She's Worth It

And this is why it took me so long to share Hollyn's birth story...

The recovery process after a grade 3 episiotomy and the use of forceps was not easy. I thought I had overcome the worst of the obstacles, however, Monday night I had discovered that part of my episiotomy  had torn open. I assure you this did not feel good, but more so than that, it scared the hell out of me! The on call doctor told me to just show up at my doctor's office first thing in the morning. So we did. The news was good. My doctor said only the superficial stitching had torn and that the internal stitching was still intact. He gave me antibiotics to be safe and apparently the wound would heal itself with no need for additional stitches.

Hollyn's one week visit to her doctor was the same day at 2:00 and there wasn't really time to go home and then turn around and drive back out to Houston again so we just stayed in the area and had lunch. I was feeling pretty good most of the morning but the pain really started to kick in just before her appointment. Her visit took FOR-EV-ER because there was a lot to do plus I had to nurse at one point. By the time we got home my ankles had swelled back up and I was exhausted! It wasn't much after we got home that I had a similar pain of when my stitching tore followed with a ton of blood.

I called the on call doctor who said to use ice for an hour and if it didn't slow down I would need to call him back and more than likely go to the emergency room. I had never been to an emergency room for myself before and the idea was terrifying. I actually gave it longer than an hour but the ice did not work. When I called the doctor back he told me what I had feared... I needed to go to the emergency room. The worst part was that I had to leave my baby girl at home.

When we got to the hospital, they had a treatment room ready for me. The emergency room doctor came to check me out and... well... to leave out the gory details, started pulling out stitches and and clots... with NO pain meds. I honestly felt like I was being tortured.

Eventually the doctor stopped and they gave me an IV with morphine. (A little backwards if you ask me). Unfortunately, the morphine made me feel a little loopy but didn't really help with the pain. So I laid there in pain with my hubby and my cousin waiting to find out if I was going to be admitted.

When the doctor came back she said I had a bad infection and that I was bleeding from the uterus and would need to stay at least 24 hours. At this point I was exhausted, starving, and emotionally drained.

After a long night, my doctor finally came to see me. He was very confused as to what the ER doctor had done and when Jeff explained it to him, his exact words were "She better not have." (That always make you feel real good.) He needed to see what was going on so back to the dreaded treatment room we went. I asked if what he was going to do was going to hurt and he said no... he lied. Now, I had a Demerol pump this time, however, it only dulls pain. Surprisingly, my doctor, who usually has ice in his veins, seemed somewhat compassionate towards me. I asked how often things like this happen and he said he hasn't had anything like this happen to any of his patients in over 20 years. (lucky me) Turns out I did not have an infection and my bleeding had slowed but he needed me to stay the night to be monitored. I had expected this and was prepared... Jeff had to go back to work the next day so my mom would stay with me and he would go home with my cousin and my sister to take care of Hollyn. (I am so blessed to have such amazing family.)

I was finally released to go home Thursday (7/28/11) around lunch time and I can't even begin to describe how anxious I was to get home to my baby girl. I am feeling a lot better but it's kind of like starting my recovery process all over again. Please pray for a speed recovery and NO more road bumps along the way!