What a month...

The title of this post is pretty much the understatement of the century. This has been the most trying, most RIDICULOUS month of our lives. But the story has a happy ending...

My last post was November 2. Well, November 3, I felt a little funky. Some light cramping, etc. I called my doctor and she said to go to the hospital if it got worse or didn't stop. So, of course, because I am a workaholic and can't set boundaries for myself, I stayed at work. Came home and laid down for a little while, and then, just as a precaution, Eric and I went up to the hospital to get things checked out.

So, I'm in the exam room at the hospital and the nurse and resident come in to check me out. They take a look, and immediately go get the doctor, who informs me that I'm fully dialated. And that I will be having a baby before leaving the hospital again. WHAT!??? The baby's due date was January 29, so we were talking three months early, plus, I was just not prepared to hear that. I wigged out. Called my parents, who were leaving from Montana the next morning and told them that they should head to Indy instead of Michigan.

That began the worst night of my life. They put me on magnesium to stop the contractions, and tipped me upside-down, head below my feet, to try to keep the baby inside. Magnesium is the worst drug in the world, and I was on such a high dose. It made me pretty crazy for a while. Then a doctor came in at 3 in the morning and told me about all of the problems the baby could have. Fantastic.

I ended up staying upside down in bed for about 6 days, and ended up having an emergency c-section on November 9, when beautiful baby Harper Stuart Matson was born. Sweetest baby in the world!!!!

Anyway, while Harper was safe in the NICU, I started recovering and eventually went home the Friday after delivery. That following Monday, though, when we were visiting Harper, I felt something weird in my incision. We turned around and checked back into the hospital, where I learned I had several hematomas, including a massive one in my tummy area. They also had to open a part of my incision. Awesome. This malady required that I be transferred over to the big St. Vincent's hospital, which, compared to the Women's hospital, is like Motel 6 and the Westin. Ugh. I was in the hospital for about a week with this issue, and also had to start daily IV treatments at the outpatient clinic when I finally got out.

It was at one of these treatments, the week of Thanksgiving, where the doctor became concerned that I was short of breath and that my heartrate was high. Turns out, I'd developed a pulmonary embolism. So, back to the hospital for another week. This was a weird week, part of which I spent in a deep funk, convinced that I was never going to be well again. I also yelled at several doctors and dropped a lot of f-bombs at them, which enabled me to get released to go visit Harper at the women's hospital. Generally, I like to settle my disputes reasonably, but the temper tantrum/ass-reaming I gave in this situation was effective.

Apparently, this last malady was quite serious. I didn't really realize that at the time, and I'm glad I didn't, because it just would have enhanced the foul mood and bad emotional state I was in basically all week.

Things are better now. I'm medicated to the gills, and have weekly check ups, but I've been out of the hospital for almost two weeks, which signifies to me that I'm over the hump. I'm walking upright (anyone who thinks that c-sections are a piece of cake is delusional--try getting up without any ab muscles), my incision is healing, embolism is apparently resolved, though will require follow-up.

But all of this was worth it, as we have our Harper, who has had so few problems that we are all a little stunned, including her doctors. As of today, she weighs 3 pounds 13 ounces, which is more than a pound more than she weighed when she was born (13 of those ounces have been gained in the last week!). She's still in the NICU, but she's in a big-girl crib, and is learning how to bottle and breast-feed. She's perfect. It's like the health issues were allocated between us, and I got all mine and all hers. And I am totally cool with that.

So, meet Harper, sweetest baby ever.