Exactly three weeks after having the caesarean I had another health problem show up- this time it was my gall bladder. Not the best news but at least it wasn't a clot in my lungs.. They did several tests to rule that out. Pulmonary embolisms are a possible side effect of having surgery.
What does the gallbladder do? It stores bile, a fluid that the liver makes to break down fats in the food we eat. Once food is ingested the gallbladder secretes the bile into the digestive tract- to do that it has to expand and contract like muscles do. It's a common thing to have gallstones or "sludge" in the gallbladder- if one of these stones get lodged in the bile duct it rsults in excruciating pain and it's actually known as "biliary colic" or a gallbladder "attack".
The first attack was at 8pm on Thursday 18/3/11 and it lasted an hour or so and then mysteriously stopped. The pain was sooo bad it made me sob :( I thought it may have been a muscle spasm and that the panadol into had kicked in.
I had to see the doctor the next day and he checked me over for a Blood clot, the chest sounded clear so he sent me for an Xray just to be sure. It was all clear.. GP said to let him know if it happened again.
And it did- in the wee hours of Tuesday morning- this time the pain didn't stop and it got so bad I got hubby to ring an ambulance- I was writhing and moaning in agony! After trying to get an IV set up with no success they gave me a morpheine injection and carted me off to the emergency dept at the Base hospital.
I had to leave baby behind with hubby, she was hungry and crying- thankfully my husband listened to me and bought formula and bottles as a stand by the last attack- I was close to going to hospital last time and I was in no shape to feed her with that pain! Hubby rang his Mum to come over and stay with our three other children- Again the Lord provides- we are very blessed to have such a caring Mum.
So, I was in the ER at 2am, had to wait until later in the morning for staff to do scans etc which meant I was in for a long wait. Thankfully the pain relief set in and I could catch a few zzz's while bubs slept. Hubby had bought her with him in the capsule so I could still feed her and not stuff up my milk supply. Long story short I was sent home at 4pm that day after being cleared of having clots in the lungs. Still no clue what was causing the pain- I asked what the next step would be if the pain happened again- the doctor said to get them to do an ultrasound just to check the gallbladder.
We got home and then just as Hubby was about to get tea on the table the pain started to come back- we had to scramble to get Hubby's lovely cousin Lois to come over this time because his Mum was in Brisbane that night.. all before the pain got too unbearable to move.
We went back to the hospital again and we suggested they check the gallbladder like the last doctor told us earlier. Sure enough, there was "sludge" (small stones etc) in there and that meant my pain was from "biliary colic". They dosed me up on pain relief and I was sent home and told to make an appointment to have a full ultrasound.
The next available appointment wasn't until two days away so I had to be very careful of what I ate- fatty foods and even dairy can set off an attack :(
It didn't wait that long- u had another attack on Wednesday evening. Back we go, AGAIN! unfortunately I landed a crusty old relief nurse who left me there in pain and didn't do anything to help- she only filled out paperwork and took obs. At last my actual nurse came back and she tried to set me up on an IV - after several attempts they got one in- the medicines could go in but they couldn't take blood samples out :( nonetheless by the time all this mucking around took place the gallbladder attack actually stopped, just as the nurse was about to inject morphine into the drip!
In the midst of all this the registrar had re read my file and noticed that we had private health cover- he then arranged to transfer me to a private hospital for the night and contacted a specialist who would see me in the morning.
Ok- we get to the private hospital and then I find out the specialist had ordered me to have no food or drink from midnight cos I was most likely going to have surgery the next day- I'm like "what the!?!" But, I did what I was told and Cara and I spent the night together in hospital- Daddy went home to try and get some much needed sleep- he had been running around ragged the last few weeks with me in hospital only three weeks earlier and here we were again!
Morning came and the Doctor ame to chat- said that because I'd had three attacks so close together the only way to fix it was to remove it laparoscopically *gulp* Bright side is it wasn't going to be as invasive as the caesarean BUT I had to have general anesthetic.. For the first time.. Eek!
Long story short it was over and done with and next thing I knew I woke up in recovery- all went well- and there were definitely stones in there blocking the duct. Thank the Lird yet again I had no where near the amount of pain like the c section and I only felt a little nauseated by the anaesthetic- managed to avoid chucking by asking the nurse for that fantastic stuff, maxolon!! Had some aches under the collar bones from the gas they pump you up with but that was easy enough to deal with. The discomfort of where they put the tubes into the abdomen didn't really start until the next day- had to lie flat on my back again cos side sleeping hurt. That sucked cos I am normally a side or tummy sleeper- strewth I haven't slept on my tummy for nearly a year! Still won't once the healing is done cos I am breastfeeding and the old mammaries won't take kindly to being squished - sigh!
So, I'm back on the mending path now- still two weeks left before I can drive due to the c section- still not 100% strong again either. Hope everything comes good again soon- I have to go back to work again in four weeks- I love my job but I'd much rather be at home with the little ones... That story I shall leave for another time.
TGBTG
Anje
Saturday, April 30, 2011
upside down, miss baby C
The next instalment of my recent adventures - the birth of Cara Grace.
Early Sunday morning 27/3/11 at 3am I woke up feeling awful and my heartbeat was irregular- went back to sleep eventually after stressing myself out for an hour or so- woke again at a more reasonable hour and still felt the same. We packs the three kids up and shipped them off to Mother-in-law for the day to see if I could rest and be stress free- but that didn't happen- took myself to hospital to be checked by the midwives as I had high blood pressure for the last few weeks and they were a little worried about it - I wasn't, because it was typical of all my other pregnancies and overall the outcome of each was ok. Note I said that I wasn't worried, until the dodgy heartrate started. They took bloods and other fluids and ran an ECG to rule out sinister causes for the heart thing- turns out it was an 'electrical' problem that was exacerbated by high blood pressure. At 38 weeks pregnant they thought it a good idea to stay in for observation and see if the blood pressure settled down by morning- which I was sure it would. Nope- it didn't. Now the doctors said it was probably best to induce labour to prevent full blown Eclampsia setting in. I was not impressed about that at all- I hate intervention! But, I reluctantly agreed to go with using hormone gels to ripen the cervix on Monday evening- looked like I wasn't going to see out the last week of work after all :-/
Eventually the doctor came back and thank God, she decided to do an ultrasound before starting the whole process... baby was breech!! That was baffling because at previous antenatal appointments and the day before, the midwives palpated and confirmed that baby was head-down with their back facing my spine. Bubs could have turned overnight, she was very active, so much so I was rather uncomfortable and had to get out of bed a few times to get some relief..
Being breech changed the game plan in a big way. There were a number of options, and without going into any futher detail, we chose to go with a Caesarean and also have my tubes tied to make sure that was it for our family. They couldn’t schedule the c section until the next morning, Tuesday 29th March 2011.
Well, to say I was ‘packing it’ was an understatement, I didn't want to be induced let alone have the c section! That night was one filled with prayer that all would go well and that my nerves would be calmed, maybe even that baby would turn?? Baby was really active again through the night and I actually wondered if she had turned again..
Next morning the team of doctors came to visit before I was set to get ready for surgery, they did another ultrasound and you would'nt read about it, baby was head down again! I could have chosen to be induced now, although it may still result in emergency c section anyways because bubs was sitting very high and could still turn during labour.. or the cord may deliver first etc.. We decided to stick with the plan anyways.
So, after I was prepped I was wheeled into theatre at around 12.30pm and waited a little longer - I finally went in at about 1pm. I was really nervous now - especially about the spinal block because I had a nightmare time with an epidural during labour with Thomas... Thankfully the anaesthetist did a fantastic job, I only felt the local needle and that was it... That was the least of my worries - once the surgeons started to make the incisions and start prodding around inside - that was really freaky. For some reason I didn't expect those sensations. I didn't feel any pain - it was just a lot of tugging and pulling.
At approx. 1.30pm Miss C G was born- covered in that creamy stuff called vernix and weighing 3430g.. She was absolutely beautiful and was at last in our arms, safe and sound. Her name is a mix of the names of my late Mum, my late father -in -law.
The rest of the surgery took a while to get finished but it went well. I wasn't ready for the pain after though.. it caned! Thankfully pain relief was readily available. It was also really frustrating that I was so weak and sore afterwards. I was told about the issues involved but you don't realise until you go through it yourself.
This whole experience was a huge learning curve for ALL of us. One bonus- she had a beautifully round head, not funny shaped like a normal delivery does. Poor Cara was gagging alot too, apparently Caesar babies do that to clear out the fluid still in their system from the amniotic fluid? It normally gets ‘squashed’ out during labour as they pass through the birth canal.
Little Miss C seemed to be very placid, Hubby and I were waiting for the screaming to start somewhere.. it didn’t set in until the second night - she wasn't attaching very well and she wanted to feed constantly. I had to get the midwives help me to hand express colostrum and syringe it into her mouth while she sucked on their latex gloved finger. I was rather stressed... and exhausted too.
Thankfully the next afternoon my milk had come in and from there she didn't have any problems attaching and feeding from that point on, it was flowing into her mouth! That was a relief cos she started to look jaundiced (yellow)... apparently it can be flushed away by frequent feeds.
I was still sore and weak and wasn’t able to walk much further than around the room. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of going home too early like I did with Miss H, our third child. I started to venture out of the ward on Sunday, a week after I was admitted. I wanted to get home, but it was agreed that Monday would be the safest option.
Monday rolled around and baby was weighed, after dropping down to 3130g she was back upto nearly 3300g. Sweet!
We took her home at last and she slept for ages.. I had to wake her every two hours to make sure the milk supply would establish properly. I was determined that this time, success would be mine.. breastfeeding is no walk in the park!
That’s pretty much it for the story of Cara’s arrival and the associated exciting events...
TGBTG
Anje
Early Sunday morning 27/3/11 at 3am I woke up feeling awful and my heartbeat was irregular- went back to sleep eventually after stressing myself out for an hour or so- woke again at a more reasonable hour and still felt the same. We packs the three kids up and shipped them off to Mother-in-law for the day to see if I could rest and be stress free- but that didn't happen- took myself to hospital to be checked by the midwives as I had high blood pressure for the last few weeks and they were a little worried about it - I wasn't, because it was typical of all my other pregnancies and overall the outcome of each was ok. Note I said that I wasn't worried, until the dodgy heartrate started. They took bloods and other fluids and ran an ECG to rule out sinister causes for the heart thing- turns out it was an 'electrical' problem that was exacerbated by high blood pressure. At 38 weeks pregnant they thought it a good idea to stay in for observation and see if the blood pressure settled down by morning- which I was sure it would. Nope- it didn't. Now the doctors said it was probably best to induce labour to prevent full blown Eclampsia setting in. I was not impressed about that at all- I hate intervention! But, I reluctantly agreed to go with using hormone gels to ripen the cervix on Monday evening- looked like I wasn't going to see out the last week of work after all :-/
Eventually the doctor came back and thank God, she decided to do an ultrasound before starting the whole process... baby was breech!! That was baffling because at previous antenatal appointments and the day before, the midwives palpated and confirmed that baby was head-down with their back facing my spine. Bubs could have turned overnight, she was very active, so much so I was rather uncomfortable and had to get out of bed a few times to get some relief..
Being breech changed the game plan in a big way. There were a number of options, and without going into any futher detail, we chose to go with a Caesarean and also have my tubes tied to make sure that was it for our family. They couldn’t schedule the c section until the next morning, Tuesday 29th March 2011.
Well, to say I was ‘packing it’ was an understatement, I didn't want to be induced let alone have the c section! That night was one filled with prayer that all would go well and that my nerves would be calmed, maybe even that baby would turn?? Baby was really active again through the night and I actually wondered if she had turned again..
Next morning the team of doctors came to visit before I was set to get ready for surgery, they did another ultrasound and you would'nt read about it, baby was head down again! I could have chosen to be induced now, although it may still result in emergency c section anyways because bubs was sitting very high and could still turn during labour.. or the cord may deliver first etc.. We decided to stick with the plan anyways.
So, after I was prepped I was wheeled into theatre at around 12.30pm and waited a little longer - I finally went in at about 1pm. I was really nervous now - especially about the spinal block because I had a nightmare time with an epidural during labour with Thomas... Thankfully the anaesthetist did a fantastic job, I only felt the local needle and that was it... That was the least of my worries - once the surgeons started to make the incisions and start prodding around inside - that was really freaky. For some reason I didn't expect those sensations. I didn't feel any pain - it was just a lot of tugging and pulling.
At approx. 1.30pm Miss C G was born- covered in that creamy stuff called vernix and weighing 3430g.. She was absolutely beautiful and was at last in our arms, safe and sound. Her name is a mix of the names of my late Mum, my late father -in -law.
The rest of the surgery took a while to get finished but it went well. I wasn't ready for the pain after though.. it caned! Thankfully pain relief was readily available. It was also really frustrating that I was so weak and sore afterwards. I was told about the issues involved but you don't realise until you go through it yourself.
This whole experience was a huge learning curve for ALL of us. One bonus- she had a beautifully round head, not funny shaped like a normal delivery does. Poor Cara was gagging alot too, apparently Caesar babies do that to clear out the fluid still in their system from the amniotic fluid? It normally gets ‘squashed’ out during labour as they pass through the birth canal.
Little Miss C seemed to be very placid, Hubby and I were waiting for the screaming to start somewhere.. it didn’t set in until the second night - she wasn't attaching very well and she wanted to feed constantly. I had to get the midwives help me to hand express colostrum and syringe it into her mouth while she sucked on their latex gloved finger. I was rather stressed... and exhausted too.
Thankfully the next afternoon my milk had come in and from there she didn't have any problems attaching and feeding from that point on, it was flowing into her mouth! That was a relief cos she started to look jaundiced (yellow)... apparently it can be flushed away by frequent feeds.
I was still sore and weak and wasn’t able to walk much further than around the room. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of going home too early like I did with Miss H, our third child. I started to venture out of the ward on Sunday, a week after I was admitted. I wanted to get home, but it was agreed that Monday would be the safest option.
Monday rolled around and baby was weighed, after dropping down to 3130g she was back upto nearly 3300g. Sweet!
We took her home at last and she slept for ages.. I had to wake her every two hours to make sure the milk supply would establish properly. I was determined that this time, success would be mine.. breastfeeding is no walk in the park!
That’s pretty much it for the story of Cara’s arrival and the associated exciting events...
TGBTG
Anje
Friday, April 29, 2011
broken toe :(
Life has been a complete blur in the last few weeks!
We were expecting our fourth child to arrive around April 8th- I had planned to work until the Friday before the due date for two main reasons: firstly, all my children were a week overdue and secondly, I was trying to make the most of my maternity leave of six weeks plus the two weeks school holidays. For once I was trying to be semi organised. It was going according to plan until two weeks before the due date and things went pear shaped from there.
On Wednesday 23/3/11, I was racing (well, as fast as I could being heavily pregnant) around the house trying to get three kids and myself out the door and I stubbed my toe- yep- it hurts like heck for a minute and then goes away- not this time! I had caught my little toe on the corner of two skirting boards and it was ripped sideways- swelling and bruising started immediately. Oh, and I could hardly walk on it either. Dag nammit- it was 7.45am and I had to call my boss to say I couldn't go to work- I think I broke my toe. How ridiculous! The next phonecall was to the doctor to fight the receptionist for an appointment, thank the Lord I managed to get one. Trying to see your own GP without booking weeks in advance is like trying to extract blood out of a stone!
So, after kids were delivered to school/kindy I then found myself sitting in the doctors room- she said it was most likely broken but wouldn't Xray because I was pregnant and the treatment is the same for bruised toes anyhow- buddy strap it to the toe next door and to keep off it for ten days- which caused more drama cos I still had another week and a half left of work to go... Bugger all sick leave left either, one day I think.. Anyway- God always provides and I was blessed that people at work were prepared to "gift" a few sick days to tide me over as needed- I couldn't afford to take leave without pay because I'm the only income earner at the moment. I took the rest of the week off and had made plans with my boss to come in Monday and stay in the staff room doing prep work with my foot up to finish the week off. Once again, plans didn't take shape as I intended. That's a whole new post on it's own!
TGBTG
Anje
We were expecting our fourth child to arrive around April 8th- I had planned to work until the Friday before the due date for two main reasons: firstly, all my children were a week overdue and secondly, I was trying to make the most of my maternity leave of six weeks plus the two weeks school holidays. For once I was trying to be semi organised. It was going according to plan until two weeks before the due date and things went pear shaped from there.
On Wednesday 23/3/11, I was racing (well, as fast as I could being heavily pregnant) around the house trying to get three kids and myself out the door and I stubbed my toe- yep- it hurts like heck for a minute and then goes away- not this time! I had caught my little toe on the corner of two skirting boards and it was ripped sideways- swelling and bruising started immediately. Oh, and I could hardly walk on it either. Dag nammit- it was 7.45am and I had to call my boss to say I couldn't go to work- I think I broke my toe. How ridiculous! The next phonecall was to the doctor to fight the receptionist for an appointment, thank the Lord I managed to get one. Trying to see your own GP without booking weeks in advance is like trying to extract blood out of a stone!
So, after kids were delivered to school/kindy I then found myself sitting in the doctors room- she said it was most likely broken but wouldn't Xray because I was pregnant and the treatment is the same for bruised toes anyhow- buddy strap it to the toe next door and to keep off it for ten days- which caused more drama cos I still had another week and a half left of work to go... Bugger all sick leave left either, one day I think.. Anyway- God always provides and I was blessed that people at work were prepared to "gift" a few sick days to tide me over as needed- I couldn't afford to take leave without pay because I'm the only income earner at the moment. I took the rest of the week off and had made plans with my boss to come in Monday and stay in the staff room doing prep work with my foot up to finish the week off. Once again, plans didn't take shape as I intended. That's a whole new post on it's own!
TGBTG
Anje
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Intro
Hey
Thought I'd have another go at blogging- I've been inspired by a few friends that have their own blogs. I figure if I keep at it while I'm on maternity leave and keep at it regularly I will form the habit of blogging!?! They say it takes fourteen days to establish a new habit? We shall see. Don't think it works with dieting or exercise, but that could be down to my lack of willpower.. haha.
Anyhoo, I'm an Aussie Mum of four beautiful children aged 13 to 1 month old. I live in a reasonably nice town in Queensland and I am a high school teacher by trade.
So far I have two blogs- this one, for personal everyday reflections. The second blog I have called magistra dixit- all about my teaching escapades.
I shall sign off for now-
TGBTG
Anje
Anje
Thought I'd have another go at blogging- I've been inspired by a few friends that have their own blogs. I figure if I keep at it while I'm on maternity leave and keep at it regularly I will form the habit of blogging!?! They say it takes fourteen days to establish a new habit? We shall see. Don't think it works with dieting or exercise, but that could be down to my lack of willpower.. haha.
Anyhoo, I'm an Aussie Mum of four beautiful children aged 13 to 1 month old. I live in a reasonably nice town in Queensland and I am a high school teacher by trade.
So far I have two blogs- this one, for personal everyday reflections. The second blog I have called magistra dixit- all about my teaching escapades.
I shall sign off for now-
TGBTG
Anje
Anje
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