Ringing in the New Year has never been so busy! Between friends' and family visits and trips, illness and doctor's appointments, to family time just the 4 of us: it's been one busy 2013 to boot!
Hooligans
Super granddad! But, don't lose Isla!
Picture perfect Grandma and Elyse
You were right Ariel, my lap is big enough!
Princess Ariel
All packed up and ready to go...not sure where exactly
Elyse, Ariel and Sophie in my arms...imagine if there were 3!?!
Life of any party...in her perfect cherub pose
Santa does love you Elyse
These two are getting very philosophical: if Sophie loves Santa, but Santa loves Elyse; who does Elyse love? (her mommy of course!)
This long-sleeved T says it all
Playland (formerly known as our dining area)
Crazy submarine
Elyse getting bigger and stronger
Family Story time
Dan and Elyse (Dan's eye colour was clearly the dominant gene, as it was passed down to both our girls)
Painting in the tub
Daddy with his girls
Strike a pose
Two-piece PJs with a horse on them = perfect for foaling asleep
New Year's Eve kid/baby party at our place:
Julian and Ariel
Kianna, Stace, Brad and Sophie
Elyse
Pondering this year's resolutions
Ariel
Ariel insists that sitting on her daddy is the way to go, when playing with trains
Ariel asks to sit with her sister
Sisters
Karina visits for some 'mommy-to-mommy' time
Teacher's College friends visit. The children take centre stage:
Ariel and Kyla, all grown up
Tent play
Giggly girls
"Ariel! Watch out for the Hungry Elf!" (Kyla earned this endearing nickname at daycare. When the daycare providers gave all the children an elf name at Christmas time, hers was "Hungry Elf" after her habit of sometimes biting children before meal time. Many of the other children were given more desirable names, such as "Happy Elf", or "Pretty Elf" - that just doesn't seem right. Honestly though, who hasn't been bitten by a toddler before?)
Sleeping angel, on the way to grandma's
Bathing belly in a Blossom
"I may have pooped in my first bath, but this one is much nicer!"
Flower tub (babies sold separately)
Family update:
Elyse is somewhat of a super baby! She sleeps for 6 hour stretches over night, wakes up to play during the day, and eats like a champ - what more could we ask for? I know it will change, but I am enjoying this newborn phase while it lasts. Ariel just got back from spending the weekend in Peterborough with her grandparents, and had a great time! She was pointing out directions here and there, and keeping her grandparents on their toes, from what I hear. She also went out for dinner, to the library and grocery store, out for walks and plays in the snow, and jumped on a trampoline in the house; I don't know where they get the energy. Health wise, since getting over the flu and pink eye, Ariel and Elyse have been otherwise healthy and going strong.
As for Dan and I, we haven't been doing as well lately. Thankfully, if things were going to go wrong, with Dan still on paternity leave and Ariel at her grandparents, the timing couldn't have been better. The day we sent Ariel to my parents, we decided we would hang out in Toronto and go see "The Nutcracker" ballet. Apparently, 'babes in arms' are not permitted, but they let us bring Elyse in anyway, without a hitch, and it was a lovely, quiet, performance, and Elyse behaved herself quite well. Later that evening, Dan and I were watching the movie "Looper" (very cool), and I was laying peacefully on the couch when I felt something wet underneath my bottom (not cool). The wetness turned out to be blood - my blood - a whole lot of blood, and soon after we were on our way to the Emergency Room at Hamilton General Hospital in the middle of the night.
In the Emergency Room (which really is just one long room) there were all kinds of characters. From an elderly woman who was crying out in pain, "Oy, oy, oy!" and ended up pushing her own hernia back in,"Nurse, I got my baby back in the hole!", to drug addicts, Doctor: "listen, just tell me if you were using or I have to do a cat scan" patient: "yeah, I was", Doctor: "Okay, you can go" (that woman was back two hours later because she really had hit her head) to a young twenty-something who had just gotten raped - Doctor: "Nurse! I need a sexual assault kit", as the young woman sobbed and walked down the patient's hallway. Curtained walls are not sound proof. Some of my fellow patients brought me to tears with their woes and desperate situations. I felt for them, and at the same time, clung dearly to my husband and child, grateful not to be them.
So what happened to me? Because of the not-so-pleasant manner with which Elyse's placenta was removed (or rather ripped out), it has been taking my body quite a bit longer than usual to heal. Luckily, I haven't been experiencing any pain, just the nuisance of continuous bleeding. At the hospital that night, the doctor examined me and removed a large blood clot and ordered an ultrasound to look for infection the next day. The 'gush' of blood I had experienced earlier was a large blood clot coming out. When it happened, I got really light-headed, shaky, felt ill and thought I might faint, and this, we later learned, is apparently not from the loss of blood, but from the body's vagal response. Some women can actually faint getting a pap test because of this vagal response, and for me, it was passing a huge blood clot that caused my body to react.
In total, we spent 4 hours in the Emergency room from about 11:30pm to 3:30am, and got home close to 4am and to bed close to 5am. It was an exhausting night, but somehow Elyse slept through it all, until we got home and I fed her. The next day we spent 4 hours in an Urgent Care clinic waiting for my ultrasound and to find out what was going on. As it turns out, the only help the doctor there could give us was to follow-up with my family doctor and to share the results of my ultrasound. He told us the ultrasound favoured no retained placenta or infection; but, that there was another large blood clot and that I would likely hemorrhage again and I would just have to deal with it - very reassuring. The only signs of danger I was to look out for were: fever, chills, cramping and abdominal pain - all of which could signal an infection that would require a course of anti-biotics. Of course, the very next night, I developed a very high fever, chills, headache, and a mild sore throat. We cancelled one of Elyse's follow-up doctor's appointments, and scheduled mine instead at our family doctor's office for morning. As it turns out, our family doctor could not clearly decide if I do indeed have an infection or if it is a type of influenza that I picked up while in emerg or the clinic or elsewhere. I am leaning more towards a flu now, as my fever has finally come down, and I am not experiencing any abdominal pain. I will see the doctor again later this week to make sure I don't need the anti-biotic. If I still have a fever, I will get it; if I don't, I won't! Dan mentioned that his throat is sore, but I am hoping he will not get sick, and that Ariel will also stay healthy now that she's home. It is time for me to get some rest now, as the next exciting adventure may be just around the corner...but let's hope not! There is no real satisfying conclusion to my story, as I am still sick and don't really know the cause. The one thing I can say is that I am happy for the moment that I do not have to get a 'D and C', which is a scraping out of the uterus, to remove any leftover birthing materials. I may just be lucky enough to get away with a few examinations and maybe a course of antibiotics - lucky me.
No comments:
Post a Comment