We've had some family visitors come and stay with us recently to meet Zoe. First my sister Samantha joined us for a quick but great trip as she headed to her new assignment in Texas with her fiance Jake. Zoe loves spending time with her aunt feeding her and making faces at each other. It was nice to get the family together for dinner as well at Old Chicago. Zoe slept most of the time in her body carrier and then was passed around the table for cuddles and pictures. We were sad to see Samantha go but were so grateful for the time to catch up and visit. We hope to see her again around Christmas time. One day later Marco's dad Marco Sr. and his wife Mirna joined us for 2 nights. They were so helpful and kind while staying here. Mirna made lunches and breakfast as well as assisted anytime Zoe got fussy. She made lots of suggestions from her experience in raising her daughters. They took any opportunity to clean the kitchen or take Zoe when Marco and I needed to get ready or have some quiet time. During their visit we took them to Ted's Montana Grill where they enjoyed bison for the first time and we went to Red Rocks and Boulder to walk around and get outside. They did not want to go but they hope to visit again soon. A sweet moment was the night before they left. Marco Sr. stood upstairs before going to bed just staring down at Zoe as she slept in her swing. He told Marco he was "leaving part of his heart here".
At Red Rocks
Zoe with her shades and dog beanie <3
Before the family visits I had another complication from being pregnant. At my 6 week check up my doctor saw that my uterus was larger than it should be. After doing an ultrasound she found residual placenta, which I was told was "extremely rare". Thankfully I hadn't experienced any symptoms of infection so they gave me a prescription for something that should induce heavy cramping and expel the placenta. If that doesn't work I had a scheduled D&C for that Friday. Unfortunately the medication didn't work so Friday morning I was admitted to the hospital, hooked up to an IV, went under general anesthesia for the first time (I was pretty scared about this especially having a newborn baby) and underwent a D&C to get the remaining placenta out. I was woken up about an hour later and told all went well. While recovering my heart rate was abnormally low so I had to stay longer than usual but was feeling fine and keeping food and drink down. Besides pushing recovery back another 2 weeks we are just frustrated by these "extremely rare" things that keep happening when they could have been avoided. We are grateful that so far I've recovered well and pray that nothing else comes up unexpectedly.
Marco and I have been able to get in a few dates alone. One of which was to a concert of our favorite band 30 Seconds to Mars. The other was to dinner and a movie - we saw Runner Runner and really enjoyed it. Most of it was filmed in Costa Rica so Marco appreciated it even more. Speaking of Costa Rica we are planning a trip to visit Marco's family in March 2014. Last time we stayed with family so we are excited to make this more of a "vacation" by staying at a hotel in Arenal (rain forest near San Jose) and an all-inclusive beach resort in Guanacaste. Both of which will have plenty of room for his family and friends to stay with us. We will also have a rental car to visit anyone that is unable to visit us.
Date night at 30 Seconds to Mars
Other than that we've been decorating for Halloween, having friends and family over for football Sundays, Marco's been working roughly 50-60 hours a week, we got our new LG front loading washer and dryer which was long overdue and keeping up with house chores. I have 4 weeks left of maternity leave, the holidays are coming and in the mean time Zoe is growing every moment. It's a very exciting but tiring and some what stressful time in our lives but we feel so blessed to call this life ours. We so our best to never take anything for granted and thank God daily for all the trials and tribulations that help us to grow and become stronger as a married couple, as friends and as a family. We love you all!
You mentioned that you feel that your post-pregnancy health issues could have been avoided...how? I'm asking because if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it, since I'll be giving birth in five months!
ReplyDelete#1 the spinal headache/missed epidural. So this happened because the anesthesiologist missed the mark on the epidural and had to do it again. When missing (I'm told this happens .1% of all epidurals) it can cause the spinal fluid in your spinal column to leak causing a spinal headache, vertigo and more. #2 I was told the symptom to look for in diagnosing a spinal headache is you have a horrible headache within 24 hours when sitting/standing up but it goes away when you lay down. I didn't experience this in fact I had a minor, dull headache 48 hours later that I even told nurses and doctors about. They dismissed it stating it wasn't related to the epidural and I should be fine. The previous 48 hours I had horrible upper neck/back pain where I couldn't even move my head or shoulders without grimacing pain. They had to up my Percocet meds to accommodate the pain. Again they didn't think it was related. Once discharged and driving home I threw up, then again the next morning while nursing Zoe, then again on the way to the pediatrician apt. and again on the way to the ER. #3 ER visit/blood patch. Once at the ER I waited 5 hours before finally the anesthesiologist came in to administer the blood patch. He missed 3 times before finally getting it right. Basically this would-be simple procedure takes some of your blood from your arm and immediately injects into your spinal column to have the blood clot and fill that leak. If I didn't get this done my other option would be to go through the vertigo for another 10 days when your body naturally heals. No thanks! #4 Residual placenta. At my 6 week postpartum apt the Dr felt that my uterus hadn't fully shrunk down yet. She requested an immediate ultrasound and found residual placenta still in there. She said the doctor who delivered Zoe should have given me some medication in my IV to force contractions to push out any remaining tissue, placenta etc. My Dr wasn't sure if this medication was given. In my opinion, in order to avoid something like this would be to 1. make sure the doctor gives you that medication (not sure of the name but talk to your doctor they will know) and 2. you should go into the doctors before 6 weeks to make sure things are healing properly, then again at 6 weeks. If I had had an ultrasound weeks prior it could have been caught earlier. I was lucky I didn't get an infection from it. Because of all this I had to go in for a D&C. My pathology report states it was actually a scab from where the placenta detaches. Now my concern is, since they forceable removed the scab with the D&C will it either create more scabbing or by pulling the scab did that create scar tissue which could cause issues when trying to get pregnant again in the future.
DeleteRegarding the epidural I would still recommend it to anyone and most likely will get another for my next delivery. My labor and delivery were smooth sailing; I literally didn't feel any pain at all. I did 6 sets of pushes and she was out. It was just very peaceful and I was able to enjoy the process with my family more. It also doesn't cause any grogginess to the baby or anything since it's in your spine which has nothing to do with what is going into the placenta for the baby. However, in the future I will let them know what happened to me and will not let them discharge me until I'm absolutely certain there is no spinal headache issues. I will also be going in sooner than 6 weeks to confirm my recovery is going as normal. Hope that helps. Sorry it's so long. Be advised I was told all of these things that happened were "extremely rare". I've heard of 4-5 other stories about missed epidurals/spinal headaches since mine happened so you tell me how rare they really are. lol.
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