Getting better every day

[norsegirl]

I'm slowly learning what needs to be done to manage my pain so I can cope and perform as a thinking human. The reason I hurt so much, as it turns out is not that I have an infection (this is a good thing) but that the stitches are ripping out (less than ideal, but at least does not require drugs). After our pediatrician appointment yesterday I stopped in and my ob-gyn had a look at it. She confirmed that it looked funny, but that it wasn't infected and if it healed really funny that they could fix it in the future. I'm less worried about what it will look like and more worried about getting a fever and leaving Jason taking care of a sick wife and newborn with a jaundice problem. She wasn't exactly sure why it was hurting me so much though. It wasn't until a few hours later that I diagnosed that problem as I was able to cut free a 1" or so length of suture thread that was just hanging loose.

Managing the pain of stitches that are tearing out:
1. clean myself with epsom salts to prevent infections
2. hair dryer to make sure it's dry after each cleaning
3. always sit on a donut-shaped hemroid pillow
3. stay ahead of the curve on the pain meds, taking the next one at the 4 hour mark, not 6 or later hours. That is why I'm posting now. Short time between last feeding and my pain med so I figured I'd skip the cat nap and alarm and just kill the time.

The pain meds seem to be the most important part. I do wonder how long it will take to heal with the stitches being ripped out and all.

Having worked out the pain management, yesterday was a bit of a better day, and I anticipate it will only continue to improve.

I had to operate on only 1 hour or so of sleep yesterday because of the rigorous schedule of night time feedings and the difficulty in administering said feedings. But the pain meds made it reasonably tolerable anyway. Went to the chiropractor first thing in the morning, and that helped lots with the pain. Then it was rushing off to the pediatrician and dropping in on my ob-gyn. All these medical appointments meant a 5 hour feeding gap for poor Georgia, but she was a trooper and we made it through, even meeting our number of feedings for the day goal despite this gap.

After all that we ate lunch and hung around the house waiting for the test results that would either send us back to hospital, or see us returning for more tests later. Happily it was the latter.

During my stay in hospital I realized the one thing that was still missing from the nursery... a comfy chair. I've decided that the space I was going to put a diaper genie would be much better put to use with the perfect chair. Coincidentally, I'd spotted an ideal candidate at Ikea some weeks before but hadn't at the time known where to put it. Now that I've decided the diaper genie is not a useful item, the prime spot next to the window is available for a chair. I invited Jason along to confirm that this was in fact the right chair for the space, but he wanted to stay home and relax and hates going to Ikea anyway. Jason spent the afternoon feeding Georgia and giving her frequent light therapy while the girls wanted to hit the outlet mall next to Ikea, so off the three of us went.

A half-hour dash through Ikea resulted in most of the things I needed to finish off Georgia's room; the chair, a clock and a laundry hamper. I was also hoping for a white waste basket, but we didn't see those on our whirl through, and I wasn't that interested in searching for it. I can grab that next time I hit the Ikea.

After that it was on to the outlet mall where we discovered they were having a "tax free weekend". Kristi found the crocs she wanted for work (no holes in the top so you can wear them in a hospital setting) and which are apparently not sold anywhere in Canada. All of us managed to find a nice t-shirt or two at Quicksilver. I was able to pick up more dog food at a ridiculous price. It's usually $40 or so plus tax, but I paid $29 including tax (the pet store apparently wasn't playing the no-tax game). And then a final stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company for a box of chocolates to give to the wonderful ob-gyn that delivered me and a treat for Jason for staying home and watching all the kids.

Jason and I spent the early evening sleeping while the girls went to watch the bats emerge from the bridge downtown. The girls then brought us take-out chinese for dinner, which was awesome. We went to bed rather late, and I've been waking for feedings, or like now, hanging around waiting for pill time, but I still feel like I should be able to get some decent sleep hours in.

And that gets me to 6:30 ish, which is when I'm due for my pill, so time to pop that and back to bed for me. Next feeding is scheduled for 8am or whenever Georgia cries, and with her getting better that is finally starting to happen. I think I might ask Jason to bottle that one and get a bit more sleep for myself.

Comments

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous that you have a pediatrician.

A clock is also something I missing from Lex's nursery and have decided that I really need. I hear you about the waste basket: it tooks me a month of passive (and not so passive) searching to find the right one.

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

Oh no, it's not that I'm picky about the wastebasket, it's just that I know it is available in white, but all the piles we happened to pass were black or red. I didn't have enough spoons to go hunting for the "wastebasket" section of Ikea.

As for the clock, I went for a $3 one from Ikea.

I'm much less about perfect and more about cheap that doesn't clash.