{"id":62,"date":"2010-09-14T04:15:02","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T04:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calvertstudios.wordpress.com\/?p=62"},"modified":"2010-09-14T04:15:02","modified_gmt":"2010-09-14T04:15:02","slug":"a-funny-thing-happened-the-aftermath-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/a-funny-thing-happened-the-aftermath-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"A Funny Thing Happened: The Aftermath Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time I held Asher in my arms, I was stoned out of my mind on all kinds of meds. \u00a0I would love to say all of these wonderful things about the moment, a romantic of swelling emotions, but I remember it as if it were a dream. \u00a0He was so little. \u00a0I had no idea what I was doing. \u00a0The family was gathered around, and I handed the baby to his daddy for some loving. \u00a0Then we all took pictures. \u00a0It was a whirlwind. \u00a0It wasn’t until later, when it was just he and I, that I was able to really concentrate on what had just happened. \u00a0This time, there was a swelling of emotions, the wow factor, the awesome feeling of overwhelmed wonder. \u00a0I was officially a mother. \u00a0I didn’t know if I would be a good mommy. \u00a0I didn’t know if I would be a good wife. \u00a0For the first time, I felt singled out for a responsibility I did not know if I could handle.<\/p>\n

The nurse came in and showed me how to nurse. \u00a0Asher latched on like a seasoned pro. \u00a0Thank God, because I certainly didn’t know what I was doing. \u00a0It wasn’t until the second day that I really started to feel like a mommy. \u00a0I got into a groove with the baby. \u00a0I had to get out of bed and walk on the second day, too. \u00a0The c-section was my first major surgery, so I did not know what I would feel. \u00a0I ground my toes into the cold tile floor and tried to crawl myself across the floors with only my toes and without picking up my legs. \u00a0The nurse said, “pick up your legs, dear”. \u00a0I did and found it was not nearly as bad as I had thought.<\/p>\n

The time in the hospital was great. \u00a0The nurses brought me food. \u00a0They took the baby to the nursery so I could sleep. \u00a0It was great. \u00a0When the day came for us to go home, I was excited. \u00a0No problem! \u00a0Steve, my husband, brought the car seat up to the room, and he and the nurse fixed it up with Asher in it so he would be safe for the ride. \u00a0I got into the wheelchair, and she handed me the baby. \u00a0We rolled down to the car, and put the baby in his car seat. \u00a0I got into the back seat with the baby, and all of a sudden, he began to breathe funny and threw up. \u00a0I yelled, “Steve! Steve! Help!”. \u00a0I fiddled with the seatbelt and finally got him out of the car seat. \u00a0His belt had been pulled too tightly, and it made him throw up. \u00a0This moment, more than any other, turned on a switch in my brain: \u00a0 I turned into a mommy. \u00a0I knew for a fact that I was a good mommy. \u00a0I cried all the way home.<\/p>\n

The first night we were all home, I had Asher in the basinet beside the bed. \u00a0He spit up again and began to choke. \u00a0I freaked out. \u00a0I cried and cried. \u00a0Then, I got calm again, and he did it again. \u00a0I didn’t sleep for 2 months from that moment. \u00a0I would only sleep when Steve was awake with Asher.<\/p>\n

Strangely enough, after that moment, I was stingy with who held the baby. \u00a0I did not like going into crowded places. \u00a0I did not like anyone holding the baby for any length of time. \u00a0It was weird. \u00a0Only my family was “allowed” extended holding time for Asher. \u00a0The whole 2 days I was home, I pretty much cried. \u00a0I called the doctor, and they prescribed some meds for me to help out. \u00a0I did not take them, though. \u00a0I was convinced I could handle it.<\/p>\n

On the Tuesday after the Sunday we brought Asher home, I started to feel really bad. \u00a0I laid down on the couch for a nap, and when I woke up, I couldn’t breathe. \u00a0It felt like I had a wall on my chest. \u00a0Steve became concerned and called my doctor. \u00a0They told me to go to the emergency room. \u00a0They thought I may have had a blood clot in my lung. \u00a0We waited on my mom to get home from shopping to take care of the baby, and when she arrived, we left. \u00a0I did NOT want to leave the baby. \u00a0I was sick about it.<\/p>\n

We got to the hospital, and they immediately took me back to a room. \u00a0I had a CAT scan, and they discovered I had excess fluid around my heart and lungs. \u00a0They admitted me into the hospital. \u00a0Meanwhile, Asher was at home giving my mother fits. \u00a0While I was being tended to in the ER, Steve was making the long trip home to carry the milk I had pumped for his bottle. \u00a0Once I was admitted to a room, Asher came to the hospital to stay with me. \u00a0He was better after that, and, I must say, so was I. \u00a0I still could not sleep well. \u00a0My poor mom and Steve were so tired from all of the drama, too.<\/p>\n

I stayed in the hospital until Thursday. \u00a0Still I was not well. \u00a0I couldn’t lie down without feeling a huge weight on my chest and severe pains in my head. \u00a0For several days, I had to sit up. \u00a0It was miserable. \u00a0The same day I was released, I was readmitted with a heart murmur, high blood pressure, and continued fluid issues.<\/p>\n

The second trip to the hospital was horrible. \u00a0I had so many IV’s in such a short period of time that my veins were shot. \u00a0I told the nurses this. \u00a0The nurse attending to me swore she was the best on the floor for giving IV’s. \u00a0I knew this because I told her to put her pride to the side and find the best nurse for giving IV’s. \u00a0Of course, she blew the vain in my hand. \u00a0(By the way, that hurts like hell) \u00a0I was in tears. \u00a0My little baby was not with me, I was in pain that would not go away, and that darn nurse would not stop being full of herself long enough to see she was incapable of doing the job right. \u00a0Finally, she went and got another nurse who found a vain in one try.<\/p>\n

While we were waiting to get a “real” room, I finally had to go to the bathroom. \u00a0Not a “number 1”, but the other one. \u00a0For those of you reading this who have ever had surgery, you understand this moment. \u00a0It is a scary scary place to be. \u00a0They had yet to get a rolling cart for my IV machine, and I was stuck on the bed. \u00a0My husband and I searched and searched for a call button, but we couldn’t find one. \u00a0So, he pushed this little button on the wall that said, “Code Blue”. \u00a0We then decided to take matters in our own hands. \u00a0He gathered up the IV machine (which had to weigh at least 30 pounds) and we headed off to the bathroom. \u00a0The door to the room and the door to the bathroom were very close to one another, and while on our trip, we looked out the door to the room to see about 5 nurses running down the hall. \u00a0“Are you ok? \u00a0Is everything ok?” \u00a0“Well, yeah, but I have to go NOW” I said. \u00a0“Why did you push Code Blue”, asked the nurse. \u00a0“There wasn’t another button to push” said my blushing husband. \u00a0Too funny!<\/p>\n

So, in the bathroom, my husband stood with the IV machine while I struggled to rid myself of the demons. \u00a0He was exhausted from holding that IV machine, and I had no hands with which to tend to the situation. \u00a0One was battered from the IV gone bad, and the other one was suited up with heart monitors. \u00a0It was a precarious situation to say the least. \u00a0About that time, a nurse entered the room. \u00a0The door to the hallway and the door to the bathroom were wide open. \u00a0The whole situation, with all the capabilities of engaging most of the 5 senses, was there for anyone to view. \u00a0Modesty…goodbye.<\/p>\n

Well, with all of those crazy things behind me, I was taken to a “real” room: \u00a0a labor room with one of those uncomfortable beds. \u00a0I could barely sit without being in incredible pain. \u00a0I could barely stand from lack of strength, and between the bed, the length of my IV cord, the rocking chair was unreachable. \u00a0I could only move in about a one foot square for about 10 minutes. \u00a0My husband had gone to get the baby and my mom, the nurses were gone, and I was all alone. \u00a0For a second I thought I might just die right there in that one foot square. “But,” I thought, “if I do fall out, that means they will have to put in another IV. \u00a0I better die, because they are NOT putting in another IV”. \u00a0Then I looked at my badly bruised arms and decided to fight.<\/p>\n

Asher again came to stay with mommy in the hospital. \u00a0Because I was so hyper sensitive about his survival, I forced myself to stay awake most of the time. \u00a0This led to other issues. \u00a0I would be in the middle of conversations and just pass out. \u00a0More than once I awoke to people’s faces close to mine saying, “Autumn, are you ok? \u00a0Wake up Autumn!”. \u00a0It was weird. \u00a0Most of it was weird.<\/p>\n

I stayed in the hospital, in that uncomfortable labor room bed, until Sunday. \u00a0I was still pretty sick, but I had a cabinet full of medicine to help me out. \u00a0My dad had come to relieve my mother, and he did most of the cooking for us the following week. \u00a0I weaned myself off of the pain pills, and, for the moment, I felt as though I was getting better.<\/p>\n

When I went in for my check up the following Wednesday, I complained of being tired a lot. \u00a0He began to spout off this list of medical conditions that lasted for about a minute and followed up by saying, “You had all of this. \u00a0You are going to feel bad for a while.” \u00a0I thought he was talking about some old person. \u00a0He was talking about me? \u00a0Yep. \u00a0He certainly was.<\/p>\n

I had 2 long weeks of bliss with my sweet little boy and my precious husband before the worst disaster came about. \u00a0I still had trouble sleeping, but I was becoming more comfortable with the idea that he would indeed be ok.<\/p>\n

The next segment will be very difficult to write about. \u00a0Up until this time, my mortality was only an idea. \u00a0Afterwards, I knew what death looked like, and I was not ready to take that ride.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Me and Asher in the hospital the 3rd time in one week<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My little baby was not with me, I was in pain that would not go away, and that darn nurse would not stop being full of herself long enough to see she was incapable of doing the job right. Finally, she went and got another nurse who found a vain in one try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-pregnancy","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}