Is it really 8 days since the girls were born!!! WHAT A WEEK!
Firstly let me say..ANYONE that has an elective C-section must be NUTS!Jesus it HURTS, give me a V-Jay-jay delivery any day!
As you know my c-section was planned ( apparantly emergency ones are worse) and I have to say it was a very strange experience. The spinal block was fine and worked quicky and effectively, before I knew it my legs were numb, and I was laid back on the table in my gown..which was promptly lifted up exposing my nether regions and fat thighs to the ridiculous number of staff ( 25!!) in the Operating Theater and clipped in front of me, masking my view. Unfortunately it did not mask the smell of my burning flesh as they started the procedure..this together with my low blood pressure promptly made me feel sick, and I started gagging into a dish (kindly laid by my head by the chatty, friendly male anethatist)until they administered some anti-sickness drug through the IV that worked a treat ( now if only they could sell this stuff for hangovers I need not suffer ever again!). BD & his Mum came in all gowned up..for a minute I fantasised he was a Dr as he looked really McSteamy in the scrubs and paper hat (I could see his Mum felt the same way). I couldn't believe how quickly my Dr said those immortal lines that I have heard on TV's Baby Story so many times ...." You are going to feel alot of pressure now as we get the babies out" . Eden Olivia entered the world at 8:47am & Esme Grace entered the world feet first at 8:48am after some untangling of the cords. Both cried like kittens, which brought tears of joy to our eyes, and the teams got to work assessing them as the Dr's cut my tubes and started sewing me up.
Eden was 4lb and Esme 4lb 6oz, and I was thrilled when they brought Eden over to us so I could have a brief hold of her..I really wasn't expecting that. Esme was having breathing difficulties so they whisked her away in an isolette, stopping briefly so we could see her. Both beautiful, tiny, BLACK haired ( thats why I had so much heartburn!)princess's.
After being sewn up, cleaned up, and some painkillers shoved up my bum I was placed in recovery till the morphine wore off enough so I could wiggle my toes. After that I was wheeled down to the post-partum maternity ward and placed in a private room. BD, Mother in law and Father in law came down with me. A liason nurse from the NICU kept us up to date witht he girls progress down stairs and after an hour or so said that they had both been place on ventilators and were being given surfactant to help their lungs cope. I couldn't keep my eyes open and sent the family home for some rest as I fell into an uncomfortable sleep. Over the next few hours I woke up with a big case of the shivers, and started to feel like I had been cut open. Do you realise that every move you make, cough or sneeze affects your bodies core area...well I do now..eventually at 4pm I decided i should take the first walk to clean up in the bathroom ( I had a catheta, which stayed in for 18 hours, but I still had pads etc..to change from the blood), although the actual distance was about 8ft it may as well hqve been a bloody marathon..it was agony walking and I was bent over , having hot sweats and having to stop every step to compose myself and force myself onward. Truely, people that choose this method of birth for cosmetic reasons must be CRAZY! ( or they get more morphine and pain relief than I got!!!).Luckily that was as bad as it got and everything has been better since then!
At around 4.30pm the family came back ( with DC too..which was wonderful..he had to check that the DR's had taken the babies out of Mummys belly), and I got into a wheelchair as we organised our 1st trip to the NICU to see the girls. Off we went with my 'bag of wee'riding on the side of the wheelchair ( My mother in law looked down and said " you look dehydrated" ..nice, I would have laughed but I knew it would hurt too much).
Seeing the girls wasn't as scary as i thought it was going to be, yes they were hooked up to lots of machines and had the vetilators hlping them breathe, but I was told they were doing OK and we knew that they were in the best possible care, so after a brief visit and some pics we let them rest, and headed back up stairs and I went back to sleep.
The next few days were a bit of a blur of sleeping, NICU visits, attempting to pump milk every 4 hours, and slowly the pain got more and more bearable;although nothing they give you really stops it except the Morphine; Naproxen every 8 hours was the next best thing combined with Tylenol 3's every 4hours, and by the 3rd day I was able to walk down to the NICU ( very slowly) by myself. As ALWAYS lately, they found out that I had a further complication of anemia, so I was put on iron tablets to sort that out. The girls were progressing nicely and Eden ( the smallest) was taken off her Ventilator on the 2nd day, Esme still struggled a little but was eventually taken off the hers on day 3. RELIEF! The first major hurdle was over, and when I was sent home on day 4 ( a day early due to me doing well and a baby explosion in Saskatoon so they needed the room) my milk had come in, the pain was much more managable, the girls were progressing nicely and I got to sleep in my own bed again after 5 weeks of hospital beds..HEAVEN!!!!!! I stayed there waking only to pump for 15 hours!
Well thats all for now, I will get you up to date tomorrow, but it's late and I'm tired and my wonderful, big, soft, lovely bed is calling my name!
