After my second son was born to say I had my hands full would be putting it lightly. I opted to have a C-Section because I knew he was going to be big and I didn't want to risk any problems with him. Turned out I was right, he was 10pds4ounces! I came home with him after about 3 days in the hospital and didn't feel good at all. I went back to the hospital after a couple more days and found out I had an infection due to the C-Section. Spending a week in the hospital after having a new baby and a 18 month old at home that needed me terribly was the worst week ever. I begged and pleaded with the hospital to let me out but everyone talked me into staying and getting myself well. Finally, after getting better, I was released to go home. Only to find out my dad was in the hospital and didn't know if he would make it through or not. After being home for 2 days from the hospital and having a 10 day old baby, we took off driving to Tennessee. Thankfully, my Mom and Mike R went with me and he was able to sit with the kids while I went to the hospital to be with my dad. He was on dialysis and the diagnosis was Sepsis. We were in Nashville for approximately a week until he was able to be released and we knew he would be ok (at that time anyway). During the time all this was going on I stayed in contact with Dan through text messages and found it almost IMPOSSIBLE to completely let him go. He had moved on with a new girlfriend and I felt my heart break again. Leaving Nashville and coming home I tried to live the life that had made itself out to be.
In August of 07 Mike, myself, my mom, and the kids decided to go out to eat at Ryans Steakhouse. It was my absolute favorite restaurant and I had never had a problem with them prior. About an hour after eating I became very flushed and very hot. I started to get nauseated but tried to use "mind over matter" and ignore it. That night, it got worse and I spent the next 19 hours in the bathroom. I had become so weak that when my mom came over the next morning to check on my I couldn't even open my eyes, much less get dressed. She managed to help me get ready and rushed me to the hospital. I couldn't even sit up while checking in and we knew there was something immediately wrong when they couldn't get a blood pressure. They rushed me to the back into the "emergency working room" and all of a sudden there was an influx of Drs surrounding me. They managed to get my blood pressure from my calf and it was 50/35. My kidneys had shut down, I was one wrong breath away from being flown to UofM, and was immediately admitted to ICU with food poisoning. I had a direct A-Line and also a tube put through my neck directly to my heart. I seriously thought I was going to die. It was as close to death as I've ever become and I can tell you this, it was nothing but by the Grace of God above that I was able to walk out of there a week later. The Drs and Nurses at Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor were beyond wonderful and played a vital role in bringing me "back from the dead". Finally, I was well enough to go home with my babies. I had a really hard time bonding with my youngest son during this time because of all the emergencies that had happened since he had been born so I needed to spend extra time with just him and I. The rest of that year had went great although in my mind, I still thought of Dan and how much I loved him. I never felt complete although I was trying to live life with what I had been given.
