The First Two Weeks

I loved the first week that Milen was home. I spent a lot of time snuggling with him and Mason had lots of fun with Ava. We had a few things planned for Mason's two weeks off. Most of the plans were for the second week so that I could rest and recover. It was also nice that we got some meals and gifts from neighbors that first week.

We received flowers from Mason's work.

We took Milen to his 2-3 day check up and he was already back to birth weight. In fact he was his birth weight exactly. I couldn't believe it.

When we got home Ava served Milen lunch, haha!

Starting to smile. This guy is a happy guy. When Ava was born she would cry in her sleep. It was so sad. When Milen was born, he would laugh in his sleep. So much better hearing baby giggles than cries. He once in awhile cries in sleep now, but mostly he giggles.

Ran lots of errands.

One day we did a ton of car stuff.

Ava helped with her baby brother while I did some sewing at my mom's.

This day was great because Milen and Ava took a nap at the same time.

Love sleeping babies.

Milen turned a week old and we had a nice conference weekend.

On Sunday we went to my parents for a turkey dinner (my favorite) and I had Kim take some family pictures for me. Only thing was Ava was tired and did not want to pose for pictures. By the time she started being somewhat good for pictures, Milen started crying and needed to be nursed.

I made a comment to my mom that I wasn't feeling that well while I was there. I was on my way to recovery after having Milen, but then I would start not feeling well. Then I would be back to normal again, only to not feel well again later. It wasn't major, but it did feel like my body kept relapsing. My mom was a bit worried. She thought I should call my doctor on Monday. I shrugged it off. Maybe I was pushing myself a bit much and just needed more rest to get a full recovery. I did just deliver a baby and I figured I had two weeks to recover. I was doing more than I did after Ava because it was a lot easier taking care of a baby this time around. I told her if it didn't get feeling better by the end of the week I would call. 

The next day on Monday I was tired so I slept in pretty late. Mason took Ava and they played so I could rest. It was so nice having Mason home. When I finally got up we decided to go run some errands and grab a late lunch. I picked Cafe Rio for lunch of course. It was lightly raining and I was a bit cold. I grabbed a table with Milen, while Mason waited in line with Ava. I started out eating my salad pretty hungrily, but somewhere in the middle it just didn't taste as good as it usually did. I started to get really cold. I asked Mason if he was cold and he wasn't. I was starting to shiver. We decided that Mason would drop Milen and me off at home so I could nurse Milen and get warm. Mason would continue our errands with Ava.

I got home, nursed Milen, and Milen went to sleep. I turned on the heater in the room and my heating pad. Threw on all the blankets and yet I was getting colder and shivering harder. I looked in the mirror and my lips looked blue. Not a good sign. Mason had cut errands short because Ava was getting tired. When Mason got home he tried to warm me up with his body heat. It wasn't working. He went to take care of Ava for a bit and suddenly I was burning up. I knew that wasn't good. I took my temperature and I was 102 degrees. Very bad news and I was worried. I quickly took Milen's and his temperature was normal. Ava had come in and wanted me to do her temperature next and she was fine as well. 

Just before Mason came home, I had been reading an article that my sister-in-law had posted about a lady that got an infection and got a fever about 2 weeks after birth. The lady had died. Even if my sister-in-law hadn't posted this article, I knew that having a fever after having a baby was bad. My sister-in-law had broken out in a fever when she delivered her boy and he was sick in the hospital for a long time. I didn't want to worry Mason so I of course kept the article to myself. I asked him to call my doctor's office to ask them what to do. I, of course, knew the answer. I would be going to the ER. Mason had to call quickly because my doctor and nurse were almost off. Mason called and they said to go to the ER as soon as possible, just as I had predicted. Mason called my mom to come over to watch the kids and she headed right over.

Mason packed a few things and when my mom arrived we left. I had debated about taking Milen. I was nursing him and we didn't have any formula. I luckily had pumped some milk the week before, but it wasn't much because I hadn't planned on needing any so soon. My mom talked me into leaving Milen and she was right. The ER was no place for a baby. 

We arrived at the ER and my temperature was even higher. They didn't tell me, but I'm guessing that it was 103 by then. They put me on priority and told me that it was smart for me to head in so quick. I guess some women don't know how serious it can be. They took me quickly through triage and drew tons of blood. Despite being on priority, it still was a long wait to get a room. The ER was pretty packed by then because everyone was getting off work. 

Mason held my hand or put his arm around me for most of the time. I started sobbing. I did not want to leave Ava and I certainly didn't want to leave my newborn. I had no idea how long I would be in the ER. An older lady came and sat across from us. As she was sitting she was telling a nurse how she had been throwing up. After the nurse left, she tried offering me a tissue, which I refused. No way was I going to catch something from her, especially with a newborn at home.

We finally were called back. I knew that the hospital I had delivered at was big, but it still surprised me. I used to work at another hospital in the ER and that ER was tiny compared to this one. My room was in the 3rd section of the ER and it kept going on further. Despite being large I think they do a really good job with the patients. I delivered Ava at a smaller hospital and when they moved us into the maternity section, I felt like we were ignored a lot. I know most people don't like being pestered by nurses, but I actually liked the attentiveness at the larger hospital with Milen. One thing is they have several nursing stations so each nursing station only has a small section of rooms to look after. I also had tons of nice and friendly nurses. They would do anything for me. I only really like the nurses that were there for Ava's delivery at the smaller hospital. I liked the hospital I delivered Ava at, but I liked the hospital I delivered Milen at better.

Anyways we got to our room and I loved our first nurse. She was nerdy like Mason and I so we had lots to talk about. She gave me a really strong drug that was supposed to reduce the fever and help with pain. The theory was that I had an uterine infection. Only thing was I had no risk factors and I had no pain. I had tons of people coming in doing this or that. I wasn't too happy, especially with all the guys. I am one of those people that likes women doctors. The ER doctor was a guy, but he ended up being nice. Still I would have liked not to have gone all through that I did. The OBGYN doctor that was on call that night was not my doctor. In fact it was the first doctor that I tried to get an appointment when I found I was pregnant with Milen. I couldn't get an appointment with her, so they scheduled me with my current doctor (who, I found out from Mason's second cousin, is a favorite of the nurses). Anyways, the on call OBGYN had visited me after I delivered Milen and I really liked her. She came down to the ER and was shocked that when pushing on my abdomen, I had no pain. I had several people push on my abdomen and every time no pain.

We were there for a long time and it came time that I needed to pump. Mason ran the milk to my mom and I felt like he was gone a long time. Again while he was gone I had more people coming in my room doing several tests. The ER doctor came in to reassure me that I would be okay. Women used to often die of infection after child birth, but luckily today we have modern medicine. He just said they were ruling things out and then they would know whether I would be discharged with antibiotics or I would be admitted. I was getting worried that I might have to have my sister-in-law Kim, who lives next door to us, run to the store to buy formula. Especially if my mom decided to take the kids back to her place. It was getting pretty late.

I was hungry since I hadn't had any dinner and the nurse brought me a small meal box. I loved the food system at this hospital. With Ava's we had to call during certain hours to order food. We always missed those hours so I was pretty hungry the whole time we were there. I also thought I was saving money by not ordering at the hospital. You know, keep those hospital bills down. But funny thing was that it was all covered by my insurance. Anyways at this hospital they have you fill out what you want for the next day or two and so you don't even have to think about it. Food is just brought to you and their meals are large. I had tons of food with Milen and lots of snacks too. If it was after hours you could still get a small meal box. 

Finally right before Mason got back they told me they would be admitting me. I would be going back to the maternity ward. They also let me know that because I was going back to the maternity ward we could have Milen stay with us. Mason got back and I updated him on the news. I called my mom. Mason would pick up Milen and my mom would take Ava to her place to stay. It was midnight by that point, Milen was being fussy with me away, and my mom was getting tired.

They moved me to my new room that I would stay in for 4 days. Yep, 4 days on 3 antibiotics given to me intravenous continuously. It was horrible and about twice as long as my stay when I had Milen. I refer to it as my lost week. I cried after settling into the room. The nurses were so nice not to say anything.

When I got to the new room I was freezing. It was so cold. The nurses were mean and wouldn't let me have a warm blanket. Haha! I know I had a fever and couldn't have one but still I was so cold. They started me on antibiotics right away. It was 1 in the morning at that point. Mason ran home to get Milen and pack up our stuff for the days that we would be staying. Mason was such a trooper to sleep on that small hospital bed for so many nights. We were so grateful that Mason had requested 2 weeks off. Before Milen was born, Mason got a lot of older people asking him why he would need so much time off. I'm so glad he was there when I needed him. Since Milen was not a patient, Mason had to be with him at all times. I was not allowed to be with Milen alone because of my condition. That meant if he had to run to the snack room, he had to take Milen with him. He said he got some weird looks from other dads, haha! Because Mason had the time off, we were able to keep Milen with us so I could keep nursing. Milen did great during the hospital stay. That boy can sleep and it was a blessing that he did.

The schedule every night turned me into an insomniac. The nurses would come in about every hour from 12 am to 8 am every day to give me antibiotics or do vital checks. My temperature spiked to 104 and my parents timed that it took them 13 hours to get my temperature down under 100 from when I first arrived. They ended having to ice me which surprisingly felt really good and seemed to do the trick. 

The days were so depressing. I guess it was a good thing that it rained a lot, otherwise I would have felt like I would be missing trips to the park and zoo with Ava like we had planned.

I thought I would hate the IV more than I did.
I usually can't stand them, but the nurse showed me how it worked
 and it helped a lot to mentally accept it.

A lot of the time we hardly did anything. I was confined to the bed and it was horrible. Tuesday night was nice because we have friends that cast games that they play. That night they were playing "Day of the Tentacle." It's an old game, but I love it because it's so funny and fun. It brought back a lot of good memories and helped to pass the time.

My time there is a lot of a blur. My doctor came in every morning to check on me. Some of the mornings, I'll admit, I have no idea what she said. I just nodded my head. I was so tired. This fever really took a lot out of me. It took quite a while to recover from it.

One early morning they did more blood draws in different places to make sure again that there was no infection. Again it all came back clean.

The last night since it looked like my fever wasn't returning and I was feeling better, I had Mason sit next to me in the hospital bed. "The Count of Monte Cristo" was on that night. It was nice to cuddle and watch it together.

Finally after I had been fever free for so long, they let us check out. We went to my mom's to pick up Ava. My first hospital visit Ava did really well. This time she took it pretty hard. She was scared to see me and I didn't push her to hug me or anything. It was a little heart-breaking. She quickly warmed up to Mason, but me it took a long time. Days after she would ask me "mommy sick?" or "you all better?" Things eventually got back to how they were before, but I think it really worried Ava that I was in the hospital so long. She really took the movie "My Neighbor Totoro" to heart.

At my mom's that day I just crashed for most of the day. I was so exhausted.

We finally let Ava hold Milen one night. She loved it for a few minutes, but was very wiggly.

And that's Milen's first two weeks. I have some theories of why I got so sick, but they will remain theories. It really is a mystery why I got sick. My doctor wasn't willing to make any guesses because I had no risk factors and everything came back clean. So I'll never know. I'm just so thankful that we have modern medicine so that I'm still here with my beautiful family.