Recovery

Recovering from a C-Section is different from anything I have ever done before. My only surgical history is my wisdom teeth and that was about 1 day of sleeping off general anesthesia and pain meds and then a few days of ice cream and jello. Who can't handle that?

Recovering from my vag deliveries had their rough spots (anyone else hear the funeral march as they head to use the bathroom for the first few days?) but mostly its about a week of laying around, staring at a new baby and having some annoying throbbing. For me anyway, I do realize there are many, many different things that we as women deal with when recovering from having a baby. But recovering from having your core cut open just kind of stinks.

So where as the first week of my recovery I was a mess of tears quite frequently, now looking back on it I would say it was 95% hormones and 5% I hurt thanks to pain meds tha is.

That week, had I been able to sit up in the computer chair, I would have been on here writing a 45page sob story on having to suffer through a cesarean section Ohhh Woaaa is meee. And that would have been fun for us all to see & remember how Kate acts while on Percocet (For the record I act more sane that Kara does).

I am able to say it now. "Thank goodness for CSections". But I didn't believe it a week ago.

In all honesty I was sooo excited to not be pregnant so I could lay on my belly and roll over in bed and bend down to pick something up off the floor. So having to spend 2 extra weeks after delivery still unable to do those things and also unable to sit up without levers and pulleys it really put a whammy on my emotions!

Joe immediatly called in to work after my surgery and took off 2 weeks, which because of his schedule, is actually 2 1/2 weeks!!! He is still all ours until friday. 
Now is when I switch into my "All Hail King Joe, Ruler of the Husband and Fathers" mode. He has been more than I ever could have imagined. I keep joking that I never knew that if I stopped cleaning he would start, but in all honesty from the moment we walked in the door from the hospital he has been not only doing everything, but proactively doing everything. He would get up with the girls in the morning and let me sleep, he has fed them, bathed them (he even lotioned them up), clothed them, entertained, disciplined, he has cleaned the house, vacuumed, done countless loads of dishes and laundry and he does it 24/7. It was all very difficult for me to sit back and watch. I felt bad for him most of the day listening to him break up their fights and clean up dinner and entertain them all at the same time and then turn around and do it some more. And I realized that even though he is their father, and a very active one at that, I was sitting on the couch watching someone else do my job and it appeared to be very daunting a good portion of the day! I do most of my job with joy. I like being a stay at home mom. I don't mind my daily chores and finding fun ways to entertain the girls. I like taking them on outings and having playdates. But for someone else to do it and me just lounge somewhat uncomfortably and watch has been difficult. He has been taking care of me too, reminding me to take it easy and take my medicine and bringing me things and carrying everything around while I just walk alongside. Sunday he was carrying 2 big bags, and 2 babies out of church as I just slowly followed after him and I could see his cape flapping in the wind like super husband!
He even took the girls out shopping and hung swings in the big oak tree in the backyard and made a fun jungle gym into a really cool waterslide (that will be a blog post to come).

His only complaint has been that at the end of the day as he falls exhausted into bed he kisses Carly on the head and says "oh yeah, I have another kid, I forgot about you" and we all fall asleep at 8pm while the sun is still shining brightly outside ;o)

I am down to only taking Motrin twice a day. The incision isn't so bad so far, I scar like none other so I am anxious to see what it ends up looking like. The pain is mostly internal. I am guessing my intenal incision is what is still hurting. I also have a weird rash from the sterile drape that is itchy on my abdomen and the weirdest part of all is that the skin on my lower abdomen is sensitive to touch. It hurts to have a waist band across my stomach so I have been wearing dresses (and Joe asked his mom to get me some night gowns which he calls me "mother" when I wear them and told me I couldn't wear them anymore after my recovery was over, which I greatly respect because there are more pleats on those things than I have ever seen in my life) but when the dresses brush up against my lower abdomen it feels all prickly like needles. Weird huh?
I wanted to write a little more and add some cute pictures, but our computer crashed and I just can't get the hang of typing on Kelly's borrowed iPad! So I'll sign off for now before I mess something up and end up deleting this whole thing.