Sliced and Diced

I never do things the easy way. I just wish at this point I could have found an easier alternative to my latest drama.

I've been battling issues with my right ovary since the beginning of this pregnancy. If you recall, I spent my summer beach vacation in the Outer Banks Hospital writhing in pain caused by giant cysts on my ovary. The cysts were causing the ovary to attempt to turn on itself and cut off it's own blood supply. Things seemed to stabilize though and the ovary troubles appeared to be a thing of the past. Until a few weeks ago. The pain came back. I quickly learned that as soon as I felt the pain, if I were to lay in a particular position it would subside within 30-45 minutes. It wasn't ideal since I never knew when the pain would arrive and if it would be feasible to stop what I was doing dead in my tracks. But I got by.

Then along came the pain again last Thursday. I laid down. It went away. Within 30 minutes it was back and nothing I did would stop it. Greg took me to the hospital. I dreaded going because, well, who looks forward to the hospital? But also because I have been there for the same reason multiple times and all it resulted in was me laying on a very uncomfortable table for hours on end in pain while virtually nothing was being done. Apparently I just wasn't screaming loud enough in the past because this time I got so much attention that the doctors wouldn't leave me alone. Unlike past pain issues with my ovary, this time around tests showed that my ovary was successful at twisting around enough to cut off the blood supply completely. By 1 am Friday morning I was having emergency surgery.

No one is all that fond of performing surgery on a pregnant woman. I certainly was not fond of being the patient in this scenario. I must have asked every question in the book pertaining to the risks of these babies of mine. The doctors assured me they were going to take every precaution. Normally the surgery would be laproscopic but that wasn't going to be an option with this big old pregnant belly of mine. I would have to go under anesthesia but they would keep me under as short of time as possible. (This meant I was awake during most of the surgery prep and they woke me up while I was still in the OR getting cleaned up after surgery.) The babies were monitored immediately after surgery. I was given steroid shots to help develop the babies' lungs in case they did need to be delivered and was given medication to stop labor just in case it started. The second I realized I was gaining consciousness while still laying there in the OR I shouted out, "Are my babies okay?"

Yes. The babies are fine. Almost a week after surgery and they are still fine. I'm now over 31 weeks pregnant with two very active babies. The big goal in twin pregnancies is to make it to 34 weeks. One surgeon said with all the stress, she would be surprised if I made it much longer than that. I told her she better prepare herself to be surprised then.

My ovary didn't have a very positive experience through all of this. The surgeons were hoping to untwist the ovary and allow the blood flow to return. The ovary had twisted on itself multiple times and after all the untwisting, no blood supply was returning. Bye bye ovary. I'm glad I don't have to worry about having anymore pain caused by that thing.

Babies might be doing great but I am downright miserable. My incision is about 12 inches long extending from a few inches above my belly button straight down, all held together by a shiny row of staples. I'm in a lot of pain. I would really love to get off of the pain meds they have me on but delaying a dose for just 15 minutes is excruciating. I've also had to deal with lots of minor post-surgery effects. My intestines stopped working for a few days after surgery. Things are better but eating is still not going that great. My lungs were threatening to collapse at one point. I am breathing better now with just a little wheezing. I am also retaining about 15lbs of water from all the IV fluids they gave me. Most if it is in my one leg making it very uncomfortable, difficult to walk, and makes me feel as though I have elephantiasis. I am home though. I missed my boys so much.

Happy Holidays to me!