Where does the time go? Surgery, catching up!

Okay so it's been almost a month since I posted. It's been busy around here, what can I say?

Junior had his tubes put in yesterday. He did very well! We weren't sure how he was going to do, and parental worry is what it is.

Here are some photos from our morning. We had to be at the hospital at 0545 and Junior couldn't have a sippy cup prior (he did VERY well with this - surprisingly!)








Junior was un-impressed with the gown we were given for him to wear. We were referring to it as his "dress" :)

Junior was given versaid (sp?) prior to being taken downstairs to the OR. The ride down was interesting (one of us had to "ride" with him on the bed since he had medication) because he was kind of cranky. All of a sudden he just seemed a little loopy. You can tell he isn't quite "himself" in this picture. We were waiting to go into the OR. The nurse was GREAT and he didn't cry going into the OR at ALL!

Post- op: Jr did great. He didn't start crying till he heard me talk to the Nurse in the PACU. The male nurses in there where great too. Jr refused to wear the pulse ox they had taped to his toe. He attempted (and succeeded) at pulling it off a few times.

This picture is when we got back upstairs. Jr wanted to sit with Daddy and watch cartoons. After about an hour of steady vital signs we got to go home.

On the way home, Chris took this picture. As you can see... he was already in a playful mood. He was playing hide & seek with Daddy.

Daddy made all of us french toast, and as you can see Jr enjoyed his (along with his friday morning episode of Seasame Street - yes we were home in time for Seasame Street!).

Post nap, he enjoyed an afternoon of playing in the garage with Daddy and even made a trip to the bike shop and to the auto parts store. By bed time, he was wrestling with dad and being a typical boy!

Pardon Me as I Type One Handed

Surgery Update:

I had my follow up with the surgeon this morning that removed my gall bladder. He was more interested in checking out Jr then me. LOL, I'm a little biased but I think he IS the CUTEST 33 day old baby EVER!!!!

As for me in regards to the surgery - 100% healed. When I get cleared by Dr G to start working out again, the surgeon is a-ok with it!

Other "Me" Related Things

I realized this weekend that despite the fact that breast feeding is helping me loose weight (I've lost more then I gained while carrying Jr at this point), I still need to be watching what I eat. Otherwise I have days like I did this entire weekend where ALL I do is eat. I'm constantly hungry and there fore I feel the need to snack. CONSTANTLY. I threw it down with my mother in law that I would get to my goal weight and she would not be the only one to shed the un-wanted weight. I realized that the way I've been eating (while alot healthier then it was while pregnant) is fine while breast feeding, but once he's weaned I'll be screwed.

That's why I decided I am going to go back on Weight Watchers. My first weigh in is tomorrow. This worked for me in the past (pre-pregnancy) and I know that even when I wasn't as "strict" in following the program, I was eating better then I am right now. I also like the fact that they take in to consideration Breast Feeding women! Besides... It's not a diet - it's a lifestyle!

Junior....

Who could resist a picture of my beautiful little man?! (who since starting this blog has actually fallen asleep and let me type this w/ both hands! :) )

Walking Wounded

Walking Wounded.... or Something Like That

I'm home! A little like swiss cheese but I'm home!

We are doing better today (almost a week after my surgery) and we are semi- back in a rhythm as far as breast feeding goes. My supply has been impacted, but we are now doing what we need to, to get it back!! And both a lactation consultant from the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society and a nutritionist from the WIC office think we will survive this and be able to continue breast feed.

For those that have never experianced a laproscopic surgery here is a picture of what you look like afterward:

It's not pretty - especially since you can still see the tape outline from all the tape that was on my side while in the hospital, but I can proudly say that up untill the last month of being pregnant with Junior the stretch marks you do see there in the picture weren't there!

Weight Update!!!

At my WIC appointment today, I got weighed! I would like to tell you all - I have 1lb to go before I am back to MY pre-preganancy weight. (meaning the weight I know I was prior to concieving). :D Look out Grandma J - Your not gonna be the only "Skinny Bitch" (a term of endearment in Chris' family- just so you know - ) in the family for much longer!!!

Updates, Surgery and Overwhelmed

Man what a way to start off a new month! (disclaimer: I apologize for the spelling/grammer mistakes.. I'm on pain medication as I write this. You'll understand by the end of this post)

Juniors 2wk appointment
Went wonderfully! My little man who I thought wasn't getting enough to eat was in fact getting enough! :) We are now above his birthdweight!!! As of Friday he weighed in at 9lbs 4oz!!! He's quite the chunky little monkey but hasn't grown in height yet. But it's okay because he will :) His bili levels where low, at 9.4 which made the Ped happy. We still have the bili blanket incase he rebounds agian. Chris has to take him tomorrow for a recheck. The ped thinks if it is still low by tomorrow then we should be done with the blanket. :)

Surgery?
Okay so Weds night I had a minor gall bladder attack. It was controlable at home with the pain meds from my c-section. I hadn't eaten anything that triggered them for me in the past so I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. Thursday night, I had another one but was not so lucky on the pain tolerance. With in about 10-20 minutes of taking a lortab, it along with my dinner came right back up. The kicker also - normally after puking with one of these attacks I feel better - but this time the pain got worse. So Chris loaded Jr and me up in the car and we went to the ER. They did a work up, blood, ultrasound ect to try and figure out what is going on. They then called the surgeon I saw back in March. He said to come in on Monday & we would schedule surgery for Tuesday. Alas it was not to be. After getting out of the ER, and taking Jr to his 2wk appointment, I ate some scrambled eggs and a tortilla for breakfast. Needless to say, less then a half hour or so after eating, I was right back where I started at, in pain and ready to puke. (for the record, scrambled eggs DO NOT look pretty on the rebound.) So Chris called the surgeon, who said it's time for my gallbladder to come out NOW.

So I had surgery on Friday afternoon. Oh and remember how I don't seem to do anything easy??? Well a rouge stone escaped my gall bladder and is now blocking the common bile duct to my pancreas. So I'm still in the same perdicament I was before this started. I get to have some sort of scope down my throat tomorrow sometime to remove that stone. In the mean time, I have this oh so lovely drain in my side (which I am convinced makes my side hurt even more then it did before the surgery) that is a royal pain to deal with when I have to use the rest room.

Where does this leave me?
Since the surgery I feel incredibly overwhelmed. I am in too much pain to hold my son, which sucks because even though I can't breast feed him directly right now I can't even hold him to give him a bottle. I can't wait for the next proceedure to be over so that I can go home, and lay in my own bed, and hopefully soon I'll be able to hold Jr agian!!!!

One Down - One to Go

So I got home from the General Surgeon appointment a little bit ago. Here's what I walked away from it with: Surgery is not avoidable, it's a matter of when. I have like 8 stones - a few of which are at the mouth of the gall bladder.

Here are the senarios:

Option #1 (the one we would prefer): I have no more gall bladder attacks between now and when Junior decides to come on his own (or is induced). I would meet with the surgeon again after my 2wk appointment w/ Dr G to schedule surgery to remove the gall bladder.

Option #2: If I have to have a planned C-section (for whatever reason - he's too big, they want to take him a little early ect)then the surgeon would probably do a joint section/gall bladder removal w/ Dr. G - this is up to Dr. G.

Option #3: If I start having major issues, (multiple attacks that are lasting for more than 4 hours at a time) they will most likely admit me for observation, (observing both me and Jr) run some blood work and tests. Depending on at what point this happens (IF it happens) the surgery it self could cause pre-term labor. The surgeon would like to avoid this option if at all possible. (He had a son born @ 28wks and said he doesn't want to put anyone through that - despite the fact his son is perfectly healthy he still won't intentionally cause a pre-term delivery if he can avoid it - which was nice to hear.)

No matter how you go about it, surgery is in my future. If we go with option #1 (which I would prefer and I think Chris would too) then it looks like surgery would be the middle of August. That's providing I don't have to have a c-section. However -if I have to have the c-section (this is possible due to a small pelvic outlet according to Dr. G) then I would rather just recover from both surgeries at once instead of recovering from one then having another. At this point - it's wait and see. I'll talk about all of this at my next appointment with Dr. G on Weds.