Slow Recovery

Isn't he adorable?  I think so, but I may be a bit biased.

 

Oh how I love this sweet little face! Seeing this boy makes all that I've gone through in the last few weeks worth it.

This recovery has been a bit harder than my other ones.  Maybe its the fact that I'm not 21 anymore.  It could be that I lost a lot more blood this time with my hemorrhage. Or maybe its that I had three kids in about 3 1/2 years. Either way, I've been pregnant or nursing almost non stop since September of 2007 (I had a two month break between nursing Mason and getting pregnant with Porter). I think my body may be a little worn out, which is why its not bouncing back as fast. Usually by the second or third week out I am pretty much back to normal...but not this time.  I still feel worn out.  I am still in pain. And I'm having some crazy anxiety attacks...I blame them on the shifting hormones.

Also, I have a blood clot on the back of my hand that throbs all of the time.  Its about three inches above where they had my (painful) IV. The doctor at the local Instacare told me to just put warm compresses on it and take ibuprofen.  He told me not to worry about it, but, um, its a freaking blood clot. After a week of doing what he told me to, nothing has changed and I keep wondering if I should call my OB's office and see what they think. I'm pretty sure taking all of this ibuprofen is ruining my stomach...its ached all day.

In spite of still not feeling 100%, I am so very, very thankful for this precious boy!  He's totally worth all the pain.  I often fall asleep with him in my arms as we snuggle. He's a little slice of heaven.

I'm thankful for my wonderful mother who lets me call her and talk forever about nothing.  She doesn't know how much it helps me to have someone to talk to and vent my frustrations to. She truly is an angel.

I'm so thankful for my sweet sister-in-laws, who came to help me the first week I was home.  They'll never know how much it meant to me to have people here to help out!  They cleaned my house, did my laundry, and played with and fed my children. I'm thankful I married into such a great family.

I'm thankful for my amazing neighbor, who was able to go pick up Carson from school for me when he got the stomach flu and I still wasn't able to drive.  I'm thankful for her random calls to invite the boys over to play. I'm not the kind of person that will just call up someone and ask for help, so to have her go out of her way to take my boys means so much! I truly have some great friends.

And I am so thankful for a wonderful husband that has to put up with his sickly, hormonal wife.  He's always so willing to take Porter at night when I'm too exhausted to stay up.  He's pitched in a lot lately with dishes, laundry, and cooking dinner.  He doesn't complain when he comes home to a messy house and a wife still lounging in her pajamas.  I love him for all that he does for our family!

Meeting Porter

{Before the Delivery}

Two very anxious parents, who managed only three hours of sleep.

A 6:00 AM check-in time at the hospital.

A crash-course for Daddy in using the DSLR camera...hence the blurry, head cut-off belly picture.

Getting hooked up to monitors, blood draws, and a painful IV.

A "belly-picture" of Daddy all suited up and ready to go to the OR.

One nervous Mommy as she walked into the OR and had a spinal block placed.

{During the Delivery}

A surprisingly fast birth.

An answer to prayers...scar tissue was miraculously better this time, which means less complications and more brothers (and maybe sisters) in the future!

The sweet sound of a newborn baby cry...before his body had even been delivered!

The time: 8:05 AM. 

The measurments: 7lbs 11oz, 21.5 inches.

Then the sound of a nurse next to me saying, "Sara, look at this."

A perfect knot in the cord.

Doctors explained to me that this is rare and my baby was VERY lucky to be alive.  A natural delivery could have been fatal. If he would have moved wrong in the womb and pulled it tight, he wouldn't have lived. A rush of emotion as I realized how very blessed we were to have a scheduled cesarean.  How very blessed I was to hear that newborn cry.

{After the Delivery}

The joy of finally meeting Porter.

Mom and Dad marvelling at the miracle of their newborn son.

Then an hour spent in recovery...snuggling our sweet boy and learning all over again how to nurse.

Finally a move upstairs to the postpartum unit.

Then a postpartum hemmorhage.

Everything felt like a blur to me. Doctors and nurses were coming in and out of the room.  There was near constant massaging of my uterus.  I was given three different medications that finally stopped the bleeding and saved me from being taken back into surgery. 

One of the most frightening things this mother has ever been through.

After everything was stabilized, it was time for Grandma and the brothers to meet Porter.

Such excited little boys!

And finally, having my little family all together.  How I love these boys!