We finally got released from the hospital on Monday evening. We had to wait for #6 to keep his blood sugar up. It was already bedtime when we got home, so we sent everyone off to bed and off we went too since I was exhausted. As we were going to bed, I noticed something wet on my back, I didn’t think too much of it though.
I woke up about midnight or 1:00 (can’t remember exactly) and I noticed that my bed was wet right where my epidural was. My immediate worry was I was leaking Spinal Fluid. I also noticed that the redness on my back was severely worse than it was earlier.
I called Labor and Delivery. They told me to put something on my back and to come into the ER. We called my in-laws to come sit with the sleeping kids and we took the baby with us to the ER.
I was hopeful it would be quick. They could look at it and tell us what the liquid was.
Never think that about the ER.
At first, they were going to send me back up to Labor and Delivery. Then they decided to just see us in the ER. Check-in and being seen by the nurse was really quick. She said the doctor would be right in.
Sigh. “Right in” means well over an hour apparently.
I was EXHAUSTED at this point.
I could hear someone coughing non-stop in another room (we are in our own room with a door and everything). But I was so tired, I just worried about the fact that I brought my NEWBORN to the ER with someone that can’t freaking stop coughing. I just wanted to go home. Who cares what is wrong with me. I want my baby safe and away from here.
Eventually, the exhaustion and worry took over and I just started crying. I wanted to go home, be better, and sleep – away from people in the ER. I wanted my baby safe and away from any sickness in here. I felt guilty for putting him in any danger because of me.
Crying must have worked because the doctor finally came in (no idea where he was. It did not seem that busy at all). It is always nice when a doctor gasps when they see the condition of your back.
Decided it was not spinal fluid. I was having a severe allergic reaction to the adhesive that they secured the epidural to my back with. When they took the adhesive off, it also took off a layer of skin. It was secured REALLY well! It hurt like heck when they ripped it off my back, (like more than the actual labor). The liquid was from the rash and blisters breaking/seeping. They gave me some antibiotic cream and some antibiotics to stave off any possible infection that I could get from the open wounds. The nurse came back in with all that and asked if I was ok, since I was bawling. I explained that seer exhaustion had just taken over at that point.
We left and my husband had forgotten to fill the van up with gas before picking us up from the hospital that evening (I reminded him several times). Well, it is like 4 am. Thankfully, there is one gas station open that time of the day, and it was on the way home. We only got like $10, because I didn’t want to wait all night while it filled all the way up!
We get home and it is practically time for our daughter to get up for Seminary. I think I had barely fallen asleep before I could hear her get up. I set alarms for all the different bus arrival times, I heard none of them. My husband managed to get the elementary kid off on the bus. I told him to set an alarm for the middle school one an hour later. He either didn’t or slept through it. I woke up to the sound of his bus and yelled for him to get on it.
Now he is in middle school and can watch the time and be responsible. Sigh. He rarely ever is – I always watch for the bus and tell him to get on it. He ALMOST missed the bus – which comes right outside our house, so there is no excuse. The bus had actually closed up, but thankfully saw him running out of the house and stopped to let him on – Phew!
Then it was pre-school pickup and drop off. I didn’t let ourselves fall back to sleep in between since we apparently had a bad habit of not hearing our alarms! As soon as he was back from Pre-school, the baby and I were out for the rest of the afternoon. My husband slept downstairs with the boys playing and watching tv around him.
I had to take a shower every 2-3 hours to keep the pain/itching at bay. It was miserable.
Showering went on through the night. Wearing a shirt was too much. I wore a towel around the house.
Wednesday morning, We overslept until 7:05. Bus for elementary comes at 7:10. Crying ensued that he was going to miss the bus. We explained that dad would just drive him. There was still plenty of time to eat breakfast, get dressed, and make lunch. He calmed down after eating and did make it to school on time.
Then, #6 had to have a doctor checkup, to be sure he was gaining weight and keeping his blood sugar up. I called and got myself an appointment right after his. The baby was doing well, he was down just a bit from his hospital weight, but blood sugar was good. His bilirubin was a bit high though.
The doctor looked at my back in horror. She was impressed that she could see the EXACT outline of where the adhesive was on my back (seriously looks like a target!) and the complete redness of the rest of my back. She gave me a prescription for some Steroid cream. Unfortunately, I can’t take most medicines they would give to help, with breastfeeding.
Oh, and in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, my breasts started to leak ALL over. Yep – my shirt was soaked. Guess it was par for the course for the week. At that point, I really didn’t care and just kind of laughed at it…
My husband forgot to fill the van up with gas during preschool pick-up/dropoff. The light was on when we left to go to the doctor. UGH. Seriously?!?! Can you tell I am the one that does all the errands and makes sure the vans are filled up with gas? Another quick $10 to get us to the doctor and not be late!
Once I got home, I basically just handed the baby to my husband and jumped in the shower. I was well past my limit for handling the pain/itch of my back and had been wearing a shirt for far too long at that point – I was in agony! The shower felt soooo good! My husband went to pick up my prescription and get a treat for my daughters class the next day. Oh and I reminded him 20 times to fill the van up with gas while he was out! They remembered this time. YAY for a gassed up van!
Ah… The cream helped soooo much. I wasn’t up every 2-3 hours needing to shower to survive. You’d think it was from a newborn. Nope. He was sleeping fine. It was all about my back. I FINALLY got some MUCH needed sleep. I hadn’t slept that much since before going in to have the baby!
Things finally started to look up on Thursday! I had some sleep and my back was feeling better at least! Got laundry and dishes all caught up!
Friday, went in for a weight check on the baby. He gained 5oz in those 2 days!! He only needed 1oz a day and far exceeded that! Guess I was making him some good milk! No more need for weight checks. His bilirubin was down too – all that pooping he has also been doing! All good things!
While at the weight check, our normal doctor came in and a nurse practitioner (who was training). They asked how I was doing and I explained about my back (this doctor was not the doctor I saw on Wednesday. I saw the on-call doctor for myself that day) and the NP was really interested. I started to explain what it looked like, and then was like “Well, you just want to see it?” I lift up my shirt. Maybe I just enjoy the gasps when people see my back – ha!! They too were impressed with the adhesive outline. I explained that it looked so much better than just a few days ago (it had improved slightly!) After having a baby, I guess modesty sometimes goes out the window and I’ll just lift my shirt -hahahaha!
Thankfully, people from our church brought us meals most of the week. That helped so much! When this exhausted and in pain, it was a lifesaver! (it is hard for me to accept help, but we greatly appreciated it this week!)
Now we are onto the holiday weekend. My back is still horribly red and itchy, but It is slowly getting better. I still try not to wear shirts for too long – towels are my friend. I did leave the house to do a bit of shopping with my daughter, so we are making progress. My hope for the entire holiday weekend is to just get the house back into order after a horrible week and hopefully just gear up and ready to survive the last few weeks of school. There was a reason I planned for the baby to come at the END of the school year… Alas, my body had other plans and he is here now, so we just need to survive this last stretch of school, and then we can enjoy no more schedules with SUMMER BREAK!
