Her head was still killing her, and she felt like she'd been hit by a semi-truck. Lisa opened her eyes, and realized she hadn't been dreaming. Would she ever feel anything close to normal again? Right now, it didn't feel like it; she felt just awful and just wanted to close her eyes again. Her pain level wasn't exactly pleasant either. She didn't care what people said about epidurals. They didn't take away all the pain, and good grief, how bad would she feel when she was finally up and about? She felt like it had to be a dream, but Jack's voice brought her back to reality.
"You really put Mom through the wringer. You've got to be nice to her; we like her, and she's going to love you so much," Jack was quietly speaking. Lisa turned her head toward the sound, and she started to tear up. Jack noticed her wiping at her face.
"You're awake," he stood, and walked to her, a small bundle of blue in his arms.
"I feel absolutely awful," she said, almost in tears. "Is he okay?"
"He's perfect, Lise," Jack smiled and looked down at the person who had caused all of this turmoil the last few weeks. "See for yourself."
Jack sat down on the side of the bed, and Lisa tried to shift over so he had more space to sit, but she let out a loud hiss as she tried to move at all. Jack put his hand on her arm, "You're fine. I won't fall off."
"Oh my goodness," Lisa said, giving Jack a glowing smile as she looked at the source of all her health issues, "hello again." She reached over to stroke his face, and with his eyes open, he tried unsuccessfully to focus.
Jack gestured, "You want to hold him?"
Lisa frowned and shook her head, "I don't feel like my arms will even hold him. I feel like I was hit by a car or something, and my arms, legs, everything, feel like Jello. I'm not sure I can."
"I'll help you," he said, gesturing for her to take the baby, and as she did, he braced her hands and held up the baby so Lisa could get a better look at him.
"He's just so beautiful," she said just staring at him, tears freely flowing. "I barely remember seeing him earlier. I was a mess, still am."
"I know," he nodded. "Good thing is you both came through that, and even with as bad as you feel, you can only improve now. I was just telling him that he needed to be nice to you. You went through an awful lot to make sure he was okay, and he needs to behave better than he has the last 24 hours."
Lisa chuckled a little as she just stared at him, no words necessary. When she felt like she couldn't anymore, she looked at Jack and nodded at him, "I'm still pretty dizzy and would like to lie my head back. I'm spinning."
"Okay," he said, and he picked up the baby and sat there to talk to her, holding the baby so she could at least see him. "It's almost 1:00 now," he told her. "Do you remember all that went on?"
"I think so," she sighed, rubbing her hand across her temple. "Good grief, I can't imagine that going worse," she sighed, but then she looked at Jack and the baby. "Actually," she paused, nodded, and spoke again, "It could have been much, much worse, and I need to count my blessings."
"That we both do," Jack reached over and squeezed her hand again. The baby made a few little noises, and both looked him, just staring at him. He was awake and just shifting their eyes around trying to focus.
"Is he really okay?" Lisa asked, wiping at her face. She started really crying and couldn't seem to stop. Lisa continued to wipe the tears away. Jack reached over for a tissue.
"He's perfect, as I said, Lise," Jack nodded as he sat back down and juggled the baby. All of his checks have been just fine, no problems. Lungs are good. He's definitely got those lungs working, heard that earlier," he chuckled a little. "He's absolutely great, Lise."
"Really?" Lisa asked again, almost not believing it. "I just was so worried and thought something would go wrong the entire time. The idea he's okay, that he's really perfect," she started to cry more. "Just all this stress I have felt and finally," she paused. "I braced myself for the worst and couldn't think about anything actually working out."
"I know, I know," he sat, patting her knee, which was next to where he was sitting and under a pile of blankets. Let's talk about you, though, right now because you fared much worse."
"It all seems like a blur," she said quietly, trying to remember everything. What time was it exactly he was born?"
"8:50 this morning," he said, "and as I said, it's now 1:00. A lot has gone on in 24 hours. I called the girls," he told her, and it dawned on her that other people outside their little bubble of now three, needed to know.
She made a face, "There's so much to do."
He nodded, "One step at a time. I'd say a lot has been accomplished today," he smiled. Both looked down at the baby, and he now had his eyes closed and seemed to be going back to sleep. "I told the girls you'd had a really rough time, and that they would be welcome by here this afternoon. They are going to call me when they get here, and of course," he rolled his eyes, "I say the girls, but you know Tim won't be far behind."
Lisa tried to laugh, but she groaned, "It hurts to laugh. My head hurts, everything hurts, even things that I probably don't know about yet hurt."
"I asked the girls to just give you a little time and to understand that you aren't just bouncing back. You went through so much. You are probably feeling weak partly from all of that blood loss."
She let out a sigh and nodded, rubbing her temple again, "I thought you were going to pass out, well, a couple of times."
"I have to admit," he chuckled quietly, "and I can laugh about it now, but seeing the size of the needle they used for that epidural, good grief. It's a good thing you never saw it. I couldn't imagine that being stuck in your back and not being able to move ever so slightly."
She pursed her lips, "Can't say I would want to see it either, but those drugs are a miracle as long as they last." She started to shift a little, groaning with every movement. She tried to move her hand to her back and told Jack, "My back is killing me, and I don't mean from labor. It feels like it's on fire. Can you see if I'm now delusional?"
"Sure," Jack said, standing and moving around. Lisa sat slightly forward, hissing from the pain and almost gasping in pain as she did. Jack carried the baby effortlessly and moved to check her back. He groaned and nodded to her.
"The good news is you aren't delusional. The bad news is it looks like you were maybe allergic to the epidural tape or something. You have bright red marks here, here, here, and here." Jack pointed out the spots on her back, and she nodded at each one.
"It feels like the chicken pox would, that I need to scratch," she told him as he moved to sit again where he'd been.
"Tell the nurse," he told her. "I'm sure you aren't the first person with an allergic reaction, and maybe she will have a topical ointment or something. Back to what happened the last few hours," he said, meeting her gaze. Your doctor said you did have a lot of blood loss afterward, and it did take some time to get that stopped. He was worried he was going to have to haul you off to surgery. He did say that it wasn't enough to require a transfusion, but he's monitoring that. He said you will need to be on some extra iron pills and eating red meat will help too. If your numbers aren't bouncing back, he said he could do a transfusion."
"I don't want a transfusion," she shook her head. "I'll take the pills and do whatever."
"Okay, I thought so too, but he also said because of that, you would be even more tired than normal for a few weeks, maybe five or six as your blood recovers. You also might be paler than normal and just a little sluggish, not that having a baby is a walk in the park anyway."
She listened and nodded, "Ahh, fine. Did he say anything about my blood pressure and headaches?"
"Both should start to go away in time," he told her. "The doc said that just because you had the baby, doesn't mean things go right back to where they were. He wants to put you on some meds right now for your blood pressure and see how that goes. It's higher than even he would like. He also said with all of this and the complications you had, he is thinking a couple of days here for both of you."
"I am not in any rush to spring myself from this place," she said, closing her eyes. "The blurry vision isn't helping either."
"Rest will help a lot, Lise," he said, and before he could say more, a knock at the door had them both looking to it. They seemed to almost let out a sigh of relief to see the nurse, not visitors at the door.
"Good, you are awake," she said, walking in with a smile. Behind her, another nurse came in, and the first one spoke. "We are here for Mom and baby. Both of you need different things. Mrs. Stillman, we are going to get you up and into the bathroom for maybe a shower, yes?"
Lisa looked between the people in the room and just shrugged, "I don't even know. I mean, that sounds wonderful. I feel terrible, know I look it, have hair matted to my head, have some rash from the tape on my back, but," she took a deep breath and paused, "I'm worried I'll faint or something."
"I'll be here to help. That's something I can definitely do," she said with a small smile. "You will feel like a new person, maybe a tired, beat-up person," she grinned, "but some TLC will do wonders. I promise. That is also when most moms like to put on their own pajamas if you have them."
"Oh, I do," she said, sighing. "That does sound heavenly right now, just some basic comforts."
"Sounds like the first step to rejoining the land of the living," Jack winked at her.
"And, for the baby," the other nurse joined in, "we need to take him for his checkups again. We monitor newborns every few hours. He'll be out for an hour or so, which should be in perfect time with everything else."
"Do I go with him?" Jack asked, and they shook their heads.
"No, we will take him to the nursery. Our on-call pediatrician will check him over again, and if you know the name of yours, we can let him know. Most will come by the next day."
Lisa shook her head, "I haven't even thought about a pediatrician." She sighed.
Jack patted her hand, "Dr. Tippett in Hudson has seen the girls for years. We can start there if that is okay?"
Lisa nodded, not knowing anyone else or having the strength to challenge anything. She looked to Jack, "Have you eaten? I'm not the only one who needs to watch my health."
"I'm fine," he nodded. She gave him a glare, and he sighed. "Okay, I haven't eaten since yesterday, but to be fair, I have been a little busy."
"Jack," she sighed. "You go down to the cafeteria and eat. Stretch your legs. Wait for the girls. Please, you need a break too."
"Okay, fine," he nodded and titled his head, "only if you tell me something I can bring you to eat."
Lisa made a face and looked to the nurse, "I suppose I can eat?"
"Of course," she told Lisa with a nod. "You missed lunch, but yes, just a caution, though. Many times food sounds good, but the epidural makes your stomach a little queasy, so just watch what you eat. Take things slowly."
"I'm not in the mood for a steak," she told Jack in a joking tone.
"Okay," he chuckled. "I'll see what I can find. We can start to work on getting you healthy, up and about." Jack stood and leaned over so Lisa could touch the baby again before the nurse took him out. She leaned in and kissed his head, beaming at the sight of him. She wiped another tear, and Jack put the baby back in his little hospital bassinet." Lisa didn't take her eyes off of him as they wheeled him out of the room. She looked back at Jack and let out a half sob.
"I miss him already," she said, choking up. He squeezed her shoulder.
"I know you do. That's why you are a good mom," he said. "I'll be back," and with that, he nodded to the nurse who was staying to help Lisa, and he followed the baby out.
Lisa leaned back in her bed and sighed saying, "I may need a lot of help. I feel worse than I could even tell him."
