I'm back!
Wow. It's been over a month since I last posted a recipe. I don't think I've ever been away from blogging for more than a week since I first started. That certainly wasn't the intention. In fact, before I had my c-section, I made sure to store up about a month and a half worth of blog posts in advance to post while I was recuperating.
A lot has happened in the past month, and even though I had those new recipes developed and photos taken, I just did not feel well enough to edit photos and work on transferring the recipes from my handy dandy notebook to a blog post.
I never expected to have such a hard time recovering after the c-section. I thought that after having the baby I would be back to my normal self and feel good again. That was not to be.
I lost so much weight after having the baby that the doctors decided to put me on TPN for a little while to give me a boost of nutrition. (TPN is total parenteral nutrition, basically nutrition given intravenously. It’s a mixture of electrolytes, proteins, lipids, vitamins, etc, that you would normally get through the gastrointestinal tract that is given intravenously.)
"When it rains, it pours", as they say. My incision was not healing properly, my GI system was acting up like crazy (I'll spare you the details there) and my electrolytes were wacky (for those of you in the medical field - I was getting 4-5 grams of magnesium IV every day). I was dealing with so much pain I could hardly function. I also ended up getting a blood infection in my PICC line which meant I had to spend a week in the hospital and get IV antibiotics for a few weeks and get another PICC line in my other arm. (A PICC line is a peripherally inserted central catheter, that is a more permanent type of IV, through which I've been getting IV fluids, TPN, IV medications and lab draws.)
Throughout this pregnancy, I've been to more doctor's visits than during the rest of my life combined.
I was getting so discouraged and just felt miserable all the time. Every time I would start to feel better, I would eventually have one setback after another. I just begged God for a little relief.
My only comfort and distraction was my precious baby boy and my sweet, caring husband. Even though we were confined to the house and couldn't really do anything fun, at least I could cuddle with Nathaniel, talk to him and just enjoy my little baby.
It was scary to realize that week after week I just wasn't getting better. I spent the last 8 months confined to the house and even though I am an introvert and a home body, after a while it started to feel like the walls were closing in.
Despair and dejection have a way of closing in when you're sitting at home alone, not having any energy to get anything done, in extreme pain and simply feeling wretched. Sergi had to take off a lot of time from work when I was hospitalized, for all the doctor's visits and on days when I felt especially bad.
So many times when I just didn't have any strength left to pray and felt hopeless and scared, I knew I had to lean on a strength that wasn't my own. I made a playlist of all my favorite songs a while ago and it was especially soothing to turn it on and listen to it.
The song "Shoulders" by the band For King and Country was a favorite of mine.
Finally, this past week and a half I started to feel better. Thank God!
I went for a walk around the neighborhood with the baby all by myself, just breathing in the fresh air and savoring the feeling of being pain free and feeling happy!
I am finally off the TPN and hopefully my labs will be normal and I won't need to have any more IV intervention. If all goes well, I'll finally say good bye to my PICC line and Lovenox. What a celebration that will be! Sergi and I recently counted that I've had more than 450 shots in the past 8 months. That's right. That wasn't a typo - a minimum of 2 every single day, not counting all the other ones, such as B12 injections, Rhogham, and lab draws when I didn't have the PICC line. I'm beginning to feel like a pincushion.
Even though I've always been really grateful for good health, I will now be even more thankful. Every day that I wake up feeling good, I will be especially intentional to thank God for good health.
Last Sunday, I finally felt well enough to go to church for the first time since giving birth. As I sat in the sanctuary listening to God's Word, I just closed my eyes and took comfort in being in the house of God and couldn't help getting emotional and crying just a bit:).
On a positive note, our baby is growing, changing and becoming more alert and playful. He is such a joy to both my husband and myself. We are so grateful that God blessed us with his miracle birth.
I look forward to finally being able to take him on walks, to the park, the beach and on errands with me. Even trips to the grocery store sound like fun.
I am slowly starting to get back to cooking again and can't wait to share more recipes with you. I still have quite a few recipes stored up to share which I developed in February and will share with you soon. However, I still recovering and get tired very quickly, so please be understanding when I don't answer your comments or e-mails quickly. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for our family and for my health to continue to improve and for me to get strong again.
I went to church yesterday and King and Country were there leading the worship. They sang this song. My eyes got teary listening to the words. I just wanted to say you are so brave, and you are such an inspiration to everyone. We all love you and are praying for you! May God Bless your family. Also, Nathaniel is so handsome! 🙂
I can't even imagine going through what you when through. No matter how hard my pregnancy is ( the most difficult out of all) I'm thankful to God, because it can be so much worse. Following you through all your pregnancy and recovery, you are such an inspiration to me to stay strong and not complain. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Stay strong Olga! We prayed for you, God answers prayers! Sometimes it's just to hard to wait. You will be in my prayers Olga! May God continue healing your sores.God's blessings to your family!!! 🙂
So happy to see you back! May God give you strength and you get stronger every day! Your smile is contagious! Keeping your family in our prayers!
HI Olichka ! every time I read your post updates I cannot do it without crying. You are a very strong woman. What you went through in half of your life, most people don't get even close to in their entire life time. I'm so happy that our most awesome and almighty God has given you such precious little joy , a child ,a miracle that testifies there is nothing impossible for our God. Your baby boy is so precious and adorable, love his smile :)). I know that your little baby is your encouragement and strength to get through those difficult times. I will keep you in my prayers so that you may completely recover and feel better than ever. Thank you for sharing your experience, your struggles and joy with us . it really makes me to think twice, be more thankful and see that my problems are not problems at all. I would really like to visit you if you don't mind . if you are up to it let me know your address so I can meet your little miracle and you can meet mine :)).
Oh how happy I am that you are feeling a bit better! Health is such a gift! This hard time was a chapter in you life for a reason, but none the less I am ecstatic that you are Lord willing moving on the the next chapter! Which will hopefully be full of Delight in the Lord and endless joy!!! 🙂
I love your story, your life and your little family ! I enjoy reading your blog so much! Thank you for sharing your miraculous adventures with all of us! God bless you sweet girl.
My dear child! Reading your blog and crying! You are such a blessing and inspiration to me and to many of us following your blogs! I am amaized of how much you been through, amaized of your strengths and positive attitude, amaized of your faith! I know you cried many times during the days and duting nights, but it's not in your writing! May our Heavenly Father hold you and your family in His strong hands, and may you find comfort in Him always! You have an adorable and precious child and a husband- man of God! Be blessed!!!!!
Praying for you!! You story is inspirational and encouraging, reminds me that God is always faithful. Hang in there girl, and enjoy the good in life. 🙂
Dont even stress about not posting on your blog, just take care of yourself and your baby. I am praying that you will get all better soon. That last photo of you and your baby is just precious. So beautiful!
I hope you feel better and better! God bless you and your family!
I am so glad you are feeling better. Our sons are exactly a month a part. I too had a c- section and was on many medications to keep myself and baby alive. My first day to church was on Easter I cried the whole service in awe and wonder of our gracious God. When I finished my levonox shots we celebrated with ice cream.hope you recover fast praying for u guys
Three words "you are a blessing" May God strengthen you physically and spiritually.
"What a blessing it is to be a blessing..."
May God bless you and your beautiful family
Olga! You are such an inspiration! Praise God for his healing process even if it's taking longer than you expected. I enjoy cooking your recipes for my family and always get wonderful feedback. Thank you and may God bless you even more! Praying for you and your family!
Hi Olga! I read your blog and love your recipes 🙂 Just wanted to say that I'll be praying for you and your sweet family during this crazy time! I also am still recovering from a complicated delivery in March, and am so encouraged by your perseverance. Even during all the difficulty, God is using you to bless others! God bless xxx