the gauze, check.  Leave blisters be, check.  Motrin PRN, check.

Unfortunately, I can't use the wonder drug of burn treatment--Silvadene--as I'm allergic to one of its ingredients.  Bah.

March 4, 2013

So....

This is kind of TMI in parts, so you've been warned.

OK?

OK.

My fears over not knowing when I should go to the hospital turned out to be unfounded:  I woke up in the middle of the night and knew these contractions were different.  I called L&D after the 1st hour and the nurse said give it another hour before I came in to make sure I'm close to 4cm dilated.  Anyhow, two hours later, we go in...and I'm already at 7cm and nearly fully effaced.  Gee, I could have gone after hour 1 and had the epidural that much sooner.

By the way, the nurse I spoke to also told me to take some Tylenol to help with the pain, so we suspect she has never actually given birth.

Of course, finding the anesthesiologist always takes forever.  He finally arrived but my sister didn't realize it was him.  She thought it was a nurse and was about to give him grief for taking forever with the consent process.  I had to explain it to her when he left to get his supplies.

Epidural went in and my labor went fast except for the littler-one-to-be's heart rate dropping to danger levels during contractions, as well as his failure to turn to LOA (the desired position) and descend.  So it ended in an emergency c-section after only 8.5 hours--the time I woke up to the point he emerged.

My sister photographed it all.  I have pictures of the baby, the c-section, the littler-one's emerging, the uterus, the placenta, the fibroids that they suspect were not helping things, the blood on the floor...yeah, my family is warped like that.  

Meanwhile, my better half had gone home to get the little one to school, and when he returned to the hospital he had no idea what was going on--they just brought him to the OR.  We had no time to text him and let him know.  He handled the blood and guts fairly well considering his squeamishness.  He didn't pass out upon seeing a real placenta.  Though he did ask, upon seeing the blood on the floor, "Is that normal?"  Sister and OR staff were all made aware of his squeamishness, so they kept telling him, "Don't look at it, keep moving, keep walking."  

Only two complications during the whole hospital stay.  The first was the fibroids:  apparently they got stuck to something and had to be cut free.  They weren't removed, so I'll have to address then down the road.  The other one was that they gave me Demerol.  I was shaking pretty bad from the epidural, to the point that I couldn't even hold the littler one.  Demerol apparently fixes this problem and in this case it was the lesser of the two evils, so...I said Yes.  I know, but you have no idea how violent the shakes were.  I was scaring everyone, especially myself.

So I got two syringes of Demerol, stopped shaking within 15 minutes, then spent the next 18 hours vomiting bile.

I was fine the next day, discharged the day after.  And yes, I had nursing students...I swear I was a magnet for them.  One of them was really nice though, so I consented to letting him call to follow-up on me for his class.

Went through the baby blues early in the week but I'm over them now.  

Littler one passed his first checkup with no problem.  Me, on the other hand...

I had to go to the OB because my headache was going on two days with no relief.  My blood pressure was up and my feet were very swollen, so labwork and another 24 hour urine test was ordered.  I'm a pro at these now, so I did that with ease and dropped that off on Friday.  The headache finally broke on Friday (thank God), the feet shrunk, and I felt fine all weekend.  At my follow-up today, my pressure was down to nearly normal levels and the bloodwork was normal.  The 24 hour urine came back over 300, but the doctor isn't concerned.  He said that if he had seen these results on Friday and I still had the headache, he would have talked about admitting me to the hospital.  But he feels that as it's been a couple of days since the test, the pain has stopped and my pressure is now normal, it has likely resolved itself.  So as long as I don't have a reemergence of any signs/symptoms of trouble, I can follow-up at my 6 week checkup.

Then there's the tea incident.

I burned myself with boiling water while making tea.  The glass shattered, water splashed my leg, I stumbled backwards and fell on my rear.  No cuts from the glass.  No injury from the fall.  A hand-sized burn on my front thigh which I thought was first degree, but it formed scattered blisters overnight.   Whee.

When I went for the follow-up today, the doctor checked out the burn and gave me some supplies to dress it.  I also dredged up everything I remembered about burns so I know what to do and not do when caring for it.  It's in a bad spot...that's the most annoying thing about it.  I can't quite tape the gauze on comfortably.

Anyhow, here I am.  I've lost about 25 lb of the pregnancy weight gain.  I no longer look 6 months pregnant--I'm down to about 3 months.  Pain from the C-section is manageable with Motrin/APAP.  I'm getting decent sleep considering I wake up three times a night for the littler one.   Overall, I can't complain.  Life is good.

March 2, 2013

My sudden absence from here can only mean one thing...

Boy (no surprise there), 7 lbs, born via emergency c-section last week.  I went into labor the night of my last post and he was born the following day.  Labor itself was easy, but he was in fetal distress so he needed to get out ASAP.

We are both doing very well.  More when I can tolerate sitting at a computer for more than a few minutes at a time.