Hospital Stay

It had been a long 7 weeks since the birth of her sweet son. Having him was such a blessing but what was happening to her didn't feel like much of a heaven send at all.

As she thought back on his birth she was reminded that there was no labor involved in his birth, just a scheduled routine c-section. Though because of her past spinal blocks, it was very difficult to give her a spinal this time around. Scar tissue encircled the scar like sharks around a bleeding fish. After what seemed like forever the blue baby was born with his cord wrapped several times around him, as well as sporting two true knots. It was a miracle to hear him finally cry after getting some oxygen. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about this tiny infant in her arms, just as they had the first day she held him.

Why was she so sick? During her hospital stay after his birth, her incision became infected, blistered and a show stopper for all the nurses on the 4th floor who had to check it out. It took awhile for them to figure out that it was the sterie strips burning her sensitive skin. Once they were removed much relief was felt. But then her blood pressure began to rise and not even meds or laying on her side could control it. The doctors suggested she stay another day.

I am so glad to be home she thought as she looked at her newborn infant of just 7 weeks. Though she felt overly tired, exhausted and unsure of why she had another rash. When her son was just 2 weeks old she had broken out in another rash and ended up on steroids. She began to feel better, though her little infant thought that people stayed awake from 10 pm until 5 am, allowing her little to no sleep at all. No wonder she was so worn down she thought, I haven't slept for six weeks. Probably why when he was 4 weeks old she got a fever and sore throat.

"I just need to sleep" she thought as she held her little man in her arms, staring at his sweet and tiny features. Her six week check up had come and gone. But she had another appointment to get some birth control.

She had been overly anxious to go in to the doctor to get an IUD, she was a little apprehensive about the procedure yet very excited to know another one wouldn't be coming for a long while. She had every reason to be worried about the IUD, for some reason she bleed a lot, so much that the nurse had to get a blood clean up kit and she filled several pads in an hour. Luckily she was able to stay in the office and the bleeding got under control.

The next morning when she woke up, she discovered that her body once again was having an allergic reaction. "You got to be kidding me! I am probably allergic to the IUD!" she said aloud to herself. She called the OB and because she was 7 weeks postpartum they told her to call her primary physician. Being overly tired, emotional she broke down in tears. "What am I suppose to do?" she thought. She called her husband in tears and he called a doctor friend who told him to send his wife over.

"I don't know what to tell you about this rash, other than it appears to be systemic and possibly toxic shock. Who is your OB? Why wouldn't they see you? Who perscribed you Zoloft? You got an IUD yesterday? Oh I am so mad!" the doctor uttered as she spoke to the poor new mother. The doctor walked out of the room, called the OB, and sent the teared mother to their office.

"We're sorry we just don't know what to do about a rash. Oh you have a fever too?? We are just so unsure." was the response she got from the OB's office.

This was all on a Friday. Then Sunday, she couldn't get the strength to go to church instead she rested at home. Even her little newborn left for the four hours. As she was enjoying the silence and rest, the thought came to her. "You were really sick a few weeks ago with high fever, sore throat and you could have had strep and could now have scarlet fever?" She quickly went to the computer and googled scarlet fever. Sure enough her tongue her rash looked just like the pictures.

She called her husband to tell him her findings, to find out that their doctor friend who happened to go to their same church, was on her way over already to see how she was doing. She thought the scarlet fever sounded about right and that she should go get a strep test in the morning.

As a reluctant patient but one willing to get better, she went to the doctor and get a strep test. It was positive. Antibiotics were perscribed and she was sent home.

Knowing she needed lots of help the Relief Society President had called her to see if she could come by the next day and watch the kids for her. She was happy to have the help. Little did she know it was a scheduled blessing amist her not so blessed life.

She pleaded that her husband not go to work and stay home with her but he was unable to fullfill her wishes. Her friend called to offer to take the kids, but the RS pres was on her way over. She actually called and told her she would be there in about 15 minutes. She told her friend, not to worry about it. She was feeling light headed and dizzy and weaker than she had felt in a long time. She hung up the phone and crashed on the floor, to wake up to her two year old's tear streaked face, pulling away her mommy's hair crying "mommy, mommy."

With as much strength as she could muster she whispered to her son to come down stairs, amazingly he came quickly. He and his mom reassured the four year old that mom wasn't dead. The son grabbed the phone called Dad and told him to come home. Then called the neighbor to tell her that Mom had passed out and was laying on the floor. At that moment the RS President walked in the door.

The young mom was rushed to the ER to be sent back to the doctor's office she had visited the day before to only be sent back to the ER. Eight days, many tests, lots of blood drawn later, she came home. To realize it was going to be a long road ahead to recovery.