Just kidding, almost done
Adding a few details that I forgot to mention in the previous posts.
- A few hours after I had been hooked up to my epidural, I looked over and saw that Jason was real sad looking. When I asked him what was wrong, he said Nancy had just texted him; his grandma had just died.
- Epidurals make you itchy. The eight or 12 hours or so after Trevor was born, I was itchy, but it wasn't too bad.
- The first time I saw myself without my hospital gown in the mirror, I said to Jason "I look deflated" and he said, "that's an appropriate description".
- The only other hospital visitors I had were Sheena, Debbie and Joey. None of Jason's family came to see me in the hospital, but that's OK since kids aren't allowed back anyway. They visited that Saturday or Sunday.
I just got home from the hospital, Jason returned with my Rx and some handlebars for the toilet and a chair for the shower, plus some other baby supplies. And everything after this gets real damn fuzzy, so this part isn't really in any kind of order.
I don't know how many days past before I could make it up the stairs to the bedroom, but it was at least 5 days that we all just lived in the living room. I couldn't get up and down from any of the furniture without Jason's help, except for the computer chair. I couldn't lie down without Jason's help either, and that first night I couldn't lie down at all. The second day home...maybe...when I got up to feed baby at some point, it felt funny to walk. Something was wrong with my feet. I looked real close and realized everything from the knee down was swelling up on both legs. The swelling got so bad, I couldn't bend my ankle. I practically didn't have toes. I could feel my calves on my thighs. I really should have taken a picture, because you would not believe what my feet looked like. Jason called them big fat tatos. So we bought me some compression stockings, which I couldn't put on or take off - Jason had to do that. And then I needed to sleep lying down, with my feet up - Jason had to lift my legs into place too. I don't know how long the swelling lasted for - seemed like a really long time, several days maybe.
The first or second night home, when I tried to sleep in the armchair and Jason was on the couch, Jason got so tired that I kept calling his name to wake up, and he wouldn't wake, and I could reach his feet so I grabbed his foot and shook it like hell and he still kept sleeping. It took effort to wake him.
Trevor peed on me at least four times the first day home...which is funny because me and Jason were both standing there and he never got Jason. Then we learned you have to lay the baby down in the other direction, because he always pees the same way. Then it goes on the wall instead of you, which is easier to clean.
I ran out of Hydrocodone way before i felt like I should have, and couldn't get a refill, and cried. It's probably good I ran out - I think I was trying to do too much and the pain made me rest more. I had other, lesser pain medicine prescribed to me too, which lasted another week. But it was so damn frustrating. I think I broke down about the fourth or fifth day. I needed to shower, but I couldn't take my compression stockings off, so I told Jason to come help in a minute. Jason, being tired, quickly forgot. I don't blame him; I know how tired he was. But I just melted down - I was in pain all the time, I couldn't take off my own damn socks to take a shower, I couldn't even wash anything below my belly button because i couldn't reach, and I nearly fell constantly every time I tried to shower because my damn swollen feet didn't grip, I couldn't pick up my own baby because I couldn't bend. I wailed. I balled and balled. Jason put Trevor in his swing, and we left the bathroom door open to listen for him, and I stood with the shower curtain open so Jason could scrub me. It was a really good wash, and I can't imagine how anybody could do any of this on their own. I felt sorry for Jason; he practically had two babies to care for.
Breastfeeding slowly got better. It took a couple weeks to completely get him off formula. I cried every time Jason had to buy more, and I cried when I saw the coupons, and I cried every evening when I went online to research more. My breasts started leaking while we were still confined to the living room, so I started pumping maybe a week or so later. I cried the first time I pumped, because I only got a total of half an ounce from both breasts. And it was hard to adjust to breastfeeding only, because newborns who are formula fed sleep longer than breastfed babies. But by about four weeks, he was latching on instead of biting, I could pump at least two ounces from each breast, sometimes five ounces from one. We only use the nipple shields at night sometimes, when he's too tired to try hard enough to grab the nipple right. He makes me laugh, he'll start to get frustrated and with his mouth open saying "ah ah ah" he'll start shaking his head around. I envision him saving 'omg where is it oh my gosh.'
Annddddddd yeah I need one more post to finish.
- A few hours after I had been hooked up to my epidural, I looked over and saw that Jason was real sad looking. When I asked him what was wrong, he said Nancy had just texted him; his grandma had just died.
- Epidurals make you itchy. The eight or 12 hours or so after Trevor was born, I was itchy, but it wasn't too bad.
- The first time I saw myself without my hospital gown in the mirror, I said to Jason "I look deflated" and he said, "that's an appropriate description".
- The only other hospital visitors I had were Sheena, Debbie and Joey. None of Jason's family came to see me in the hospital, but that's OK since kids aren't allowed back anyway. They visited that Saturday or Sunday.
I just got home from the hospital, Jason returned with my Rx and some handlebars for the toilet and a chair for the shower, plus some other baby supplies. And everything after this gets real damn fuzzy, so this part isn't really in any kind of order.
I don't know how many days past before I could make it up the stairs to the bedroom, but it was at least 5 days that we all just lived in the living room. I couldn't get up and down from any of the furniture without Jason's help, except for the computer chair. I couldn't lie down without Jason's help either, and that first night I couldn't lie down at all. The second day home...maybe...when I got up to feed baby at some point, it felt funny to walk. Something was wrong with my feet. I looked real close and realized everything from the knee down was swelling up on both legs. The swelling got so bad, I couldn't bend my ankle. I practically didn't have toes. I could feel my calves on my thighs. I really should have taken a picture, because you would not believe what my feet looked like. Jason called them big fat tatos. So we bought me some compression stockings, which I couldn't put on or take off - Jason had to do that. And then I needed to sleep lying down, with my feet up - Jason had to lift my legs into place too. I don't know how long the swelling lasted for - seemed like a really long time, several days maybe.
The first or second night home, when I tried to sleep in the armchair and Jason was on the couch, Jason got so tired that I kept calling his name to wake up, and he wouldn't wake, and I could reach his feet so I grabbed his foot and shook it like hell and he still kept sleeping. It took effort to wake him.
Trevor peed on me at least four times the first day home...which is funny because me and Jason were both standing there and he never got Jason. Then we learned you have to lay the baby down in the other direction, because he always pees the same way. Then it goes on the wall instead of you, which is easier to clean.
I ran out of Hydrocodone way before i felt like I should have, and couldn't get a refill, and cried. It's probably good I ran out - I think I was trying to do too much and the pain made me rest more. I had other, lesser pain medicine prescribed to me too, which lasted another week. But it was so damn frustrating. I think I broke down about the fourth or fifth day. I needed to shower, but I couldn't take my compression stockings off, so I told Jason to come help in a minute. Jason, being tired, quickly forgot. I don't blame him; I know how tired he was. But I just melted down - I was in pain all the time, I couldn't take off my own damn socks to take a shower, I couldn't even wash anything below my belly button because i couldn't reach, and I nearly fell constantly every time I tried to shower because my damn swollen feet didn't grip, I couldn't pick up my own baby because I couldn't bend. I wailed. I balled and balled. Jason put Trevor in his swing, and we left the bathroom door open to listen for him, and I stood with the shower curtain open so Jason could scrub me. It was a really good wash, and I can't imagine how anybody could do any of this on their own. I felt sorry for Jason; he practically had two babies to care for.
Breastfeeding slowly got better. It took a couple weeks to completely get him off formula. I cried every time Jason had to buy more, and I cried when I saw the coupons, and I cried every evening when I went online to research more. My breasts started leaking while we were still confined to the living room, so I started pumping maybe a week or so later. I cried the first time I pumped, because I only got a total of half an ounce from both breasts. And it was hard to adjust to breastfeeding only, because newborns who are formula fed sleep longer than breastfed babies. But by about four weeks, he was latching on instead of biting, I could pump at least two ounces from each breast, sometimes five ounces from one. We only use the nipple shields at night sometimes, when he's too tired to try hard enough to grab the nipple right. He makes me laugh, he'll start to get frustrated and with his mouth open saying "ah ah ah" he'll start shaking his head around. I envision him saving 'omg where is it oh my gosh.'
Annddddddd yeah I need one more post to finish.