Two weeks later
Ok, so it's been almost two weeks since my little one first made his appearance, and I thought I'd touch base to let everyone know how we've been doing. My parents were here for the labor (which was pretty short and much easier than I thought, but that didn't stop me from the love that was the epidural), but I made them wait outside for delivery. I kind of felt bad when I ended up pushing for an hour and a half, and they were waiting outside the door, but Mom reassured me that it was ok. They were able to hear everything since apparently, there were chairs outside the door to my room. That makes me feel better that they weren't just standing around out there too. The delivery was interesting...I already mentioned that I pushed for an hour and a half, which was tiring in its own right, but also tiring because I didn't get a whole lot of sleep the night before. I also have a pretty awesome (not really!) tear which still bothers me, but I've finally started to wean myself off the Percocet Dr. Hanson prescribed for me when I was discharged, but I'm still in love with ibuprofen. At first, I declined anything stronger than Tylenol because I wanted to breastfeed, but they assured me that the Percocet was safe, as was the ibuprofen. Oh, Motrin, how I've missed you! One more hitch to my delivery was that I lost a TON of blood, so I spent the better part of my second full day in the hospital getting four units of blood just so I could have enough energy to get out of bed. I'm obviously ok, and it was never an emergency...I was just really, really blah and falling asleep on visitors the first night.
We came home three days after he was born, and the first night was really, really rough. We didn't realize that having the baby in our bedroom was making him cold, and since I'd had some problems breastfeeding because of the stress of my delivery, we were supposed to be supplementing formula with a tiny cup. He wasn't getting nearly enough food fast enough so he was constantly crying. I called my mom to come over around 7AM so we could get a little bit of sleep, and the next night, we moved the bassinet into the living room, and Mom stayed all night. We'd given him a couple of bottles the first night, and Mom gave him only bottles the second night, and I thought I was done with the prospect of breastfeeding because he wouldn't latch on to me for days. One night after my mom left, I decided randomly to try to get him to latch on again, and he did, so I've been totally breastfeeding ever since. I'm really glad because I was really upset that I'd been so gung-ho about not giving him ANY artificial nipples in the hospital, and in the first 48 hours we were home, we'd given him bottles AND a pacifier. I think I was crying more than he was thanks to hormones, but we've settled down now so I think we're all happier...especially since we went to the pediatrician, and he pretty much told us that our baby is perfect, and that it was ok to give the baby formula in a bottle because he had regained his birthweight plus an ounce already six days after he was born. It reaffirms that we can only do the best that we can.
Now that we've found our niche, he's still sleeping a lot during the day...especially after feedings, but since my meltdown the other night, he's been sleeping more during the night too. I went to bed kind of early last night, right after I fed him, and twice I woke up...first thinking I was smothering the baby. I actually got up and wandered into the living room (where the bassinet now is against an interior wall where he is warmer...and where Tim was still up) thinking I was holding the baby, and I saw him safe and asleep. I don't know why I keep dreaming that. Later on, I was awakened by a huge cry only to find him sleeping peacefully when I went back out. I must've imagined it. I picked him up and held him for awhile contemplating whether or not to wake him up to feed him since it was "time." (But now that he's doing so well with the breastfeeding, I've started feeding him on demand instead of on that strict three hour schedule) I decided against it so I put him back down and went back to bed. I didn't go to sleep, though, and about ten minutes later, he really did wake up to eat four hours after I put him down and went to bed. He was alert and content for a long time this afternoon before he ate again about an hour and a half ago, and now he's been sleeping ever since. I'm so glad we've gotten over that initial hump.
Well, I've written a book, and I thank you if you've read and actually followed it all since it's all over the place. It's time to revel in the time I have with Tim while the baby's asleep. Talk to y'all later.
We came home three days after he was born, and the first night was really, really rough. We didn't realize that having the baby in our bedroom was making him cold, and since I'd had some problems breastfeeding because of the stress of my delivery, we were supposed to be supplementing formula with a tiny cup. He wasn't getting nearly enough food fast enough so he was constantly crying. I called my mom to come over around 7AM so we could get a little bit of sleep, and the next night, we moved the bassinet into the living room, and Mom stayed all night. We'd given him a couple of bottles the first night, and Mom gave him only bottles the second night, and I thought I was done with the prospect of breastfeeding because he wouldn't latch on to me for days. One night after my mom left, I decided randomly to try to get him to latch on again, and he did, so I've been totally breastfeeding ever since. I'm really glad because I was really upset that I'd been so gung-ho about not giving him ANY artificial nipples in the hospital, and in the first 48 hours we were home, we'd given him bottles AND a pacifier. I think I was crying more than he was thanks to hormones, but we've settled down now so I think we're all happier...especially since we went to the pediatrician, and he pretty much told us that our baby is perfect, and that it was ok to give the baby formula in a bottle because he had regained his birthweight plus an ounce already six days after he was born. It reaffirms that we can only do the best that we can.
Now that we've found our niche, he's still sleeping a lot during the day...especially after feedings, but since my meltdown the other night, he's been sleeping more during the night too. I went to bed kind of early last night, right after I fed him, and twice I woke up...first thinking I was smothering the baby. I actually got up and wandered into the living room (where the bassinet now is against an interior wall where he is warmer...and where Tim was still up) thinking I was holding the baby, and I saw him safe and asleep. I don't know why I keep dreaming that. Later on, I was awakened by a huge cry only to find him sleeping peacefully when I went back out. I must've imagined it. I picked him up and held him for awhile contemplating whether or not to wake him up to feed him since it was "time." (But now that he's doing so well with the breastfeeding, I've started feeding him on demand instead of on that strict three hour schedule) I decided against it so I put him back down and went back to bed. I didn't go to sleep, though, and about ten minutes later, he really did wake up to eat four hours after I put him down and went to bed. He was alert and content for a long time this afternoon before he ate again about an hour and a half ago, and now he's been sleeping ever since. I'm so glad we've gotten over that initial hump.
Well, I've written a book, and I thank you if you've read and actually followed it all since it's all over the place. It's time to revel in the time I have with Tim while the baby's asleep. Talk to y'all later.