Everything went well for delivery, and I was able to enjoy those first sweet moments with our sweet boy, something that I didn't get much of with Eli and Maddie. But we still experienced some complications that caused us to have a little longer hospital stay.
So apparently my uterus is dumb and decides to do its own thing. {I also understand that there is a chance that the complications are linked to the Pitocin...though the doctor just said that apparently I am a bleeder. Awesome}. With Eli and Maddie, my uterus just gave out, causing a fairly large hemorrhage. I lost a lot of blood pretty quickly and passed out. With Aiden, my uterus was doing such a good job of clamping down on the placenta, and wouldn't give up, so the doctor had a hard time getting it out. The cord tore, so she had to pull it out by hand, which caused a pretty significant hemorrhage {sorry, TMI}. Not quite as large as the one before, but enough to where she was concerned about the amount of blood I lost.
The good thing is that I did not pass out. I had some light headedness and nausea, so they kept me in recovery for a little longer before moving us to a regular room. Other than that initial sickness, I felt fine. We settled in for a long night of cluster feeding, because Aiden was awake and alert for the first 5 hours of his life...no sleepy newborn for us!
My first meal after delivery was glorious haha. My mom had picked up sandwiches for us before Aiden was born, as we were afraid nothing would be open by the time he arrived. Jimmy Johns never tasted SO good :)
2am...when I could finally eat!
On Monday, Aiden got his first sponge bath and we were able to capture his footprints. I love that we have his footprints in the same book that we put Eli and Maddie's footprints in less than 2 years ago.
On Tuesday, we were ready to head home and really thought we would be getting discharged. But my labs came back showing that I was incredibly anemic, and the doctor wanted me to do a blood transfusion. I was SO confused, because I was feeling fine. She said that my saving grace was that I had come in with really high iron levels {higher than what they typically see for a pregnant woman}. So the blood loss I experienced after delivery could have been much worse if my levels had looked like a normal pregnant woman. I could have crashed in the same way I had with Eli and Maddie.
But despite my high levels, I was now bordering on a dangerous level, so she was concerned that my heart was working too hard. She was concerned that I would go home without a transfusion and do too much at home. And the risk was heart and/or kidney failure {yikes!} I still was very confused, because I wasn't showing any signs of anemia and felt good. So again we compromised {this sweet doctor was SO patient with me}, and decided to see how I felt if I got up and started moving a lot more, and then recheck my labs around lunch to see if there was perhaps a margin of error on the test.
So we got up and walked around the halls. I carried Aiden around the hospital room a lot more. I started cleaning and packing, trying to see if the increased activity would exhaust me. And it didn't. I still felt fine. But when they rechecked my labs, I was still borderline. We discussed my fears of not being able to breastfeed, as my hemorrhage with the twins took away my ability to nurse them. And the doctor explained how the trauma of the blood loss was more the cause of the problems, not the transfusion itself. She even believed that getting the transfusion would increase my chances of successfully breastfeeding. Again, she was so incredibly patient, ultimately leaving the decision up to me, while still expressing her concerns and the risks.
Ultimately, we agreed to the transfusion. Is there a chance I could have gone home without it and been fine? Yes. But there was too much at stake for me to mess with that, so we felt like getting the transfusion was the best decision. Did I feel any different after the transfusion? Still, no. But I do believe the Lord was protecting me from further {more severe} complications.
Hence, the longer hospital stay. While the complications were not ideal, and somewhat unexpected, I praise God for patient doctors and good medical care. I saw the Lord's hand of protection in countless ways, and I am just thankful {again} for a healthy outcome for me and baby. We're just over a week in, and nothing is guaranteed, but we are already having more success nursing this time, and I am so thankful for that incredible gift.
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