Okay - here's the part where I give you permission to skip through my journaling of the first few days at home. You can skip down to the end where the pictures are if my journaling is boring to you - ha! :)
I just want to enjoy how my baby boy focuses his eyes straight on me when I talk to him or when I walk into the room. His eyes are ingrained in my memory. It was that way as soon as he was born and put on my chest. Seth was so absolutely alert and when I talked to him in those first few minutes, he focused his eyes straight on me and looked back and forth between my eyes as I talked to him. Talk about melting my heart!
Day 1-2: All I have to say is that I need to get me one of those post-delivery nurses. I had a great nurse, Erin, who was so sweet and encouraging. Because Seth roomed in the nursery during the night, Erin would wheel Seth into our room every 3-4 hours for me to feed him. I would feed Seth, press a button and then Erin would come and take him back to the nursery. Beautiful!
Seth received his first bath and while he didn't like getting a washcloth all over him, he LOVED having his hair washed and brushed. The nurse ran his hair under a faucet and his mouth dropped open like he was in heaven. It was so cute!
Seth measured a little jaundice, so he would be tested again before he would be dischared. He passed it on Friday, so he was in the clear to go home.
The first night after I gave birth to Seth, I did not sleep AT ALL. I kept replaying and replaying his birth and the delivery over and over in my mind. It was so emotional and I was just on this adrenaline rush after it, so I couldn't stop re-winding and re-winding the whole night.
Jason slept in the room with me and we had a sleep machine going, so it wasn't too bad. I was kind of sore and Erin still had to check on my healing every couple of hours, so it wasn't like sleeping in a hotel. But, I have to say it wasn't bad and I had a wonderful experience at North Memorial.
We were visited by both sets of grandparents on Thursday - they cannot keep away from their grandson! It was so cute because Seth was pretty sleep on Thursday morning but was really alert when his grandparents came. We like to think he was putting on the charm with them, because when they left, Seth became fussy and into Thursday night, he began to experience what nurses refer to as "Baby's Second Night". Into the 24-48 hours after a baby is born, they suddenly realize that they are no longer in the womb and they're thrown into this world of arms wanting to hold them, change them, put clothes on them, etc. It can be a little frightening to them. He seemed like a different baby for much of Thursday evening! However, Seth was brought to me through the evening and night for his feedings and he seemed to come out of it. He was really comforted by the feedings and being near me. I felt so bad for him! But it helped me understand what he was going through.
I slept so much better on Thursday night in between the feedings. I took a Percoset for some soreness and that knocked me out.
Day 3 - Coming Home: We were released from the hospital in the early afternoon on 12/18/09. As I'm sure every dad and mom experience as they drive home from the hospital, we were in the slow lane on the highway jumping every time some crazy driver drove by us...."Don't you realize we have a newborn baby on board?!"
We walked into the house and brought Seth in his car seat up to his new nursery. Jason and I just looked at each other and said, "Now what?". Jason took Seth out of his car seat and grabbed me in a hug. He had tears in his eyes and said, "This is my family" and we prayed, thanking God for Seth.
Seth was pretty sleepy that day and evening, but I had my first of many feedings in his new nursery. I couldn't have set up the nursery more perfect - it has really suited our needs and really functional.
As for the first night....it was the First Night Parent Syndrome. I did not sleep very well, because I nearly jumped at every little peep from Seth. Seth sleeps in his crib in the next room with his door and our door open, with our fan going. He never cried, just little squeaks here and there. I had some good feedings with him every couple of hours and he went back to sleep. After the feedings, I would be so wired and couldn't sleep because my baby boy (who was in my womb the last nine months) was now in the next room and I could hardly contain it!
I was tired on Saturday, but I got a chance to take a nap and Seth was pretty sleepy too. In fact, Seth slept so good on Saturday night that I had to set my alarm clock for the times when I needed to get up and feed him because he was zonked out through the evening and night. I had to keep reminding myself that Seth may not be like this every day, so I just need to enjoy this easy day because there may (will!) be more difficult times ahead!
Like today, when Seth's been much more alert and awake that he was more fussy after his feedings and changings. It was tough to let him be fussy after we had met all of his physical needs and let him cry a little bit. Jason is much more stronger than me - I'm so glad we're in this together! We'll see how this evening goes!
Okay - now for the fun part...pictures!
Your baby boy is so beautiful - congratulations!! Sounds like things are going well - which is good to hear! Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as a family of 3 now! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteJamie Holzer