Postpartum recovery

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had problems delivering the placenta with Lily.  They watched me closely during my hospital stay, and I was doing good with no real issues before I was released on Saturday after delivering Lily.  I was still really swollen on Sunday, and then on Monday it got even worse.  I could hardly walk on my feet.  They were so swollen and hurt terribly.  I was more swollen then I had been during the actual pregnancy.  Monday evening, I started to get chills and had to wear a jacket.  I went to bed that night and shook uncontrollably because I was so cold.  I couldn't get warm.  After waking up Joel, I talked him into holding me so I would stop shaking.  I was finally able to fall asleep, but didn't stay asleep long.  I woke up burning up and was soaked in sweat.  I was literally drenched in sweat.  My shirt, pants, and sheets were soaked in sweat.  I got out of bed to walk around for a minute, and as soon as I did, I started shaking again because I was freezing.  This continued all Monday night, where I would shake uncontrollably from the chills to sweating a few minutes later.

Tuesday morning I felt a little better and didn't have the chills and sweats like I had the night before.  I just figured it was a one time "weird" thing and went about my day.  That evening around 5, the chills started again.  I checked my temperature and it was 99.5.  I decided I didn't want another night like the night before, so I called into SIU and talked to the doctor on call.  He wanted me to check my blood pressure, which was high, and if my fever went up any more I was to go to the ER.  After checking my blood pressure and seeing it was high, and talking with Joel, I decided to go ahead and go into the ER.  I hadn't got much sleep the night before and couldn't handle another night like the one I had previously.  It was after 7 at that point, and I didn't want to drive to Springfield, so I headed to Passavant.  Luckily, Mom was just getting off work, so she met me in the ER and stayed with me.  Joel stayed home with the girls, and I felt terrible for leaving Lily already.  It ended up being an entire night in the ER.  I wasn't released until after 2AM.  They did blood work, a urine sample, chest xray, sonogram of my legs to check for blood clots, and a sonogram.  After all of that, the only thing they saw was my hemoglobin count was still low (from losing so much blood with the birth), and blamed it all on that.  They didn't want to rush into a blood transfusion, and wanted me to follow up with Dr. Huston the next day. 

I was beyond tired the next day, and tried sleeping as much as I could, so I didn't get Dr. Huston called until Thursday.  I was still having chills/sweats, although not as bad, so they wanted to see me the next day.  Joel went with me to see Dr. Huston on Friday, where he checked me and said everything looked good to him.  He did some blood work, and sent me home with an antibiotic in case I did have a uterine infection.  I started my antibiotic that afternoon.

***This next part may be too much information for some, and I apologize in advance.

That night, after my shower, I passed a blood clot that was pretty big.  The hospital had said to call in if I had any bigger than a dime, which I hadn't had any since leaving the hospital a week before.  It scared me a little, so I called Mom and we decided to see what happened later that night before calling in.  Friday night went fine, and Joel went to help sand bag in Naples Saturday morning.  I was home Saturday morning with both girls when I started to feel blood again.  Another blood clot, that was even bigger than the one the previous night, had passed.  That's when I started freaking out.  Both girls were screaming, Ainsley had my cell phone and wouldn't bring it to me, and I was literally stuck in the bathroom.  I finally talked Ainsley into bringing me the home phone so I could call Joel.  Of course, he didn't answer, and I broke down.  I was stuck on the toilet, with two screaming kids, and couldn't get in touch with my husband.

I finally calmed down and called into SIU and talked to the doctor on call.  He wanted me to call him back in an hour and see if I passed any more blood clots and to check my blood pressure.  Of course, my blood pressure was sky high....why wouldn't it be?!  In the meantime, I continued to try to get in touch with Joel with no luck.  I finally called Rita, and thankfully she came right over.  In the meantime, Joel called me back and was on his way home after telling him I was probably going to have to go to the ER again.  An hour went by, and I called the doctor on call again, and while on the phone with him passed another blood clot (this time it was bigger than a golf ball).  I was also having bad cramping.  The doctor said it was up to me, but he would wait a few more hours and see if I passed any more before heading over to the ER.  I started to feel better and the cramping had started to go away, so Rita went home and Joel stayed with me. 

A few hours later, I started bleeding heavily again and had another blood clot.  I was a broken down mess.  I knew we needed to go to the ER at that point.  I felt like the world's worst mother leaving my girls once again.  I knew I couldn't ask someone to watch both girls at the same time, because Ainsley was still a handful who wanted to help with Lily, hold her, etc.  Thankfully, Kathleen was in Springfield and got here as fast as she could, and Rita came back over to watch the girls while Joel and I headed to Springfield to the ER. 

The ER wasn't very busy when we got there, so we got in pretty quick.  They did blood work and a sonogram.  The doctor checked me and said my cervix wasn't fully closed for some reason, my uterus was still mushy (it should have been much firmer at this point), and the sonogram showed lots of blood clots in my uterus, as well as either a piece of the placenta or a prominent vein.  They couldn't tell exactly what it was they were seeing because of all the blood clots.  They gave me medicine to contract the uterus, which would also make me pass the blood clots and shrink the uterus and released me with the instructions to follow up with Dr. Huston that week.  The doctor said I would pass all the blood clots, and there would be a lot, which would go along with cramping.  Joel and I headed home, and I felt relieved to get some answers.  That night I woke up in the middle of the night to heavy bleeding.  I passed a blood clot bigger than my fist, which probably would have made me pass out if the doctor wouldn't have warned me about passing more.  Sunday I passed the rest of the blood clots, and had terrible cramping all day.  I finally started to feel better on Monday and thought for sure that everything was done and I would start feeling better. 

I felt good at the beginning of the week and then started having bad cramps again around Wednesday.  I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Huston on Friday, and was feeling pretty good at that point.  He thought everything was done with me, also, but wanted to schedule a sonogram for early that next week just to make sure all the blood clots were out and to see if they could see any retained placenta.  I went for a sonogram on Tuesday afternoon, and the girl doing the sonogram immediately looked at me with a bad face and said there was still pieces of the placenta in me.  Would it ever end???  Dr. Huston wasn't able to look at the sonogram before seeing me (I had to wait almost two hours to see him because he was in a c section that afternoon), but said he would read the sonogram either that night or the next morning.  He said depending on how much retained placenta was still there, they may do a DNC.  He had been very hesitant about doing a DNC, because he said it could cause more problems for me than I was already having.  He was afraid I'd have more complications and said that his fear would be that I'd end up having to have a hysterectomy. 

Dr. Huston called yesterday morning after reviewing the ultrasound findings with another doctor, and decided not to do anything at this point.  He said that I still have retained placenta, but since I'm feeling better and not having any issues at this point, he wanted to leave it alone.  If I start to have issues again, I'll have to call him, but for right now we're not doing anything.  I don't have to see him again until the end of the month. 

I'm so glad all of it is behind me, and am really hoping I don't have any more issues.  The last few weeks have been hell with everything going on, and I'm ready to start to get into a routine.  After two visits to the ER, three trips to Springfield to the doctor, and two visits to the pediatrician in the last three weeks, I'm over all of it. 

I can't thank Mom, Rita, and Kathleen enough for all of their help during the last few weeks.  Hopefully this Mommy is all better and doesn't have to leave my girls for a while!