Monday, March 5, 2012: The day started out like any other day. Jonathan and I went to work and the boys were well taken care of by Miss Jessica (our incredible nanny). That night's routine went like every other night; the boys brushed their teeth and I changed their diapers, then we rocked and sang a few songs before I put them in bed. Sometime during rocking the boys I started feeling a little sick and by 9 pm I thought I was going to die. My stomach hurt and I knew I was going to be sick. This had happened a few other times since Ethan had been born and I thought my stomach was more sensitive to different foods since his birth. After getting sick, the pain did not go away, it just worsened! Jonathan asked if I wanted him to drive me to the ER, but there was no way I was waking up my babies for that, so I took myself a little after 11:00 pm.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012: Sometime around 1:15 am, and after scaring everyone in the waiting room with my small moans in the corner of the ER, I finally was given some good pain medication and I found relief about 1:45 am! They did an ultrasound because they believed it was my gallbladder. After blood work and the ultrasound the diagnosis was confirmed, my gallbladder was the source of the pain. At this point I was told I would need surgery and I could not be released. I was also told I would see a surgeon in the morning to discuss the diagnosis and treatment. At this point I really did not understand why I could not go home, I felt better after the pain meds and I thought I could arrange to have the surgery done at a later time. Sometime around 5:00 am they finally moved me from the ER to a room (if you can call it that!). This "room" was extremely small and did not have a window or a bathroom. I was frustrated, hungry, tired and a little lonely, but I took comfort in thinking I would soon meet the surgeon and have this issue resolved so I could go home! My dad came to the hospital and stayed with me until late afternoon and I was glad to have the company. This was an incredibly busy week for Jonathan at work and was not a time he could take off (I think this ordeal might have been harder on him than me!). Finally, I gave in and started begging for ANYTHING the nurses would let me have to eat since it had been about 18 hours since I had even had a sip of water! They reached the surgeon and I was allowed to have clear liquids. Let me just say, chicken broth was not really a satisfying meal! It was 9:00 pm before the surgeon came in and I finally had answers to what was happening. I had gallstones, one of them was large enough to obstruct the bile duct and my gallbladder was now infected. I could not leave because they wanted to keep me on an antibiotic drip, this procedure could not wait a few weeks because I would not be able to eat until the gallbladder was removed. The surgeon told me I was in the middle of the scheduled surgeries for the next day and I should have my surgery about noon. From now until the surgery I tried to just sleep as much as possible, my head hurt from not eating and my blood pressure was acting up (I think it is the white coats that do it to me).
Wednesday, March 7, 2012: The day started with the nurses telling me my surgery was scheduled for 3 pm. I didn't think I could make it to 3 without eating and I was feeling just fine at this point! Luckily, it was about 1:15 when they came to get me for my surgery. The surgery went well, but I was very sore immediately after. As soon as I could I started walking up and down the hall and preparing myself to go home that night. I wanted to be in my bed and poor Jonathan wanted me home too! (his words: "I feel guilty if I am at home with the boys because I should be taking care of you and I feel guilty if I am here because I should be taking care of the boys.") They had started another round of antibiotics around 6:30 pm and it was going to take 4 hours to administer the IV, so we both agreed that when the IV was done we wanted to go home. The nurses thought I should stay, but I was feeling better with each hour that passed and they weren't giving me any pain medication anyway. The nurse tried to tell us that we could not be released since there was not a doctor there to release me, but Jonathan basically told her to find one. We left the hospital a little before 11:00 pm and pulled into the drive exactly 48 hours after I had driven myself to the hospital.
It is Sunday now and I feel pretty good. The three small incisions on my abdomen are a little sore and I cannot think about the cut in my bellybutton without getting nauseous, but that is just because I am weird. There are no stitches and with the exception of the boys pushing on my stomach, I have no real pain. I should also add here that during all of this my mother and Jennifer, Jonathan's sister, and Jessica were very helpful and made sure my boys were covered when Jonathan was with me at the hospital. We are very lucky to have such wonderful support.
I am so thankful that is over! Now, if we could have a few weeks of calm, that would be just perfect!!
