You thought it was all over, didn't you? Now that my pregnancy is over and my newborn is a whole month old, you thought I'd quit whining. But you'd be wrong.
He's a pretty good baby, you know. It's just that he had the misfortune to get a virus soon after getting home from the hospital, which led to a trip to the ER (to find out that he does NOT have RSV or the flu and that his oxygen levels are great) and quality time with a nebulizer. The real problem was that instead of sleeping when he slept (at night, even) I sat up and listened to him breathe and cough. And wheeze. And cough some more. I guess I was convinced that if I was vigilant everything would be fine. And everything is fine, so maybe being superstitious works. So that was the first three weeks of his life.
But I was FINE. Seriously. All the pain was gone by two and a half weeks. I could carry the laundry and pull Lovebug onto my lap. ChunkyMonkey nursed SO MUCH that I lost ALL my pregnancy weight (too bad he hasn't made a lot of progress erasing all the extra pre-pregnancy weight, but here's hoping). I went back to driving and life. My scar was checked and deemed to be just fine.
But I noticed this hard lump under my belly button. I figured it was scar tissue and didn't worry about it. Except then it started to hurt. And it got bigger. And it started to hurt more. Now it hurts all the time and it's pretty big. I went to my doctor on Tuesday, but unfortunately the only doctor available was the one I like to call "Bitch". And I don't mean that in a Hillary Clinton/strong woman kind of way. I mean that in a could-care-less kind of way. And since I did not have a fever and it had been a whole month since the c-section, Doctor Bitch said it was scar tissue and it hurt because I'd overdone it by lifting my children (nevermind that I never lifted anything until I felt healed and that I did the same thing after the last c-section). She did agree to send me to get an ultrasound just in case. But of course I can't have that until next week.
Naturally I've gone online about this. And all I find are forums filled with c-section/tubal ligation patients complaining about pain that their doctors don't take seriously.
So now I'm in pain and pissed, because I have no reliable info and the pain is getting worse. And I've had two low grade fevers that went away on their own. And the lump is bigger. And the forum women are talking about their years of pain. Call me a wimp, but I don't think this is something I want to just suck up.
I did read about a few women who had hernias after the c-sections and did feel better after subsequent operations.
That doesn't reassure me either.
The pain is not so bad that I can't function. In fact, it's usually the worst when I'm going to sleep or just driving the car - when I can't also read and watch TV and check my e-mail and play with the kids at the same time.
I will be seeing a good doctor in two weeks. I will get an ultrasound on Tuesday. I can survive until then. Right?
Though if you all could write lots and lots of posts until then (and not mind that I don't comment much for fear of whining and/or because the baby seems to resent typing) I would appreciate it.
3 comments:
everything will be ok! but my mom did have a double hernia, and the doctors do think that it was partly due to having two surgeries through her belly button that weakened the wall there... if you've survived 3 C-sections, with no problem, a hernia surgery will be no biggie (although more recovery time, etc. SUCKS. get it done before the littlest guy is crawling ;) and I can come over and help during christmas break since we can't afford to go anywhere! good luck!
Oh, hon. I hope it isn't a hernia and is something they can quickly fix. I'm so sorry.
Dude, that just sucks. I hope the ultrasound can help 'em figure it out. Feel better!
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