Tuesday, June 13th
/“Recovery” ~
On Tuesday, I was feeling a little better, but still very
tired and getting sick some. A nurse came in around 5am to take out my
catheter, so my goal for the day was to go to the bathroom on my own. She said
it would be good if I could go by Noon, so that became my goal so I would be
allowed to leave my room to go see Emma. My nurse (Rachel) came in before her
shift ended at 7am and “challenged me” to use the bathroom by 10am instead! Michael
left in the morning to take Sasha out, and I was cranky when he got back. I had
felt a few bathroom urges, but when I got in there, I would just sit there for
a few minutes, sometimes just to throw up. This happened twice until maybe
around 9:30am I was able to go. There was a piece of paper on the wall and a
plastic measuring bowl in the toilet for me to write down how much fluid I was
going through. I kept pumping every few hours, upset that I was still only
getting a few drops, if any.
Dr. Feld came
in to see how we were doing and at that time Michael was helping me walk
another loop around the hallway. The pain from walking wasn’t too bad since I
was still on a few different medicines (the epidural, two Percocet every four
hours and Motrin every six hours), but I had to lay down on my bed again because I
started feeling sick. I had
ordered oatmeal for breakfast, but since I told them I was on a “full liquid
diet” in the morning, it was more like oatmeal flavored soup. Kind of gross,
but I still ate it with brown sugar packets. Around Noon a different nurse came
in and took out the epidural in one swift motion as she told me that ripping the
tape off would hurt the most.
Around
2pm I felt good enough to go down to visit Emma in the NICU. My day nurse Megan
brought us a wheelchair and Michael wheeled me down to the third floor. I had
been keeping my room pretty cold (between 65-70) which felt very comfortable to
me, so being in the NICU, the temperature felt much hotter. Especially right over
Emma’s bed where they had a heat lamp on. It seriously felt like it was at
least 90 degrees in that spot. I was able to stand for a few pictures, but then
told Michael that we needed to leave because I didn’t feel well.
We got outside
of the room and saw Dr. Fleishman, (the pediatric cardiologist who did
Emma's fetal heart scan in May) saying hello. He started to talk to
Michael,
but suddenly I said, “I’m going to get sick!” And I did, so Michael
quickly
wheeled me away. I felt so sad that I could only see Emma for a few
minutes.
The nurse said that maybe part of the reason I was still getting sick
was
because nausea is a side effect of Percocet, so we lowered each dose to
just
one pill.
For
dinner I was able to eat at least half of my food that I
ordered from the hospital café. We talked to our college friend, Dawson, that night and while he was
on speakerphone his mom began saying prayers for Emma and us. I thought that
was really nice. I told Michael it was okay if he slept at home that night, but
before he left he monitored and helped me while I took a shower. I had read on a few different
websites about C-sections that women weren’t allowed to take a shower for a
week due to not wanting to get any soap or water in the incision area. However,
my nurse wrapped up my IV and told me that letting soap and water run over my
incision was the best way to keep it clean, but not to touch or scrub the area.
Michael was so sweet and washed my back, then dried off my legs since I
couldn’t bend over. I was able to get more sleep that night- about six hours.
Wednesday, June 14th
/“The Day I Became a Cow” ~
That morning when I was pumping, a blonde doctor came in and
asked how I was doing. When I said I was wishing I could make more milk, she
suggested I take Fenugreek supplements. Michael woke up late at home, which was
fine, so I called him asking to pick me up some of those pills. He also printed
out three pictures of Emma for me. It was nice looking at them on my phone, but
I wanted them out next to my bed too.
Within 4
minutes of pumping that morning I got a call in my room from a NICU nurse who
said one of the doctors (Doctor Orsini) wanted to speak with me. He said that
Emma was ready to start drinking milk through her feeding tube, but since he
knew I hadn’t been able to really make any yet, he asked if I would give
consent for them to provide donor breast milk to her. Of course I said yes and
had to verbally state my name, Emma’s name and give consent again. Even if it’s
not mine, I knew breast milk was going to be super healthy for her. Luckily
around 5pm that evening I was able to pump my first milliliter of colostrum and
boy was that a huge accomplishment! A couple hours later I was up to 5ml!
During one of the morning milk drop
offs, Michael talked to the nurses and was able to get the EASE app set up for
Emma. That’s a program where they can send us pictures of her with little
messages about how she’s doing. I was so excited about that too!
At 4pm
after eating some lunch, pumping again, and getting myself looking nice, we went
down to see Emma. It’s always our favorite part of the day! Michael usually saw
her more while I was in the hospital, just because he would go down to the NICU
each time I pumped to turn in my bottles. We brought the wheelchair down just
in case, but I was glad that I didn’t need to use it. I had been walking in place when I
pumped to get blood flowing through my body better and kept the room temperature
between 70-73 so the NICU wouldn’t seem as hot. This time Emma didn’t have the
heat lamp on. We were able to stay with her for about 30 minutes. The nurse
(Brittany) told us that they had Emma on about 30% oxygen the night before, but
they had been able to turn it down to 26%, which was only five percent more
than what everyone normally breathes. We made a couple videos, which I love
watching over and over (and over!!), and I made sure to stick my pinky in her
tiny hand because I wanted to feel those love squeezes.
When
Michael drove home to take Sasha out before dinner, Nellie the lactation
consultant came in to see how I was doing and told me how great of a husband
Michael is, mentioning that not many husbands are as helpful as he is. I said
thank you prayers for him and thanked him again when he got back to the room.
We
visited Emma again around 11pm after I pumped and before Michael went home to
sleep. The night nurse was really nice and asked us what the baby’s name was.
We both said “Emma” in our sweet voices. “Oh, Emma. That is such a pretty name.”
We got to see Emma get her diaper changed (those are some tiny diapers!) and I
almost started crying when she got wiped because she made a crying face, but
she never makes any noise. Michael said it was probably just because the wipe
was cold, but I hate her having to be so strong and how she makes those sad
faces for a second or two that crush my heart.
A month
or two ago I was texting Lindsey about baby monitors and how I wouldn’t want to
rush in every time the baby makes an uncomfortable noise because most of the
time they just turn over or are able to cry themselves back to sleep
(especially if they have recently been fed and changed), but now seeing Emma
for real and me dying every time she looks unhappy just for a second, rushing
to her side is all I want to do!
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