December 15, 2018Charlotte Graham

After a Long Break, I’m Back!

This is a difficult post for me to write. I took the longest break I’ve ever taken from blogging, and for that I feel incredibly guilty — even though I had some very good reasons!

Melanoma, surgeries, infertility, IVF, moving (twice), and my biggest reason of all … IVF worked, and, after a pregnancy fraught with complications and a couple of big scares, I now have a baby!

I’m actually typing this one-handed because my baby wants to sleep in my arms rather than in his bassinet. Of course, I am taking the occasional typing break to grab a swig of coffee!

Last year was truly the hardest year of my life. The melanoma blindsided me, even though my mom died from melanoma, so I should have not been too surprised. I am infinitely grateful to have caught it early enough that surgery was sufficient. IVF is a grueling medical process as well – loads of needles, expensive medications, constant doctors visits, and of course surgery.

After I successfully got pregnant from the IVF, I started hemorrhaging (on Christmas, no less) and was given a 50/50 chance of losing the baby. Once we were out of the woods, so to speak, things finally started looking up. However, in my third trimester, I experienced some more complications.  There were frequent periods of decreased fetal movement which led to a number of hospital visits. At 38 1/2 weeks pregnant, it was discovered that my amniotic fluid levels were dangerously low and the baby needed to get out, STAT! My doctor said that, one or two more days and he would have been stillborn.

So, I was wheeled over to the hospital for an emergency C-section. To say that I was nervous is an understatement! Despite my trepidation, the surgery itself was surprisingly quick and free from complications. I have been quite lucky that recovery from major abdominal surgery has actually been a breeze. I am four months postpartum, and physically I feel back to my normal self. Emotionally, I’ve been struggling with postpartum anxiety.

Most importantly, though, Baby Graham is healthy and happy!!! He is growing like a weed and is in the 97th percentile for height and 70th for weight … safe to say he’s not missing any meals!

I feel like I owe my readers a massive apology for my incredibly lengthy absence. Even though I recognize that my reasons were quite legitimate, I still feel like a failure as a blogger.

Thanks are in order to my blogger friend Paul E. Bailey for encouraging me to take the leap back into blogging.

I think that at this point, I can only commit to blogging maybe once a week, but I am so happy to be back!

xoxo Charlotte

22 comments

  1. Pardon my French… I am so fucking happy to see you’ve returned! Absolutely no need to thank me either. And I’m pretty certain nobody will deem your apologies necessary. I’ll apologise for not messaging you back yet though. It’s been a bit of a packed week.

    I’m glad that all has worked out reasonably well for you, but you sure had to walk some rocky roads to get there. If you need any help at all as far as your writing, or anything else for that matter, give me a shout. X

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      • Oh dear! There have been a lot! Don’t worry if you don’t have time to get through everything. You might find my mental health awareness posts of some interest though.

        Encouragement is definitely needed for me right now. That and a stroke of luck. I desperately need a break as things just seem to be on a perpetual downward spiral.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Congrats on the baby! Graham is a cute name! It sucks that you had to struggle through all that, but the happy ending makes it worth it.
    Anyway, I know you said you feel bad for not blogging and I suppose you may always feel that, but I promise no one is mad at you or disappointed.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Welcome back. I assumed you died (literally), and then I made peace with that. So please understand my shock when you showed up in my reader. Congratulations on your healthy baby and beating melanoma and making the jump back into blogging. I’m happy to see you again.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Congratulations! Mostly on the New Mom status, but I’m glad everything turned out ok with your melanoma treatment, too.
    I’ll start looking forward to your weekly-ish appearances in my reader for the next 18 years!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Holy wow, talk about a busy time! I just recommended an old article of yours to a friend about a week ago and was wondering how you were doing – it sounds like things have been tough but you have come out the other side. And congratulations on the little one! I’m so happy to hear you were able to have a baby successfully.
    I’m happy to see you back and look forward to seeing you around again!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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