You just can't make this up

Tuesday... the start to a very long long long week:
As you can imagine coming home a second time was more challenging. I had the wound vac, the pik line and a newborn. There was baby stuff, pack and play and a hospital bed to navigate in the living room alone.


Mom and Josh quickly got us set up pretty quickly while I fed Isabel and plugged my wound vac in the wall. I was tired from the pain meds and just wanted to rest. My mom's cousin MaryAnn arrived just about the time we got home and brought food, amazing, delicious and healthy food! I so loved her visit. We even got to show Isabel her room for the very first time! That was special.



Wednesday: Happy Birthday to me, lets celebrate in the ER!
The next day was a push (and it was my birthday by the way), we took Isabel for her 2 week check up. We started getting ready at 7am for 10am appointment, I was totally exhausted before we got there! Her appointment was terrific, her pediatrician is wonderful and bright and LOVES her :)


Unfortunately, five minutes after we got home we lost power. J and my mom had already prepped my wound vac for a change and the VNA said she'd come but was running late. I started to panic because the wound vac must be changed with in 2 hrs. What would happen if it wasn't changed in the bacteria could grow. I was nervous so we went to the ER to have the dressing changed and my pik line infused. Of course it may have seemed like an over reaction and I could have waited for the power to return and the VNA. But I wasn't going to take chances at that point ya know? So we spent from 5-9pm in the ER. Mom and I celebrated with a birthday brownie. Hahahaha. My pik line was clogged so it was a good thing we didn't try to infuse it ourselves. Ugh, this pik line was harder than I thought. That was another LONG day and we were all tired. Isabel was a champ though, she slept great in the hospital. Figures


Thursday: Visits galore
Of course by this point everyone knows we are home and wants to start visiting us. Jessie and Erich came and Josh's sister came and celebrated my birthday with pizza. We got to take our first walk around the neighborhood with Isabel and I wore real clothes... granted they were maternity but still!

You may be wondering how I managed to get up and go through all this. I guess it was shear will power, family to help me, the determination to have a normal life with our family and pain medication! Plus I needed to keep moving because I didn't want to get sicker and develop pneumonia.

Friday: A Day to Rival all worse Days thus far....
J, Mom and I had a marathon day of Dr.'s visits for me including wound care, OB, and lactation. By the time we got home I was falling asleep in the car. We had dropped J off at the dealership to pick up the Prius and mom went in to open the door for the dogs. She came out to tell me there was a problem.

A big one. Poor Liam had soiled his crate, the walls and floor with poop. In a panic I let him out into the yard and started hose him off while mom watched the baby. Poor Liam!! I was shocked at the scene. I thought he'd had a seizure. We called the vet and they said it could be an intestinal parasite. So Ladybug (who seemed fine) and Liam were outside and I stayed upstairs with Isabel while we tried to figure out what to do next. J brought Liam to the vet and mom got the house cleaned. Meanwhile VNA came for the infusion and I was nursing Isabel. In a word it was a scene.

Liam stayed over night at the vet hospital to be monitored and it was sad not having him home with just Ladybug. My mother in law came up to help out the next day and mom went home. We found out that the dog's parasite could be passed along so I ended up deciding to stay with my grandparents while J stayed at the house to take care of the dogs.

I am sure as you are reading this you might think, when is the next shoe going to drop? Each day felt like a struggle, to function, to heal, to care for Isabel to just get through it.

How did I do it? God, lots of prayer for strength, the love and support of my family and determination to raise this baby!