Harrowing week 1...

So we've been home for one week. We got home on Saturday, April 5th at about 5 p.m. I was still in excruitiating pain from the surgery and all that fun stuff. Jenn decorated the door (very nice) and brought balloons. We had tons of flowers in the home which made it smell great.

Breastfeeding did start off a bit rocky but then Yenna picked it right up and now she's an old pro!!! You go little girl. She usually latches on the first try. For some reason she like the right side more than the left. We have a "poop sheet" to keep track of her feeding and bowel movements and according to the Dr. Sears book she's right on course!!! Now she's feeding more so she'll go right/left/right---then change diaper and then sleep.

John and I have worked out a routine. Since I still take a while to get out of bed due to my stitches he gets up when she starts lip smacking, checks the diaper, changes the diaper and then reswaddles here, then at that point I've gone to the bathroom and "assummed the breastfeeding position" and then she feeds about 30 minutes on each breast. We've had some trouble burping her but we've also read that with breastfeeding sometimes the burps are not that obvious or right away.

Something they don't emphasize enough---to me is the lochia--drainage of the uterus and other junk that comes out around the 10th day. (IF YOUR SQUEAMISH STOP READING HERE). So, I started to feed her around 8 a.m. and then I felt a warm trickle that became stronger on my inner thigh. I called out for John and said that the babies diaper is leaking but it wasn't her it was me. He took the baby and I stood up and I was in a pool of blood and liquid pooling on the floor, all over my pants and it wouldn't stop. We had no idea so at this point we thought we were headed for the emergency room. Fortunately, we paged our doctor and he told us that this is normal unless I'm running a fever at the same time. We managed to clean it up, I took a shower then Yenna got the rest of her food. If I had known that lochia was going to happen I would have worn a thicker pad or a depends (which I now have on). In addition to that my incision is leaking too so it's a big mess!!

Also, what I didn't read a lot about are the chills that you get either after feeding or after a nap. These are ferocious chills ---numb fingers, toes and chattering teeth. I had to put on a wool hat, thick robe, fleece pants and still I couldn't get warm at all. These spells lasted about 30-40 minutes at a time and they are completely debilitating. I have learned to take some tea which is helpful but it's the worst chills I've ever experienced.

I have a doctor's appt tomorrow and I hope to find out that I'm healing soon. I'm still on the full dose of percoset and 600 mg motrin. I've tried a few times to get off the percoset but it has sent me into a tailspin, crying, doubled over mess so, I'm just going to continue until I feel significantly better.

I know that people who've had c-sections recover at different rates but I've never heard that it really can be hell. The incision hurts, my lower abdomen has a dull achy pain not to mention the edema in the vagina and of course a healthy dose of constipation and hemmoroids. My body feels really really broken down.

I am only really happy about the fact that the breastfeeding is going well and Yenna is already beginning to sleep for long stretches at a time as long as she gets in a full feeding.