After the nurses left us with the baby, we were a little panicked. We looked at each other and wondered what to do. In fact, I found the nurses to be rather irresponsible to just leave that baby alone with us...without telling us what to do next. James had the bright idea to change her diaper, because, well, that's what you do to babies, right? Luckily my legs still weren't working properly, so I didn't have to help. Babies' first poos are called meconium. It's black and tar like, and is reportedly impossible to wipe off of their skin. So 2 minutes into being left alone with the baby, James was panicking. "It won't come off! What do I do?!" I relaxed and took comfort in the fact that it wasn't my problem.
After using half of the package of wipes, baby had a clean diaper on, and we tried to get some sleep. Baby did some gagging and choking and spitting up, and that made us worry. In an effort to get some sleep we sent her to the nursery. A couple hours later, the nurse wheeled her back in because "she needs to eat." Lame. Breastfeeding was difficult and precarious at first, with latching and what not. It was often a 2 person job. James at the very least was a good coach, since I dragged him to the breastfeeding class. And at his best, he was a helping hand.
We spent the next day or two luxuriating in the hospital - or I did anyway. They'd come by in the morning and declare the day's menu to me, and they'd come in and feed me pain meds or come by and take the baby whenever I wanted. I seriously wanted to stay there.
Since I waited so long to write this post, I think I forgot a bunch of it. But I will say that recovery is worse than the actual delivery. For me anyway....
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| Baby's first outfit. Ready to leave the hospital. |
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| Baby & Daddy |
So after the second night in the hospital, we had to prepare to leave. And take baby with us... Since Kentucky is like #1 for shaken baby syndrome, I had to watch a video and take a quiz about it before we could leave. I passed. We got her dressed in her own clothes, which was weird. We had an "expert" show us how to use the car seat. I rode out of the safety and security of the hospital in a wheel chair with a newborn in a car seat on my lap. We drove home, at like 5 mph. I kept seeing all these crazy drivers whizz past us, going the speed limit, and I was terrified. Luckily we live just a couple miles from the hospital because I dont think we could have made it much longer.
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| Welcome Home Baby! |
At home we were greeted by balloons on the mail box and a dozen yellow roses from grandpa, AKA "Poppy." Aunt Beth and Uncle Jake came by and held the baby.
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| Baby & Uncle Jake |
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| Aunt Beth, Uncle Jake, Daddy & Baby |
Grandma brought us some food and everyone left pretty quickly to allow us some time as a family. I honestly don't remember what happened over the course of the next few days. I know James took the week off work. And we tried to figure out this whole baby thing. We struggled with putting her to bed at night. She was waking up every 2 hours or so, as a newborn does. But we were bumbling to say the least. As I write this, 3 months later, we are pros.
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| All swaddled and ready for bed. Not. |
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| Much needed afternoon nap. |
The first week was pretty good. James was home, so I had company and a helping hand throughout. My mom came down to meet baby the next weekend.
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| Baby & Grandma |
And then the next Monday, I was on my own. I wasn't happy about that at all. Caring for the baby was draining, especially since I was up with her throughout the night. This time alone. James needed to sleep so he could work. The baby blues started settling in. I got them pretty bad, I think. It never turned into PPD, luckily, and it went away a couple weeks later. But those two weeks or so felt like an eternity. It was so bad that I swore that I'd never have another child. Spoiler alert: it got better, and I want another....
I will admit though that I am not looking forward to the newborn stage again. I'm just not cut out for newborns. Once they start smiling and holding their heads up, they are more my speed. In the next post I will try to catch up to present day.
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