The Week From Hell...

Most of you know what has happened to me, but for my far away friends, here is my story... It's a long one. Take a seat.

Monday- March 22:
I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am to have my baby girl! Everything went great. She was born at 8:40am and is as perfect as can be. The c-section took a little longer than expected because I had so much scar tissue to get through. But she made it out okay. I spent the rest of the day resting, visiting with my girlfriends, and loving my new Mila girl. I was able to get up and walk around and everything was going as it should.

Tuesday- March 23:
Still recovering well. My incision was pretty tender, but nothing out of the ordinary. I spent most of the day feeding the baby, resting, and enjoying my morphine drip. I got a few visitors that day and had some laughs. My doctor and his cute wife came to visit me at about 9:00pm. I was laughing and chatting it up and then all of the sudden I got FREEZING. Like out of control shakes. So, they got me some warm blankets and I was able to calm down. Then, I got the worst headache I've ever had in my life. I felt like my head was going to BLOW off my neck. And, I kinda wished it would have. I've never had a headache like that. So, luckily, my doctor was there. He got me all the pain meds I could possibly imagine. Nothing worked. I spent the rest of the night laying perfectly still because the slightest movement would make my head throb.

Wednesday- March 24:
My headache was equally as bad as it was through the night. We continued the pain pills and it seemed to ease up a bit. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what we should do next. Kyle ended up sleeping at home that night because I was starting to feel better.

Thursday- March 25:
Kyle texted me first thing in the morning and asked how I was. I said I needed him to come back. He walked in the door and I burst into tears. I couldn't help it. And I'm not a cryer. I consider myself to be pretty tough. But, my head was in so much pain. Even worse than the first day. The doctors came in and decided that I probably had a spinal headache caused from the spinal epidural. I ended up getting a blood patch to fix it. They said I should feel better almost immediately. No such luck. After about 2 hours my headache was back and in full effect. So, now the process of elimination began. The doctors next conclusion was to do a spinal tap to check my spinal fluid for infection. WORST THING EVER! A spinal tap is as bad as it sounds. Meanwhile, we decided that I needed an MRI to check everything out. So I took my first ride in an ambulance to Cedar and got an MRI. By the time we got back to Beaver, my spinal tap results were in. You are supposed to have a white blood cell count of zero - 2. Mine was 1900. My doctor came in and told me that I have spinal meningitis and that I needed to go to the University of Utah hospital to be treated. I thought I was dying. I mean, SPINAL MENINGITIS?? People die from that. So, I was in tears thinking of how I was going to leave my brand new baby and boys and go to a strange hospital for who knows how long. So I said goodbye to my baby and headed out. Kyle drove the truck behind the ambulance and my kids were in good hands with both sets of grandparents. My mom took Mila and Kyle's parents took my boys. Off we went.

Friday- March 26:
I woke up in a new hospital with the unknown. I knew I was going to be experimented on, but could never imagine the crap I was about to go through. The first painful thing I did was get a PICC line. Google it. Its disgusting. It hurt like hell, but its pretty convenient because I wouldn't have to get poked again. They can draw blood from this new thingy. Which by the way- I think I got poked 17 times the day before, so this PICC line sounded like a good idea to me. Luckily my angel friend Kate, came to visit me bringing all the things I might need for my stay in hell. I'm telling you, Kate is a lifesaver. (Thank you kate, I love you!) Then I got another MRI. It lasted 2 hours! I had to stop them in the middle because I had to pee so bad. They pumped me full of so much fluid that I literally peed every 20 minutes. Anyway, the MRI was awful. Sitting flat and still for 2 hours after you've had a c-section isn't pleasant. It's also not pleasant to lay in a machine where it sounds like someone put a garbage can over your head and drummed away. Really great for treating a headache.

Saturday- March 27:
After being on antibiotics for 24 hours, my headaches were going away. I spent my time talking with the Neuro doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They found spots on my brain through the MRI and needed to connect that with the spinal meningitis. It could have been signs of stroke, or bacteria pockets that seeped through a hole in my heart. So, test after test, ultrasound after ultrasound, we tried everything we could to figure out how the spots got there.

Sunday- March 28:
The Neuro doctors decided that I needed one more test to determine whether there was hole in my heart. They scheduled the test for Monday morning and if everything went well, I could go home. I spent the rest of the day going on wheelchair rides with my hubby. Who by the way, is the best husband ever. That evening, I got the greatest news ever. After getting another spinal tap, my white blood cell count had gone down from 1900 to 40!!! Still a ways to go, but the antibiotics are working and they are working fast.

Monday- March 29:
After some minor tests, I went in for my big one to determine if there is a hole in my heart. They gave me this NASTY and I mean NASTY stuff to swallow to numb my throat. Apparently it tastes like Moonshine. Whatever. It was sick. Then they sedated me and shoved a camera down my throat. Had a looksie and figured out that there was no hole!!! Greatest news ever. I showered, packed up and got the hell out of there. Off to see my babies!!!

When I got home, I couldn't believe how big Roman was. He was like a giant. And Mila looked a little different. And Gavin was the man of the house. I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to thank my mom for holding down the fort while we were gone. I never worried about my kids once because I knew they were in good hands. Thank you Mom. I love you more than you know.

So, now that I'm home, I'm still on antibiotics until Sunday. Kyle is my personal nurse and gives me my meds twice a day. My incision is the least of my problems. I'm getting around pretty great. My pain is minimal and hopefully the headaches will be permanently gone within a couple of weeks. So, pretty crazy that I got spinal meningitis from my epidural. That pretty much makes my mind up of whether or not we are done having kids. So for now, I'm hibernating in my warm house with my new beautiful baby girl and adorable boys and I couldn't be happier. SO GLAD TO BE HOME!!!... and alive.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I could definately feel your prayers and that is what saved me. This post was a bit graphic, but doesn't sound anywhere near as horrible as it was. I would never wish what I went through on anyone.

Here are some pictures of my Mila girl. I think I looked at these pictures 3 times a day while I was away. They saved me.

Grandma Karen and Mila

Kisses

She is so beautiful

Proud big brothers

My favorite picture

Mila was a hit at the hospital

Gavin

My room at the University of Utah hospital (Drinks- courtesy of Kate)

Proud Roman

I love Romans chubby hand