Part 2: The Blood Patch

This picture has nothing at all to do with my post- it's just pretty, and I like it. :):):)

Now, on to the matter at hand.

Disclaimer... this is not for the faint at heart. It's real. It's ugly. And it hurt like, well, like the worst thing you could think of, but worse. Do you get it? (I can just picture Jordan right now, shaking his head saying I'm being dramatic) BUT I'M NOT!!! I'M NOT!!! :)

Anyway, here is the rest of Kendall's birth story...

So there we sit, in the hospital on Christmas day, holding our precious new baby and wondering what the rest of the world was doing at that moment. Even though it wasn't Christmas as usual, it was still perfect to us and I will always treasure that time. Holding my new blessing from God on the same day He sent HIS blessing to save the world.

It was the calm before the storm.

The nurse came in to help me to the shower, and I literally almost passed out. My head instantly started pounding and I felt really nauseous. (*Looking back, I cant IMAGINE how HORRIBLE I looked at this moment to my husband... "walking" for the first time since surgery, wearing HUGE granny panties, a too tight tank top with nursing closures that weren't fastened right, face as white as a sheet.... Can you imagine?! Not my finest moment! :)) I sat on the seat in the shower for at least 45 minutes just letting the water run over my head. I could hear Jordan and my nurse talking outside- and I heard "let me go get the anesthesiologist..."

Oh joy.

So basically, he comes in with all the bedside manner of a brick wall and tells me "the deal".

"Look, you have what's called a spinal headache. When the spinal block was inserted in your back, your spinal column was punctured and fluid is slowly leaking out, causing your brain to sag and the immense headaches you are feeling. They usually last anywhere from 3 days to 6 months."

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME DUDE??? If you thought I was white before, you should see me now!

"Your options are to lay flat and drink a lot of coke, caffeine apparently can help heal the tear, and hope it goes away on its own. Or you can have a small procedure done called an epidural blood patch, and it should instantly fix the problem. Of course, this is not in every case. For some people it doesn't work. It just depends."

Wow! Thanks for the pep talk doc! I feel tons better now!!

Now let me ask, what is the word that sticks out to you like a sore thumb??? Does it start with a p, then follow in r-o-c-e-d-u-r-e?? Yep! Me too.

Here I lay, the day before having had my stomach sliced open and a tiny person pulled out, talking about another "procedure". Needless to say, I was a disaster. Seriously. A complete disaster. I started doing the ugly cry, you know, where your face twists up into a horrible scowl and stays like that? That was me.

Anyway, I was determined to go the coke route- I drank so much they could have floated me down a coke river! That doesn't make sense at all. But just go with it. I went home the next day hoping the headaches would lessen, but they didn't, at all.

Let me take a moment to explain these headaches. If I was laying flat on my back, all was right with the world. But the moment I sat up to oh, say, talk to someone, feed my new baby girl, hug my other kiddos, or anything, my head filled up with all this pressure and I couldn't even see straight. The only pictures we have of me home from the hospital with Kendall are of me laying down with my eyes closed. Again, not my finest moment.

After 3 days of this, and my headaches not getting any better, Jordan took matters into his own hands. I like to think he did it for me, because he couldn't bare to see me in that kind of pain a minute longer, but I think it was also for him... I was driving him CRAZY asking for help! (Bless his heart, he should get lots of extra jewels for his crown in heaven for what he put up with. :) Anyway, he called and booked me a time to get the blood patch done at St. Joe's day surgery unit that day.

So off we went, and you guessed it, I was a total disaster. We get there and are told the anesthesiologist was on the way. FOUR hours later, here she comes! Many crude words were probably said during this waiting period. Probably.

She explains the procedure in detail, probably too much detail, and asks me if I'm sure I want to do it. Jordan quickly told them I was sure, very sure. :) Honestly, the part I dreaded the most about my c-sections were getting the spinal/epidural. And now, I had to have it done again, but this time, there was no new baby at the end of it!

And with 3 nurses standing around me and the anesthesiologist behind me, the procedure began. I had to sit up, hunched over trying to make my spine into the shape of a C, so she could insert the HUGE needle in my back and then locate the right vertebra to work with. They gave me a local anesthetic for the pain, and that helped about zero much. Anyway, after 30 minutes of this, and I had snot dripping from my nose from crying so much, she says "Page Dr. Dickerson, I need some help here."

Not something you want the patient to hear.

I lost it. I'm talking I said words that would make Eminem blush. They told me to let it all out, and I did.

In comes Dr. Dickerson. He called me sweetie and kind of looked like a Calvin Klein model (except he was pretty short). I did my best to wipe my dripping nose and get it together. I told him that I could stand about 5 more minutes of this, then I was done. D O N E. Luckily, he found the right "spot" pretty quickly and the next part of the torture began.

One of the nurses I was holding on to and squeezing the life out of her hand, put a turnicate around my arm and proceeded to pull out the thickest needle I have ever seen. They drew out 20 cc's (if that means anything to you at all) of blood from my arm (yes, I'm still sitting up, in a C, with a needle sticking out of my back) and then gave it to Dr. Dickerson to insert in my back. Apparently, they have to use "fresh blood" to re-insert it into my spinal column so it will go directly to the tear and clot there.

"Are you feeling any better?" Asks the new man in my life.

"Ummmmm, I think? Maybe????? It's hard to tell with the needle and tubing still lodged in my spine....." I muttered out. Everyone laughed. Not me.

So the procedure from H-E- double hockey sticks ends, and I lay flat on my back for the next half hour, swearing to Jordan that if this procedure didn't work, he has my permission to just shoot me.

Soon, the nurse comes over and sits my bed up, slowly.... slowly,.... and I sat up.

NO HEADACHE!!!!!! It was GONE!!!

I have never said so many "Praise the Lord" and "Hallelujah's" in my entire life!

So, I arrived at the hospital a woman who was physically at her wits end, and left one who was smiling!!! It really was incredible how vastly different I felt- and I give God all the glory!!!

Kendall's birth story may not be completely ideal. In fact, it was probably the most inconvenient timing possible, followed with lots of pain and complications.... But, you know what? The end product was worth it. :)

She is a true blessing to our family, and we could not love her more.

So thanks again, for letting me document all of this!!! I really wanted to write it for us, and so that Kendall will alway know what I went through for her. She owes me. BIG TIME. I'm sure I won't hold this over her head for the rest of her life. Not at all.

:):):)