Back home and recovering

This morning, I couldn’t get enough of Adrianna. I wanted to hold her for forever. I talked to her and told her how much I loved her and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. I had a hard time holding back the tears. Then I went with Greg to drop off Adrianna at our neighbor’s house since it was nearing time for us to head to the hospital. I lost it at Janette’s house. I was a blubbering fool and couldn’t stop. My worst fear about this whole surgery was the thought of if something happened to me, I would not be able to watch my little girl grow up or be able to tell her just how much I love her.

Well, everything went fine today I am back home recovering from the surgery. Turns out that there were two hernias near my belly-button, so the doctor repaired both. One was quite large as he had suspected.

I had forgotten about the fact that I would have to be hooked up to an iv. I steeled myself for extreme pain, since the last time I had an iv inserted (before giving birth) it was very painful and took several attempts by several nurses. I remember it was one of the most painful parts of the whole labor and delivery thing. I guess I have “rolling veins” that roll away from the large needle that is the iv line. Thankfully though, the pre-op nurses numbed the area before inserting the iv. What a blessing that was. The nurse today asked when I last had an iv in my left hand, as it still looked bruised to her. Yeah, that was over a year ago. Anyways, even though it took the nurses today a couple tries to get the iv successfully in a vein because they kept rolling away again, the numbing solution they used made a world of difference.

Greg waited with me until I was put under. I was so thankful for his calming presence. It made me a lot less nervous about everything, just knowing he was right there.

I don’t remember much about the whole falling asleep thing. I vaguely remember Greg giving me a kiss before he left to go to the waiting room. I think I remember being in a room that was really cold and being transferred to another bed. I think a doctor sarcastically commented on the temperature in that room. The next thing I knew, I was in a recovery room and when I tried to look around, everything was very blurry. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. I tried to wake up and look around a few more times during the next half hour, but things were still blurry. Finally, the blurriness left and the nurse gave me some apple juice and saltines. More than anything though, I wanted to see Greg. He was finally allowed to come sit with me.

So far, I seem to be recovering okay. My stomach is very sore and has a constant ache. Thankfully the Vicoden takes the edge off, as long as I take care not to move much, cough, clear my throat, or sneeze. I slept for most of the afternoon after we got home at 3. Greg made me dinner, prepared a spot for me on the couch complete with a drink of water, pillow, blanket, tv remote, and a brand new book for the occassion (the new one by Liz Curtis Higgs!). He also took care of Adrianna all afternoon too.

Thank you to everyone for the emails, well-wishes, and phone calls today. 🙂