Victory

For those of you who remember my post in which I threatened to become a burly weight lifter, I am still extra soft (in all the wrong places) from my pregnancy.  I am not running yet.  I am not growing a mustache.  In fact, it is a bit discouraging to have only lost 5 pounds since Darren's birth 11 weeks ago.  But I have been living it up with my kids.

Today, as promised, I hiked Cardigan.  I didn't do it backwards.  But I did do it with three children, and so I consider this to be the beginning of life as my family once knew it. As Cora so eloquently put it, we can "almost reach the sky".  We are conquering big things and here is a picture to prove it!

Normalcy has returned, and we are climbing to great heights.

We are having fun playing in the sun again .... being pirates .... and ruling islands. 

We are trying not to fall off any cliffs that life might put in our way.  

And we are enjoying the blessing of living in a world as beautiful as this.  

We are celebrating victory .... and three .... yes three .... sleeping children.

Recovery

Life with three children is a little different than I imagined.  How could I have forgotten the infant stage?  I expected to see all three of the kids romping around in the yard together.  Darren doesn't romp.  But sometimes he gets romped.  Seth and Cora can really make him laugh, but I still find myself having to give appropriate guidelines for how to handle babies.  Darren has survived the first 11 weeks despite being thrown up on, dragged across the floor, and fallen on.  The kids certainly think of themselves as a unit of three.  Seth and Cora constantly remind me that I shouldn't forget to grab Darren, as if I forget him all the time.  As if I have ever forgotten him.  We have spent a few days at the beach, and Darren is learning to sleep right there under a beach umbrella.  So far not too bad.

My recovery is still nebulous.  Lots of people have asked me how I have healed.   The answer: I have no idea.  Asherman's syndrome largely stays hidden until your monthly cycles.  I am breast feeding and so I have no idea how my uterus has healed, and I don't expect to know for a few months - or possibly until I wean.  One major plus in my favor is that I have now had a complete pregnancy.  We know pregnancy heals Asherman's syndrome in ways that cannot be replicated medically.  But I have two major negatives.  1. I had retained placenta after Darren's delivery which had to be manually extracted.  To me, that indicates there is still a problem with the lining of my uterus. 2. I had a major uterine infection following this pregnancy.  An additional trauma to my uterus at this point could lead to more complications. I have not even had an internal exam since Darren is born.  So really I have no idea if I have interuterine adhesions or not.   But I am praying that my cycles will just quietly appear one day without writhing, blinding pain.

Recovering from bed rest is a bit of a drag.  I can't believe how incredibly exhausted I am all the time.  I don't think I ever have time to enjoy my bed.  My eyes close before I am all the way in it.  And being on bedrest decreases your metabolism drastically, so I have lost almost no weight since Darren was born.  Urrrr.  But I have started to build up my muscles again by doing pilates and light weight training.  We had a family exercise competition the other night.  Good news is that I didn't come in last.  I beat Darren!

Adjusting to being home again is going well.  I love my morning snuggles.  But I do miss the Styrofoam cups of ice cream terribly!