The First Few Days

We got checked into our recovery room, which was much smaller than the delivery room. I was having some weakness in my left leg still from the epidural so the first few hours of recovery were pretty rough. I needed assistance to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom otherwise my left leg would give out. Thankfully that didn’t last too long.

In our room we met the pediatrician and nurse that would be taking care of us that day. More testing for both mom and baby. Logan was doing great and everything tested well and no jaundice issues.

We probably should have slept right then and there but I think we were too busy staring at the new little man in our life to think about sleeping.

I mean really, who can sleep when this precious thing needs cuddles??

The lactation nurse came and helped out a bit. The pediatrician came in and gave Logan an exam. He is a little tongue-tied. I was concerned about this and thought it might be best to take care of the issue while we were in the hospital, instead of waiting a few weeks and suffering but the doctor didn’t seem too concerned about it and thought it might be ok, that he’d latch and suck alright. I wish I had listened to my intuition and been more forceful because it turned out he did have an issue that made breast feeding difficult (which we didn’t realize until day 3 at home).

That first night in the hospital with him was rough. We had a few guests come visit and meet him. My mom drove down from Seattle and my cousin Anna stopped by for a short visit. Michael’s mom and stepdad came by to take Michael out to lunch and meet the baby. I was worn out from labor, birth, recovery, lack of sleep and hormones and yet…I struggled to sleep.

I sent Michael home for a few hours to take care of the animals and take a nap at home so he could come back to the hospital and be with Logan while I slept. New mom paranoia — I didn’t want to close my eyes in case something happened. So I couldn’t rest! I’d nod off and he’d make a noise and I’d jump awake to make sure he was ok.

I ordered some food — a cheese quesadilla, coleslaw, fruit, a hardboiled egg, juice and more lemon bars. And Michael brought me a chicken and spinach salad for dinner. I ate everything. I was so hungry!

Michael came back to the hospital that night around 10:30pm and brought me a PBJ sandwich (so delicious) which I ended up eating at 2am. I still couldn’t sleep much. It was anxiety for sure.

I was glad the nurses were there on call for questions. Some of my questions were incredibly dumb, I’m sure. I mean Logan got the hiccups and they were lasting like 10 minutes and it made me nervous. Which is silly. They are just hiccups. But I was glad the nurse was there to help. She asked if he’d had hiccups inside me and yep–pretty much every day! The nurses also helped with breast feeding, which was nice, and showed us how to swaddle. They were pros at it.

The next day we did more tests on both of us and then did all the stuff for getting discharged.

I was wheeled out in a chair and Michael carried Logan out to the car. There was a moment when we left where it was like — I can’t believe we’re leaving the hospital! We are now parents and in charge of this little guy. SCARY! Thankfully it was a short car ride home and Logan was great. It felt so good to be home in familiar surroundings and seeing the animals again.

Fat Kitty and Bella have been FANTASTIC! They are so good and well-behaved around the baby. I’d been worried for nothing. Fat Kitty, who normally hates babies and small children and hisses and then hides, did none of that and has curious but cautious and doesn’t seem bothered by the baby. Bella immediately went into protective mode and checks on Logan all the time. One time I had the baby in another room and Michael said Bella went over to his little empty bassinet and nudged it with her nose to see if he was in there. So cute. I’m glad they are doing alright with the new addition.

The first night home from the hospital = SUSHI and BEER! <3 YAY! It was the best meal ever!

My mom stayed with us for a few days when we first got home and it was a humongous help. I wasn’t sleeping much and getting pretty frazzled from exhaustion. She did so much to help us–cleaning, cooking, taking the baby so we could sleep, going to the store. It was seriously a life saver.

 

My dad has been in Arizona for awhile and he drove two days to Oregon to meet Logan. He stayed for the weekend and got to spend some quality time with his grandson. 🙂

The first week was a hard adjustment but by his 6th day we kind of had a routine going and things were getting better.