Health Update

Ethan with my OB

I know many of you have been praying for my recovery since Ethan's c-section and are waiting to hear how I'm doing these days. Since I'm not sure who exactly reads this blog, I'll try to keep it fairly G-rated. Still, I warn you, if you have a strong gag reflex, you might just want to skip this post.

As you may have read in Ethan's birth story, during the c-section my bladder was "nicked". The doctor sutured the cut and gave me a foley catheter with a bag to collect the urine so that my bladder could remain fairly empty until the hole had healed. Unfortunately I had to have that for about 10 days, which made getting dressed in anything other than sweats difficult and moving around pretty awkward. Last week, I went in for tests with the urologist and they could see that the hole had closed, so the catheter and bag were removed. Yay! I feel so much better being free to pee on my own. :)

My OB decided while I was in the hospital that since I had extra swelling and a longer healing time due to the bladder issue, I would need to keep my staples (at the incision site) in for several extra days too. I had a follow up with him last week and he replaced the staples with steri-strips. Huge improvement! I feel a lot less like Frankenstein now.

This recovery has been more painful and slow then my previous birth recoveries, but I've been so blessed by our parents' help with the children and meals from friends so that I could be on nearly complete bed rest the first two weeks. (*Not forgetting my amazing husband who took over all household chores and pampered me!) Starting this week, I'm slowly easing back in to "normal" life. I can now drive and watch the kids on my own here at the apartment. Next week I hope to start going on walks with the children and enjoy this beautiful spring weather we're having!

Ethan went in for a check up with his pediatrician yesterday. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 13 oz. So he has regained his birth weight plus some!  Everything else was healthy.  He is doing a great job nursing. He often gets fussy when left alone in his crib or car seat, but he responds quickly to being held. He is definitely a cuddler!

Last night: enjoying dinner and feeling much better. You might not guess it by her funny expression, but Hannah ran over to jump in this picture with her beloved baby brother :)