Nearly done with my continues
I expect to finish up in the next two posts.
I also really appreciate that people are giving me some feedback on my posts - I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading about potentially gross/scary birthing stuff, but it's nice to feel like I can work through my thoughts with ya'll.
I'll start this post with good stuff.
This girl at work asked me how I felt when I saw Trevor for the first time - and it was mostly confusion and disbelif. He looked too big to have come out of me. And he didn't look like a newborn - lots of hair and all my visitors commented on how nice his complextion was.
Hospital food was actuall pretty good - I was super excited that I was served iced tea with every meal, and coffee with breakfast. The first day was 'liquid only' which meant I could have jello and soup and juice. The other meals i had oatmeal and eggs and toast and baked fish and vegetable lasagna and just a whole bunch of stuff that I liked.
Mom, big Mark, Erica, and Zoey were my first visitors - they came about five that first day. Kids under 15 aren't allowed and Lily cried. Erica took some really nice pictures of us.
The night shift nurse, who was the same for both post-partum nights, was Franchesca, and she was amazing. She was informative, thoughtful, attentive, and friendly. She always checked on me timely, and brought me the things that the day shift nurses said they'd give me but forgot - like lanolin nipple cream when my nipple started bleeding. We had a conversation about Ink Masters based on my day-of-the-dead purse. At one point Trevor was crying and I didn't know what to do so I buzzed her and she said skin to skin contact calms babies so she undressed him and placed him on my chest and covered us with my hospital gown and he stopped crying right away. She took me for a walk, she holding my IV and me holding my 'foley' bag (aka pee bag from the catheter) and Jason wheeled Trevor behind us. It was important that I get up every so often to help release gas.
The day shift nurse for Friday and for Saturday (when I was discharged about noon) was Nurse Kim. What Kim did would have me crying for weeks to come. Trevor had his circumcision on Friday. I don't really like the idea of a circumcision, and I'm uncertain that it's necessary other than for aesthetic reasons (also lots of people say otherwise). I decided he would be circumcised mostly because Jason and his brothers, Shae's sons, and Jason's sister Nancy's sons were all circumcised. So if I choose not to circumcise I didn't have anyone who could give me advise on proper cleaning and care (yep it's different - read about it in some books, didn't feel confident).
Anyway. Nurse Kim came in and started doing stuff, and I actually had to ask her name and if she was my nurse for the day because she didn't introduce herself. She promptly asked if I knew there were two ways to perform a circumcision, and said that in the hospital was the 'invasive' technique, whereas if I waited and made an appointment with Dr. Garcia, he uses a 'plastibell' which cuts off circulation and then it just falls off (??). She highly recommended the other method. After she left, Jason and I discussed it, and the vitals nurse came in and gave her opinion (plastibell could get infected, better to just get it over with) and Jason and I agreed that we'd rather have it done in the hospital than waiting several weeks to get it done. I can't be sure, but I think that maybe this was the moment that nurse Kim decided that she hated me and vowed to make my life miserable.
Trevor was taken for his circumcision just before breakfast and wheeled back within 30 minutes, sound asleep. So nurse kim came in, undressed him and made him cry, and demanded that I look at what I had done to my son (I couldn't really see from the angle I was at anyway), then she left without fixing his swaddle. Jason was gone to get breakfast and I couldn't reach him and he cried and I was sad.
About lunch time, nurse Kim returned, unhooked my IV (which apparently had my pain medication in it this whole time), unhooked my catether, and told me I'd need to get up to use the bathroom. Then she gave me one Motrin for the pain. I asked if I could have anything else, she said no. Only about an hour or so went by before I needed to pee, and that was a horrible horrible pain. Not the peeing part, but the climbing out of bed, walking, and sitting on the toilet. I cried. The pain was so bad, I couldn't make myself get off the toilet. I asked Jason to ask nurse Kim if i could have anything else for the pain. She said "No, you just need to walk it out. You don't even have staples" and she grabbed my arms and pulled me off the toilet. Then she said "do not get back in that bed. Walk it out." So I sat in a chair, getting up to pee every so often, with Jason's help. I stopped crying quickly because contracting my stomach only made it hurt worse. The pain was surreal, it was so sharp, but when I looked at my stomach I could see nothing, because I hurt on the inside. When I did pee I could not bend to wipe myself so Jason had to fill a water bottle and I'd try to squirt myself clean. Jason had to help me stand and sit each time, in addition to handing me Trevor, and changing Trevor. I hurt so much, but I kept sitting in that chair. I asked the vitals nurse if I could have anything besides Motrin, but she said she'd have to ask Nurse Kim. I texted Sheena, Rebecca, and Jennifer, all had c-sections, Jennifer at this hospital in May, and asked what pain medicines they were given. Each of them was outraged that I had been given only Motrin, and suggested that I demand to see the in-charge nurse. Instead I asked nurse Kim again, and she said no. I wish Jason and I were more agressive, just this one time. I kept thinking maybe there was a reason I couldnt have something besides Motrin, so I sat and suffered.
At the same time, Trevor had been very drousy all day, likely caused by the pain killer from the circumcision, and he hadn't eaten much. He was still making regular diapers though. However, when nurse Kim saw on our chart that he hadn't been at the breast much, she gave him a bottle. This probably seems like nothing, maybe even a good idea, for anyone who has never read anything about newborns breastfeeding. She didn't hand the bottle to Jason and show him how to bottlefeed, SHE fed him while we sat and watched. She instructed us to continue to give him bottles. This would cause me to cry for at least a week, everyday. Literally everything says that if you intend to breastfeed, do not give a bottle before 4 weeks old. It causes nipple confusion, low milk supply, baby could refuse the breast, baby sucks differently on a bottle than a breast so it teaches improper latch-on which damages breast. Basically it's sabotage. If there really was danger that he needed to eat asap, he should have been fed using a dropper.
Just after dinner nurse Kim returned, and was surprised to see me sitting in the chair, and that the bed had not been used. She said "you've been up all day?"
me -"yes, when can I have another Motrin?"
"It's too soon for a Motrin, but you can have a Hydrocodone"
WTF?? "yes please!"
Then she said with suspicious anger "you haven't just been sitting in that chair all day?"
"no no I've gotten up and walked lots of times and I've used the bathroom lots of times just like you said" I practically begged. and she gave me one Hydrocodone.
I must have looked terrible - my dad, mema, and dad's girlfriend monica came to visit twice - once before the Hydrocodone and once after, and they were really shocked by how much better I looked (unaware of any of the pain medicine issues)
And this is the moment when I decided nurse Kim was a hateful, mean, wicked woman - At shift change Franchesca came in and saw me sitting in the chair and saw us giving Trevor a bottle. She was very surprised at the bottle - she said she could tell Trevor was getting plenty to eat, not only based on his diapers, but because he was so calm. She said it's easy to tell which infants need more food. She also was surprised I didn't get any rest during the day, and that nurse Kim never massaged my Fundus, which apparently should happen every 2 or 4 hours or so, and she had me get back in bed right away. Lastly, she was completely confused by the pain medication - according to her, I had been prescribed to take TWO HYDROCODONE EVERY FOUR HOURS. What the fuck nurse kim, what the fuck.
The next morning, it was nurse Kim again, and I reminded her constantly of when I was due my next Hydrocodone..which she still managed to postpone by 45 min to an hour. It took her four hours to discharge us from the hospital, which meant I ran out of pain med right as I got home, Trevor was cranky because he needed to eat. I called secretary Rebecca again to come sit with me so that Jason could go pick up my prescriptions because I could barely walk, I definitly couldn't lift Trevor. I was glad to be home though.
Coming up next - the final installment - the first days home.
I also really appreciate that people are giving me some feedback on my posts - I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading about potentially gross/scary birthing stuff, but it's nice to feel like I can work through my thoughts with ya'll.
I'll start this post with good stuff.
This girl at work asked me how I felt when I saw Trevor for the first time - and it was mostly confusion and disbelif. He looked too big to have come out of me. And he didn't look like a newborn - lots of hair and all my visitors commented on how nice his complextion was.
Hospital food was actuall pretty good - I was super excited that I was served iced tea with every meal, and coffee with breakfast. The first day was 'liquid only' which meant I could have jello and soup and juice. The other meals i had oatmeal and eggs and toast and baked fish and vegetable lasagna and just a whole bunch of stuff that I liked.
Mom, big Mark, Erica, and Zoey were my first visitors - they came about five that first day. Kids under 15 aren't allowed and Lily cried. Erica took some really nice pictures of us.
The night shift nurse, who was the same for both post-partum nights, was Franchesca, and she was amazing. She was informative, thoughtful, attentive, and friendly. She always checked on me timely, and brought me the things that the day shift nurses said they'd give me but forgot - like lanolin nipple cream when my nipple started bleeding. We had a conversation about Ink Masters based on my day-of-the-dead purse. At one point Trevor was crying and I didn't know what to do so I buzzed her and she said skin to skin contact calms babies so she undressed him and placed him on my chest and covered us with my hospital gown and he stopped crying right away. She took me for a walk, she holding my IV and me holding my 'foley' bag (aka pee bag from the catheter) and Jason wheeled Trevor behind us. It was important that I get up every so often to help release gas.
The day shift nurse for Friday and for Saturday (when I was discharged about noon) was Nurse Kim. What Kim did would have me crying for weeks to come. Trevor had his circumcision on Friday. I don't really like the idea of a circumcision, and I'm uncertain that it's necessary other than for aesthetic reasons (also lots of people say otherwise). I decided he would be circumcised mostly because Jason and his brothers, Shae's sons, and Jason's sister Nancy's sons were all circumcised. So if I choose not to circumcise I didn't have anyone who could give me advise on proper cleaning and care (yep it's different - read about it in some books, didn't feel confident).
Anyway. Nurse Kim came in and started doing stuff, and I actually had to ask her name and if she was my nurse for the day because she didn't introduce herself. She promptly asked if I knew there were two ways to perform a circumcision, and said that in the hospital was the 'invasive' technique, whereas if I waited and made an appointment with Dr. Garcia, he uses a 'plastibell' which cuts off circulation and then it just falls off (??). She highly recommended the other method. After she left, Jason and I discussed it, and the vitals nurse came in and gave her opinion (plastibell could get infected, better to just get it over with) and Jason and I agreed that we'd rather have it done in the hospital than waiting several weeks to get it done. I can't be sure, but I think that maybe this was the moment that nurse Kim decided that she hated me and vowed to make my life miserable.
Trevor was taken for his circumcision just before breakfast and wheeled back within 30 minutes, sound asleep. So nurse kim came in, undressed him and made him cry, and demanded that I look at what I had done to my son (I couldn't really see from the angle I was at anyway), then she left without fixing his swaddle. Jason was gone to get breakfast and I couldn't reach him and he cried and I was sad.
About lunch time, nurse Kim returned, unhooked my IV (which apparently had my pain medication in it this whole time), unhooked my catether, and told me I'd need to get up to use the bathroom. Then she gave me one Motrin for the pain. I asked if I could have anything else, she said no. Only about an hour or so went by before I needed to pee, and that was a horrible horrible pain. Not the peeing part, but the climbing out of bed, walking, and sitting on the toilet. I cried. The pain was so bad, I couldn't make myself get off the toilet. I asked Jason to ask nurse Kim if i could have anything else for the pain. She said "No, you just need to walk it out. You don't even have staples" and she grabbed my arms and pulled me off the toilet. Then she said "do not get back in that bed. Walk it out." So I sat in a chair, getting up to pee every so often, with Jason's help. I stopped crying quickly because contracting my stomach only made it hurt worse. The pain was surreal, it was so sharp, but when I looked at my stomach I could see nothing, because I hurt on the inside. When I did pee I could not bend to wipe myself so Jason had to fill a water bottle and I'd try to squirt myself clean. Jason had to help me stand and sit each time, in addition to handing me Trevor, and changing Trevor. I hurt so much, but I kept sitting in that chair. I asked the vitals nurse if I could have anything besides Motrin, but she said she'd have to ask Nurse Kim. I texted Sheena, Rebecca, and Jennifer, all had c-sections, Jennifer at this hospital in May, and asked what pain medicines they were given. Each of them was outraged that I had been given only Motrin, and suggested that I demand to see the in-charge nurse. Instead I asked nurse Kim again, and she said no. I wish Jason and I were more agressive, just this one time. I kept thinking maybe there was a reason I couldnt have something besides Motrin, so I sat and suffered.
At the same time, Trevor had been very drousy all day, likely caused by the pain killer from the circumcision, and he hadn't eaten much. He was still making regular diapers though. However, when nurse Kim saw on our chart that he hadn't been at the breast much, she gave him a bottle. This probably seems like nothing, maybe even a good idea, for anyone who has never read anything about newborns breastfeeding. She didn't hand the bottle to Jason and show him how to bottlefeed, SHE fed him while we sat and watched. She instructed us to continue to give him bottles. This would cause me to cry for at least a week, everyday. Literally everything says that if you intend to breastfeed, do not give a bottle before 4 weeks old. It causes nipple confusion, low milk supply, baby could refuse the breast, baby sucks differently on a bottle than a breast so it teaches improper latch-on which damages breast. Basically it's sabotage. If there really was danger that he needed to eat asap, he should have been fed using a dropper.
Just after dinner nurse Kim returned, and was surprised to see me sitting in the chair, and that the bed had not been used. She said "you've been up all day?"
me -"yes, when can I have another Motrin?"
"It's too soon for a Motrin, but you can have a Hydrocodone"
WTF?? "yes please!"
Then she said with suspicious anger "you haven't just been sitting in that chair all day?"
"no no I've gotten up and walked lots of times and I've used the bathroom lots of times just like you said" I practically begged. and she gave me one Hydrocodone.
I must have looked terrible - my dad, mema, and dad's girlfriend monica came to visit twice - once before the Hydrocodone and once after, and they were really shocked by how much better I looked (unaware of any of the pain medicine issues)
And this is the moment when I decided nurse Kim was a hateful, mean, wicked woman - At shift change Franchesca came in and saw me sitting in the chair and saw us giving Trevor a bottle. She was very surprised at the bottle - she said she could tell Trevor was getting plenty to eat, not only based on his diapers, but because he was so calm. She said it's easy to tell which infants need more food. She also was surprised I didn't get any rest during the day, and that nurse Kim never massaged my Fundus, which apparently should happen every 2 or 4 hours or so, and she had me get back in bed right away. Lastly, she was completely confused by the pain medication - according to her, I had been prescribed to take TWO HYDROCODONE EVERY FOUR HOURS. What the fuck nurse kim, what the fuck.
The next morning, it was nurse Kim again, and I reminded her constantly of when I was due my next Hydrocodone..which she still managed to postpone by 45 min to an hour. It took her four hours to discharge us from the hospital, which meant I ran out of pain med right as I got home, Trevor was cranky because he needed to eat. I called secretary Rebecca again to come sit with me so that Jason could go pick up my prescriptions because I could barely walk, I definitly couldn't lift Trevor. I was glad to be home though.
Coming up next - the final installment - the first days home.