Surgery and Post-Op Day 1

Here's my story...

DH and I arrived at the hospital at the un-Godly hour of 5:30 a.m.  They did all the typical pre-op preparations like inserting my IV and giving me belly shot of blood thinners (ouch!).  Right before they took me back to the OR my nurse gave me a does of Propofol (of Michael Jackson fame) and I started to feel quite... drunk.  :)

I was wheeled into the OR around 7:30, moved my big butt over the the operating table and thats about all I remember.  It was cold and someone sang Happy Birthday to me as I fell asleep (it was my 29th b-day).

I woke up 90 mins later in recovery.  I don't think I've ever felt so sleepy in my life. I had very little pain and mostly just went in and out of consciousness.  Right before they were to move me up to my room, the nausea started.  Nothing crazy, just a bit of nausea and some minor pain.  As soon as I got up to my room, they gave me some anti-nausea meds through my IV.  It didn't really work and I'd be woken up every 10 minutes with a wave of nausea.  The only thing that worked was to inhale the fumes from a alcohol rubbing pad.  They also gave me lavender and peppermint oils, but those didn't work.  Just the rubbing alcohol.  They then gave me another type of anti-nausea meds and that seemed to work.

I spent the rest of the day sleeping.  I'd be hot one minute and cold another.  It wasn't the most restful sleep I've ever had.  My husband was there the whole time and my sister came to visit too.  I wanted to be awake while she was there, so I got up to take a walk around the ward.  I was VERY slow and immediately fell back asleep once I got back to my room.  My pain was very manageable and felt no worse (even slightly better) than after my c-sections.

I started waking up more in the evening, munching on some ice chips, checking my email, and watching T.V.  I walked a couple more times, getting faster each time.  I've dubbed my IV stand "Stephen".  He and I are good friends as long as he stays out my way during my walks.  I tend to stub my toe on his casters which hurts like crazy!

I would like to take this time to mention that my CNA from 5pm-11:30pm was, hands down, the most gorgeous boy I've ever seen.  Wowza.  His name was Jake and he was 21.  Yikes.  But I looked past out age difference (only 8 years) and I'm pretty sure he fell madly in love with me.  I mean, c'mon... I'm looking pretty hot in this gown, ya'll.  :)

They nurses started getting a bit concerned during the night that my pulse was so low.  It was hovering between 32-45 bpm, which is low.  First thing this morning they wanted to see what my pulse did when I got moving.  So they sat me up and took me for a walk and my pulse popped right up.  I guess I just really like to rest.  :)

I should note that my pain has been virtually non-existent.  I haven't used my pain pump since yesterday evening.  Sitting here in bed right now, my pain is basically zero.  When I move or get up to walk or pee, I feel sore in my incisions, especially my port site.  But its nothing I can't handle.  I've had a tiny little bit of referred pain from the CO2, but nothing compared to what I experienced with my last c-section.  Just a little pressure for a few minutes and then it goes away.

I'm starting to get hungry.  Nothing major, but I can feel that my stomach is very very empty.  I've had nothing but ice chips (and very few of those) for over 30 hours.  My nurse said they'd move me to clear liquids this morning, but I have to watch my nausea.

I have five incisions on my abdomen. One on the right side, two on the left, one up near my bra line (a little lower) and one (my port site) a little up and to the left of my belly button.  The only incision I've really felt is the port site.  Its about twice as big as the others.  I have a standard 10cc band and my doc said everything looked great.  He noted that my spleen was 2-3 times larger than it should be (from a previous illness 10 years ago) but that everything else looked great. 

I should be discharged from the hospital sometime this later morning or early afternoon.  Discharges take so long... *sigh*

Well, thats it for me.  I can't really think of anything else to add...

Until next time!