Saying Good-bye to Jen's Appendix

Every nursing mother of a newborn dreams of having some one-on-one time with her husband. Spending the weekend in the hospital was not what I had in mind.

Saturday, November 8th started out like any other Saturday. I felt totally fine. I thought that my bout of the stomach flu that I had endured the weekend before was in the past. I was moving on and not looking back.
Unfortunately after lunch a terrible pain settled in my middle section. I thought it was just a REALLY BAD case of gas. These things happen...but not usually this bad. I was supposed to go to a baby shower, I stayed home a little longer hoping that this pain would pass...literally. I didn't want to embarrass myself at the party by expelling all this painful gas in a room full of women I didn't know.
So I waited, I took tums, I did sit-ups, I lied on my side. If anything the pain was getting worse. I had really been looking forward to the party, and I didn't want to let my friend down. Plus, I had actually fixed my hair and gotten out of my "mommy uniform." I wasn't going to let painful stomach cramps stop me!
So I went to the shower. The pain grew worse. In fact people were talking to me and I was having a really hard time concentrating on what they were saying. As the pain grew worse, it became clear. I needed to go home! I tried to excuse myself gracefully (I had just gotten there... and I was late at that!)
As I drove home it became painfully clear that I needed to go to the hospital. The weird pain had moved on over to my right side.
Once home I tried to nurse Rosemary but I couldn't even hold her. Rory called my parents who were on their way out for a visit and we decided to meet and trade cars. My parents headed back to our house with the girls, and we headed to the good ol' emergency room. My mom later remarked that she knew it was serious when I left Rosemary with her without discussion. Rosemary at that point had never had a bottle and has only had breast milk. So my parents went home and tried to convince Rosemary to take a bottle (poor little girl gagged it down).

Rory and I made it to the hospital by 6 pm, and I was in surgery some time around 11 pm. In between 6 and 11 I had a CT (Cat Scan) and did a few tests. After multiple people came by and poked me in my appendix and watched me writhe in pain there was a general consensus that I had appendicitis. (I really think they should have gathered the group of nurses, doctors and surgeons together to poke me all at the same time--one poke would have been much better for me!) The CT confirmed this, and that it was still in tact and had not ruptured yet, thankfully. The last thing I remember before the surgery is pumping in the hallway of the ER while on major pain meds and answering questions from the anaesthesiologist about my medical history. Even in the ER I don't get a break from multi-tasking!

It was decided that I should have laproscopic surgery. So I ended up with three little holes rather than one big incision. This allows them to check things out more, and shortens recovery time.

Once out of surgery I tried to pump again, but was unsuccessful- Sitting straight up and leaning forward is not the thing you want to do most after having abdominal surgery (props to all you C-section moms). The next morning my milk overfloweth... when the nurse got me up to use the bathroom I left a trail of milk all the way to the bathroom.

I continued to pump while in the hospital. Unfortunately I had to dump it all. I was on pretty heavy meds at times and antibiotics that Rosemary did not really need to have. Had I been in the hospital longer we would have brought her in.

I came home Monday evening. (Not that I remember a whole lot even at that point. A little drugs go a long way with me... my new motto is ... "Half a percocet will do.")

Fortunately, Rosemary did alright with the bottle while I was gone. She was so relieved to be back to me when we were reunited. I think both of us were pretty relieved. Nursing, however, was a bit tricky since I was so sore. Rory remembered the football hold, and we did that for a few days.

I was able to go home but- Here's the catch. I was not allowed to lift the girls. Rosemary had to be handed to me, and I couldn't lift Cecily at all. Even now a-week-and-a-half later lifting Cecily is painful and exhausting. We relied heavily on our moms and ladies from the church to help us out. (THANK YOU) Even so, it has been hard for me to rest with a newborn needing to eat every few hours. To make things more interesting Cecily came down with a fever. At this point Rory and I decided that maybe we should make it official...we don't sleep anymore...then, any sleep we do get would be a bonus. Anyways, I am glad to report that Cecily is doing much better and so am I.
This morning it was just me and the girls. Cecily is Potty Training so I found myself nursing Rosemary while sitting on the floor of the bathroom singing songs with Cecily. Needless to say, once Cecily went down for her nap... I went in search of the pain meds.

Long story short... I don't have my appendix anymore... we're doing better... keep us in your prayers.

Here is Cecily showing off her band-aids like mommy's. We took pictures of us together with our band-aids, but I don't feel like posting them on the internet... sorry... vanity wins out.