Jennifer Vs. Hernia

Round 1 Thursday Oct 2

I know, the question on everyone's mind is how did I get a hernia? They are typically found in men, not women, in people who lift heavy objects, not a lazy wimp like me. So how did I get one? Who knows! But I had one, that is, until this past Thursday when I had surgery to repair the hole in my abdominal wall. I've had surgery before so not everything was completely new, but I have never had an invasive surgery that went through muscle so I was a little nervous. I woke up after the surgery, suprisingly, with little to no pain. They had inserted this catheter attached to a pain pump that continuously delivered pain meds to the incision site for the first 48 hours. I would soon learn how invaluable this little thing was! I went home and rested the rest of the evening and felt pretty good.

Round 2 Friday Oct 3

I slept great overnight and got up Friday morning and felt good enough to get everyone ready for school and out the door. My mom was here to drive and help and she was very helpful! I felt great for the first couple of hours of being up and then realized, with increasing pain, that I might should rest a bit! :) So I did and Friday was pretty uneventful. The pain pump was still working and the pain was increasing a bit, but still very bearable.

Round 3 Saturday Oct 4

Bad news....the pain pump was empty. I slept terrible and woke up around 5:30a in some big pain. My midsection felt like it was on fire, en fuego! I had to get a little more serious about taking the pain pills now and keeping ice packs on the incision. After feeling a little better, I removed the catheter and the pain pump which made me feel a little woozy. I spent a lot of the day in the recliner and took 2 pain pills at a time, instead of just one. That evening I was able to remove the dressing from my incision and take a shower, hooray! Showers make such a difference in my countenance.

Round 4 Sunday Oct 5

I slept decently overnight and felt rested. No pain pills for me, just ibuprofen and the pain was definitely bearable. John and I did a lot of walking which actually feels better than just sitting all day long. My sweet mom took the boys and we had like 5 hours to ourselves, a little piece of heaven. We love our boys but it had been a long time since it was just the two of us. We watched football and rested and it felt good.

Now we are praying for an easy week and more rest for me. Being a mommy takes a lot of energy and we don't realize just how much until we are unable to do it. This has been such a good lesson for me to practice, relying on others for help, not being so independent and admitting that I can't do everything.

But I know you can't relate to that....