I like to keep things interesting

Well, a lot has happened since we left the hospital. On Friday we went to visit Anita and I was able to see the doctor that delivered Reese. I had a small blood spot from my incision that I wanted to make sure was normal. She said that it looked a little puffy, but it wasn’t infected. She gave me an antibiotic just incase so we could possibly prevent any infections. Saturday morning I woke up to even more bleeding so I called the nurse on call and she said that even if I went to the ER there isn’t much they would do beside put pressure on it and give me an antibiotic. So, I decided to put more pressure on it and just chill out, which is basically all I have been doing all week. Much later I got up to use the restroom and noticed that I had bled through the pad we had stuck on my underwear along the incision line, a bandage, and a thick gauze pad. It had also bled through my shorts. I watched as it slowly flowed down my leg and said, “Adam, I think we are going to the ER now.” Adam came in and looked and agreed. My parents had come to our house the first time we thought we were going to the ER earlier in the day, but they had just left to go see a movie. We called them during the movie and they came over to watch Reese. I was extremely nervous to say the least. I was okay looking at the blood at first, but then I started thinking, “WHY am I bleeding so much and where is it coming from?!” I sat in the chair as Adam changed Reese, got our stuff together, set out a bottle for my parents, and tried to calm me down from the other room. He kept saying, “Amber, say a prayer out loud.” I seriously felt faint and then suddenly I was like, “If I allow myself to pass out Adam is going to have it so much harder. It will make things so much more difficult.” I was able to pull it together somewhat and just concentrate on breathing. When my parents got here my Dad helped me out to the car and off we went.

Adam talked to me about how much blood I lost during surgery and how it was okay and he just kept talking to me. When we got to the hospital Adam went in to get a wheelchair. I told him I didn’t want to be alone and I heard God say, “Amber, you’re not alone.” I turned on KLTY and just concentrated on the lyrics. They came out and got me and we sat in the ER waiting room for a little while. I asked Adam to see how long they thought it would be and if they had any tricks to keep me from passing out...lol. We went back there soon after and they asked me a lot of questions and took my blood pressure. We ended up seeing a PA there and I could tell they were surprised at the amount of blood, even though this type of thing does happen. Now, from here on, I probably won’t get any of the spellings correct, but I will try to spell the treatments as best as possible. He put Lidocaine and Epinephrine shots in to help slow the bleeding by constricting the blood vessels. He then used Silver Nitrate sticks to cauterize the area. Then he put more glue along the incision line along with more steri strips. They can’t restitch anything because then you risk the chance of trapping in bacteria.

So, after that fun experience we left and went home. Sunday I laid around a lot and eventually decided to get up to use the restroom and to take a shower. After using the restroom I noticed that a new area on the incision line was puffy. I asked Adam what he thought because I felt like it was about to explode. I went ahead and got in the shower while applying pressure to it with one hand. Towards the end of the shower I looked down at the rag I had been applying pressure with and it was full of blood from the new spot and the old spot. I got out of the shower and told him we would probably need to make another ER trip. Adam said, “Well, lets get you settled and apply pressure for 10 minutes like the PA said last night.” I went ahead and called the nurse on call and she reassured me that this does happen and sometimes fluid gets trapped underneath and needs to leak out. She said she would call the doctor on call so they could meet us at the ER. Adam came over to take a look and immediately said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to the ER.” I had bled through everything again and was leaking blood even more than the night before. Gary and Anita were coming over anyway to bring us dinner so we called to see if they could come over a bit earlier. We left as soon as they got here. They wheeled me straight back when we got there. An ER doctor came in and said that she was asked by the OB doctor to check it and report back to her. After looking at it she said, “Yeah, you are bleeding a lot aren’t you? I’m going to call the other doctor because I think she needs to look at this.” So, we waited for a long time and eventually the other doctor came. The nurse that helped us was awesome. She was there the night before and remembered us. She kept bringing us graham crackers :)

The doctor came in and looked at it. She took off the steri strips, which was only the beginning of the pain I would feel, so she could look at it. She opened it back up and decided that she wanted to “explore more”. She gave me two Percastats (sp) which I tried to fight, but she said that I would really need this pain killer to help with pain and to relax me. She said it would take 30 minutes to take affect. However, she came back in 15 minutes later to get started. The nurse told us later that she tried to hold her off, but I guess they were ready. I didn’t watch, but this is what I gathered from their dialogue and talking to Adam later. She first opened it up and looked for a place that maybe the blood was flowing from. She said that it was many blood vessels that were slowly leaking. In addition, I had a blood clot that was trapped underneath which was making it difficult to heal. She took out the blood clot and then I believe put saline in the opening. She then put the silver nitrate shots/sticks back into areas which was extremely painful. I’m pretty sure my fingernails were about to go straight through Adam’s hand. Adam explained to me later that my insides looked like “rare hamburger meat” (lovely I know) and then they put the silver nitrate on it and it automatically turned it all brown. She was cauterizing it. That way each time I would start to bleed it would hit the cauterized area and stop. They told Adam that the next part he would need to watch even more closely because he would be doing it twice a day. They took Saline (I believe) and put it in the opening. Then she packed my open incision with wet gauze and then dry gauze. After doing that she taped it all up. She said that it would help it to heal and it would do it from the inside out. They gave us supplies so Adam could open it up, pack it, and tape it back up at home. THANKFULLY Adam is not squeamish about these things. She told me a few times how this was not caused by anything I did or anyone else did and that it just happens at times. I told her how I had a minor back surgery to remove a potential cancer spot last year and how I had “suture spitting”. The PA the night before said that some people have a natural aversion to foreign objects in their body. She said it would continue to bleed and seep some, but it will improve. They told me to reschedule my follow-up appointment with my doctor to today (Monday) so they could see how it was doing.

This morning I woke up to more blood, which was definitely discouraging, but they told me it would happen. I called my doctor to reschedule and after putting me on hold they asked if I could come in right away. I let them know that the ER said I needed to take my pain killer before coming in and it takes 30 minutes to take effect. After taking the pain killer and my Mom arriving to take care of Reese Adam and I headed to the doctor. She was a little surprised that it was still bleeding, but was very calm and reassured me that it was normal. She took off the bandage and opened it up which felt great. She cleaned it and told me how she really thinks that I will heal quickly. She said there is no point in closing it because we all know it will open back up. She re-packed it with the gauze and bandage. Basically the gauze and bandage are acting as the closure instead of steri strips or stitches. Adam will have to change it again tonight. I have never liked the idea of pain killers, but now I am so thankful for them. They honestly don’t help with the pain too much, but it relaxes me enough to where I don’t care as much. As my doctor hugged me and laughed she said, “You are keeping things interesting huh? This gives me more opportunities to see you though.” She said how we are a great team and how Adam is doing an amazing job, which he truly is. He has been changing diapers, alternating feedings with me at night, cooking our meals, cleaning the house, and taking care of the dogs. On top of all that he is taking care of me, helping me move around, and recording the times I take my hundreds of medicines! My doctor told me today that I need to move around more, but not to go crazy. She said it’s good that I do and the doctor from the night before said the same thing. So, that’s where we are now. Adam is taking a nap and my Mom is at Wal-Mart buying food, some pants for me that fit above my incision, and an abdominal band to help apply constant pressure. Sweet Reese is sleeping, as usual, and doing great. She has taken SO well to her schedule and will start waking up 20 minutes before feeding time. She will be completely awake, pretty much to the minute, for her feeding. The first night at home she DEFINITELY did not know her night from day. The daytime was great, but wow at night it was a different story. We got an hour of sleep that night. The next night was better and now it’s even better. She is so adorable. I love just staring at her. She had her first pediatrician appointment last Thursday morning and she is doing well. We asked if the hiccuping and sneezing was normal and the doctor said it was actually a great sign of a strong nervous system. We hope for her to be back at her birth weight at her appointment on Thursday.

God has been so amazing throughout all of this. Talk about growing me even more! It has been so trying and discouraging with all of this going on. All I want to do is spend time taking care of Reese, but it hasn’t been entirely possible. Then, I have to watch Adam do everything and I want to help. I also have had scary moments when I was bleeding so much and on top of all that my emotions have been going crazy with all the changes and hormones! However, the last 2-3 days I have been doing WAY better with my emotions. God has really been stretching me and it has forced me to put even more faith and trust in Him. My doctor today said, “Well, Amber, there really isn’t much else for you to worry about. You are truly doing it all. You are really tough girl.” The things help to remind me how in control God truly is. It helps me to practice relying on him and I am so thankful and grateful for ALL of these opportunities.

So, things are going good for right now and I’ll keep you posted! :) Thank you all for your prayers. Several of you have mentioned that we are in your prayers and we deeply appreciate it! Pictures to come soon of our little Reester!