And A Little Adventure from Mom, or why I ended up in the ER last night

(I have not read Ries’ posts yet, but several of you have sent txt saying you liked them already. He will be glad. He worked very hard on them. My view of the birth story will come later)

You know, sometimes life gets real crazy real fast. If you have read Reis’ posts you know I was in labor for 38 hours. It is a long damn time. Keep in mind that the small build-up of things that sent to the ER are fairly normal given that time period and the stress you are under in the NICU.

Sunday night, I got the chills. From them on, I was chilled feverish or fine in cycles. The shakes are normal after childbirth because you are losing adrenaline. Low grade fevers can also be common when you are breastfeeding or pumping (which I have been like crazy so I can feed that boy when he is better). Nothing terribly alarming there. I then proceeded to pass out in the shower that morning, but Ries was there since I am unable to bathe myself or get in the tub alone.

My whole body was sore, you, the whole labor thing, but my legs were especially sore. I expected my lady business would feel the most abused but I must have super powers because those have felt fine. My legs continued to be sore, especially my left leg where it meets my hip joint. All the other soreness faded somewhat but the left leg persisted. I would be better in the morning, then by afternoon, I would barely be able to walk, lift that leg, or put any weight on it (though I have mostly been in a wheel chair anyway, labor, you know). Getting into bed was excruciating and amusing.

My midwife, Jackie Griggs, who is amazing, checked me Monday and said I was fine and did some blood work. All the normal things were working. Bleeding going down, no soreness, no trouble in the bathroom. She said if anything ese happened to call her. No problem.

In the early afternoon, Ries and I went in to see Gideon before getting lunch. I could feel my fever coming back and got the shakes while we were there. We left. As we exited the NICU area, one of the nurse practitioners, Mary, also awesome, tracked us down and told me I looked terrible, have I checked my temp, what was I feeling. I explained the above. She insisted I go next door to St. Luke’s Emergency. I took my temp; it was 101, the highest it has been.

We called Jackie, my Mom, my sister-in-law Katy who works in the Med Center and away we went. I felt like absolute crap was scared something could be seriously wrong, and was afraid of leaving my boy. His Smith Grandparents stayed to keep an eye on him.

By the time we got to St. Luke’s, a mere elevator and hallway walk away, my temp went up to 102.8. Oops. They took a bunch of blood and I peed in a cup which was a feat in itself. More tests. Some very unpleasant. No woman wants her recently abused stuff being touched. I got examined a lot down there and, though they were gentle, damn it was not fun. More tests. We wait.
The result. All of my womanly parts are working fine. That is good. The leg is more than likely soft tissue damage from pushing in several positions for 4 hours. It should go away in a couple weeks. My ginormous swollen legs and feet, also normal postpartum; they gave me some pressure stockings which are fabulous.

The fever is likely caused by a slight bladder infection. They gave me IV drugs and a script for pills for seven days. I can’t save the milk I pump during that time or breastfeed, but Gideon will not be ready for eating from the source in that time so that is ok.

I am ok. Still sore, but recovering.