A Very Trying Time

Mike and I have had quite the week. At 3:30am on Fri night/Sat morning, I woke up with a high fever. My body ached so bad and was shivering hard. I took Tylenol, nursed Emerson, pumped and then the fever started to break. I woke up in a puddle of sweat from breaking the fever. While trying to take a shower, I was so dizzy and lightheaded that I almost passed out. Mike had to get me out of the shower. Around 11 am, the fever came back and even worse. I called my doc's after hours line, and the doc said to go to the ER- especially since I am postpartum, just having Emerson 2 weeks before.

In the ER, my blood pressure ran 57/32. If you don't know, normal is 130/80. I was also very dehydrated, so they immediately hooked me up to IV fluids. I had ultrasounds run on me to determine if part of the placenta had been accidentally left in. Ultrasounds came back negative. I was admitted into the hospital after the ultrasounds and blood and urine cultures came back negative, and they couldn't diagnose what was wrong. They did discover that my white blood count and my kidney (creatinine) levels were both extremely high, but could not tell me why.

On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, they ran every test under the sun on me. Chest CT scan, abdominal CT scan, kidney ultrasounds, ultrasounds checking for blood clots, etc.. My symptoms during this time were fever and chills every few hours, dizziness, lightheadedness, trouble breathing, upper abdominal pain, etc. Both of the levels mentioned above were getting worse, even after taking tons of antibiotics and fluids through an IV.

All of those ultrasounds, scans, blood draws came back negative for major organ problems. My doctor was stumped and said that it must be an internal bacterial infection that took over my body, because it could not be anything else. Around Wednesday, antibiotics seem to working bc my levels started to come down slowly. I was still having fever, but not as frequently. I was given a little oxygen and a breathing pipe to help with my breathing. Doc said that I would be released when my levels were back to normal and I didn't have fever/chills for 48 hours.

It's Thursday evening now, and I am playing the waiting game. My levels have returned to normal, but we are waiting the 48 hrs of being fever-free. I am hoping things go well tonight and I get released tomorrow, but we will see!

My mom and Mike have been fabulous throughout this whole thing. Both had to take off work all week. They have switched off being with me here at the hospital and taking care of our 2 week old at home. I miss Emerson like crazy. This has been very hard for me. I have pictures of her up in the hospital but cry every time I look at them. New moms should not be separated from their babies. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about her well-being because she has an awesome Daddy and Nana taking care of her.

I was nursing before this illness started, so that has been another ordeal. Apparantly, being really ill diminishes your milk supply, so I was not producing anything. I pumped at the hospital, but with no success. We had to start giving her 100% formula, and this really upset me. Luckily, my milk supply has come back since starting to feel better. They are able to give her part breast milk/part formula at every feeding. Hopefully, I will be able to give her 100% breastmilk soon.

So, it's Day 6 now, and I am hoping to get out tomorrow. I am still very weak, so I don't know how much I will be able to help out at home, but I SOOOO just want to be home. I miss changing my baby's diapers (crazy, I know) and giving her baths and rocking her, I miss cuddling with my husband, I miss my dogs, I miss my bed, I miss home-cooked meals, I miss everything.

This has been very frustrating b/c they can't put a name on my illness. The internal doctor said that I was "very, very sick" and "levels and bp were critical" at one point, but no one can diagnose it. I am just hoping they didn't miss anything even more serious.

OK, so I am rambling now here in my hospital bed while watching Greys. I need to say one more time though that I am very thankful to my husband and my mom for all of their help. They both had to take off work all week, sleep in a recliner at the hospital, do all day-duty with Emerson and all-night duty with her too, transport breastmilk back and forth from home, etc. I love them so very much.