Hello Toes

I can see my toes again. They reappeared rather unexpectedly Friday before last. It is nice to see them again however wish they’d waited to make their reappearance until May.

Short-ish version. I woke early Sunday 03/11/2012 with nauseau and a stomache afire. This has happened a couple of times during the pregnancy so I didn’t think much of it, just tried the things that had worked to calm the pain in the past. Chalked it up to pregnancy heartburn and nausea.

About 5 hours later Scott took me to ER as the pain had grown substantially worse, worse pain ever kind of worse (not worse pain I can imagine worse, just worse pain I personally have ever felt worse).

I was in hospital from 3/11 through 3/20, scared the hell out of myself, Scott, and friends and family. A gallstone the size of a buick, a cranky right kidney, a catheter, a stint, lava piped in from Hawaii straight into my veins (they claimed it was potassium but it felt like liquid fire to me), lots of exciting pain medications and a shiny new baby girl.

Scott was my advocate, protector, helped control my pain when the meds weren’t doing it and medical decision maker. I was out of it for most of the period with pain and pain medications, not capable of making good decisions. Dear friends stepped in and took on Bing and Kate so Scott could focus on my care, other friends helped in numerous ways, helping watch over me in the night (the pain med required pushing a button every 10 minutes) and caring for me so Scott could catch a little (very little) rest.

Things started getting grim, the doc’s couldn’t do the normal treatments/diagnosis paths because of my belly full of baby. Thursday 3/15 night the decision was made to do a C-Section and get Elizabeth out while she was still doing well and before I slipped any further.

Elizabeth Katherine Anderson was delivered by C-Section on Friday, 03/16/2012 at 1:35 AM, 16″ long and 3 lbs 14 ounces. Scott was at her side shortly after delivery. He reported she was pulling off sensors as fast as the nurses were applying them <grin> That’s our spunky girl.

After delivery the docs did more medical stuff to me and I began to mend. Once the C-Section has healed I’ll have the offending gall bladder removed, soonish I’ll have the kidney stint removed too.

Elizabeth will be in Newborn Intensive Care Unit until about May (her normal delivery time). Elizabeth is doing very well, and at about a week and a half old is already down to just a feeding tube down her nose. Scott, I, or Joanne spend time with her daily in ‘Kangaroo Care’. Visitors are tightly restricted (germ reasons) and there is no viewing window so we’ll have to rely on photos to share her with you until she comes home in May.

What do we need? Cloth diapers, help with household chores and cooking, transport to/from hospital for Jenny (no driving until off the pain meds), and oh yeah, cloth diapers for Elizabeth.

We are so very grateful for the incredible and unstinting help from friends and family. we are humbled by the generousity and willingness everyone has shown to pitch in.

Posts will be sporadic and brief. We are working on preparing the house for EKA and recovering from the ordeal.