our week at the hospital.

so we spent last week in the hospital...

as many of you know, i had not been feeling well the past few weeks & had already had one trip to the hospital to try and get things figured out. they prescribed reflux medication & it seemed to help a little (aka i wasn't seeing my food a second time around) but i was still having major discomfort & pain. last monday night i woke up in excruciating stomach & back pain & was not able get it under control, so chris rushed me to the hospital. after two and a half days of being the "question mark case", some poking and prodding, medications & iv fluids, a scope & an MRI they finally figured it out.

it's a little bit hard to explain & i definitely don't remember all of the doctor lingo, but the short version is that a part of my intestines had coiled up on themselves & were blocking food/digestion & blood flow almost completely. they said that it was probably something that had happened while i was forming in my mom's belly & that it hadn't been much of a problem in life, but now that MY baby is getting bigger, he was pressing up on them making it worse & as they said 'life threatening' for both baby and i. they rushed me into emergency surgery within an hour of finding this out, because they said they didn't know how long it had been this bad & that if they didn't fix it, part of my intestines could actually die, rupture, go into sepsis & so on... NOT GOOD. they said that this surgery is normally a simple & easy one, but because of the pregnancy, would be very complicated. they were able to go in, work around baby, un-twist them, pin them how they are supposed to be & thankfully nothing had died so nothing had to be removed. so i am all better now!

i won't lie. it was super scary.

before last week i had never even had an IV. i haven't even had my wisdom teeth out.

since then, i've had about a billion IVs, been under anesthesia TWICE, had TWO epidurals, AND had a major & emergency surgery... on my abdomen... while pregnant.

i strangely feel super brave & kind of like a warrior now :)

i would also like to mention how great our baby is too. he was such a trooper throughout the entire week! strong heartbeat & completely perfect in there. we appreciated this ALOT, because during all of the chaos it was one thing we didn't have to worry about in a way, because as far as he went, it was like nothing had changed... we were chillin' on the couch watching a Christmas movie.

i would have liked that as well :)

he is still being a good boy too! one of the risks of the surgery was that there was a big chance we could have met him sooner... like THAT day, which would have been 9 weeks early. Because they'd be operating around him, it could have upset his home & sent me into preterm labor & although he could have been okay, it would not have been ideal. they put me on a medication that slows contractions & after a few days said we were in the clear. they are keeping me on it until he does come, which will hopefully not be until february!

aaaaanywayyyy... i stayed in the hospital for a week & then finally got to come home this past monday! i am doing good, just recovering from surgery & resting a lot. oh! and i can eat again!! woohooo! i would not say that it was the best week of my life, but am so thankful that God was there the whole time. He was with the doctors as they figured out what was wrong, with them while they operated, protected our baby in situations that could have been harmful for him, and stood by chris & i & our family while we were afraid. i also feel like God knew how nervous i was for delivery & He gave me a preview of a lot of things that most people don't get to see beforehand! After the week we had, I feel SO much less nervous for February.

one of the biggest things i am grateful for is Chris & my family & friends. in case i had forgotten... i honestly felt SO loved & cared for this past week. prayers & texts. visits at the hospital, flowers & gifts.  and so on & on. i am SO blessed and SO loved by so many. I am SO thankful for that. 

and husband... i feel like our marriage literally stepped up to a-whole-nother level. he was the best care giver i could have ever asked for. he never left my side & i could feel his love for me in a completely different way than ever before. i am so blessed to be his wife & thankful for the view God gave me of chris, our love & our marriage. i hope he's never in a situation like i was, but i pray that if he is, i can be as amazing for him as he was for me. 

 

standing up for the first time since surgery (above)

(below) FINALLY allowed food!! my choice? surprise, surprise… pizza :)

putting together little thank you gifts for all of the sweet sweet nurses who took care of us during our stay!

finally home with my two favorite ears… & all is right in my world