Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Hospital Stay & Jase’s First Week

Our stay in the hospital was fantastic!!! We stayed from Wednesday night till Saturday afternoon.  Wednesday after the baby was born they moved us to a teeny tiny little closet of a room because they were so packed out. I asked the nurses if we could possibly be moved, so the next morning they hooked us up big time & gave us one of the biggest rooms in the hospital!! I wasn’t able to get out of bed or walk any until Thursday morning, but by that time I was getting around really well. I skipped out on the pain meds they offered and stuck with Motrin, and thankfully the pain was really NOT that bad. When they came in to press on my belly they would always apologize profusely because apparently it is very painful, but that didn’t really bother me either.

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The toughest part was getting in and out of bed. That is difficult to do without using your core!!! Good thing I did all those squats and pushups during pregnancy…they ended up coming in handy because I had to use my arms & legs to push myself up out of bed.

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Poor Jonathan hated being in the hospital because it was such broken sleep (he was exhausted, poor fella), but I so enjoyed it!! Fortunately we didn’t have a lot of visitors, so that meant we were really able to get breastfeeding going. Plus, the nurses came in regularly to check mine and the baby’s vitals. I made friends with all the nurses and really enjoyed talking to them and getting to know them. Our nurses were INCREDIBLE!! So nice, super helpful and knowledgeable, & very personable. They were all above and beyond sweet to me and doted on Jase.  They told us some of the nurses were talking at the nurses’ station and said he was the most beautiful baby they’d ever seen!! (And we agree, of course, but know we may be a little biased!) I didn’t sleep much- maybe 1-2 hours per day? Maybe more, but that’s what it felt like. We kept Jase right by my bed, & every noise he made woke me up. Plus, I just could NOT sleep for some reason.

Daddy changed EVERY diaper for the first few days. He’s such a good daddy already!

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Jase had his circumcision on Thursday with Dr. Harrison, & Dr. H told me he must have my pain tolerance because he barely cried at all. He rarely cried at all the whole time…the only thing he didn’t like was when we had to take care of his little circumcision afterwards until it started healing. He passes his hearing screening & had his vitamin K & Hep B shots.

Our hospital visitors were Grammy & Granddaddy, Mimi & Papa, Jade, Tammie, Tyler, Zach, Morgen, Stephanie, Gracie, Chloe, Amanda & Casey, Brian, Keene, Dana, & Chad and Chelsi.

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We headed home around 1:30 on Saturday afternoon. I was nervous about getting in the truck and about the ride home, but both were fine. Jase did awesome and slept the whole ride home. I squalled when we brought Jase into the house…his very first time in our home together as a family!! It was such a sweet moment for me- one I had been thinking about and dreaming about. I tried not to cry, but I just couldn’t help it.

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Dana & Ryan brought us dinner from Cracker Barrel on our first night home from the hospital. Loved spending time with them & can’t wait for Jase to be hanging with his buddy Vann.

Grandma & Grandpa & Jade and Grammy & Granddaddy came over to love on lil man too.

Weight: Before leaving the hospital, little man had lost a little weight and weighed 7 lbs and 11 oz. At our first doctor’s appointment on May 13th (5 days old), Jase was back up to 8 lbs. I was nervous they were going to encourage us to supplement, so I was thankful he gained the weight back. Dr. Carey checked out or latch & said he was having plenty of diapers, so we were good. She seemed to be all about breastfeeding- yay!

At the end of week 1 I was about 7 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight (the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant on August 27th).

Health: Jase was the picture of health at his first doctor’s appointment (5/13, 5 days old). Gaining weight, lungs & heart look good, very strong & alert. The only issue is his left hip. The ligaments felt a little loose (they did an ultrasound at the hospital and it looked fine) so we are just going to watch it. She said sometimes it takes a while for the ligaments to tighten up.

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Sleep: Jase is a great sleeper so far. Towards the end of the week he was sleeping 3-4 hours at night…usually just 3, sometimes only 2 hours. I’m not sure if it was still adrenaline or what, but I could NOT make myself do the whole “sleep while they sleep” thing. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t sleep during the day either…I just felt like there was too much to do. (Insurance stuff, Advocare stuff, responding to e-mails, writing in his journal, etc.) I did do lots of skin-to-skin though, & that was definitely his favorite. He loved being on my chest & hearing my heartbeat like in the womb. I told mom that was his happy place, & he SMILED when I said that!! (Ha! It was like he heard me in his sleep & was agreeing. SO precious!) The toughest part is that it takes about an hour to nurse…and by the time I would feed him, change his diaper twice (at the beginning & end of a feeding- sometimes throughout to keep him awake), changed his clothes if I leaked milk on him, ate a snack & drank some water, went potty, it was pretty much time to feed him again.

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Nursing: Nursing went AWESOME at the hospital!! He latched super well immediately & was doing such a great job. All of the nurses were very helpful with their tips (even though they all tell you something totally different) and so was the lactation specialist. I was PUMPED about how smoothly everything was going and on day 2 one of the nurses said it felt like my milk was coming in. I ended up getting MAJORLY engorged on days 4-6 and it was BRUTAL. Oh my gosh!! I am writing a whole post on my first few weeks of nursing, so stay tuned for that one, but I will say that the first week of nursing (after the engorgement) was TOUGH. I totally get why women quit- it is HARD, & it can be PAINFUL at first. Thankfully I have lots of mommy friends who are nursing or have nursed and they are all super helpful & encouraging. I blew their phones up daily and talked to two La Leche League leaders. I also read through more of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and did lots of googling to try to help with some of the issues. (Engorgement= difficulty latching=sore nipples! YIKES!!) I curled my toes so much during the first week (because it was so painful for him to latch at first) that my calves were SUPER sore!!! Hahah! I couldn’t figure out what was making them so sore & thought it was totally random, and then I realized that’s what it was from. I was and am absolutely determined to nurse because the benefits for both me and baby are just so immense, so I knew I was going to have to tough it out no matter how rough. I had my mind made up well before he was born that I was GOING to do this, no matter what, no matter how hard. Thankfully things started getting a little better towards the end of week 1. It was also very helpful that we didn’t have a whole lot of visitors the first week so I didn’t have to worry about wearing a shirt or bra- wayyyyy too painful to have anything touching them. Youch! Jon had to put blinds up on the front doors for me.

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My goodness, those lips!!! I can’t even help myself…he gets about 8,000 kisses a day!!! I can’t even resist!!!!

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What Jase is up to: Lil man is SO alert & has the biggest, most beautiful blue eyes. I know they could change, but I think they’ll stay blue because we both have blue-ish eyes. (Mine are more grey.) He LOVES going outside and likes sitting in his bouncie seat with the nature sounds on. He is already lifting his head up rolled over on the couch with Grammy (she promises she wasn’t touching him). He really loves his skin-to-skin time with Mommy & Daddy and loves our prayer time in the mornings.

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He rarely cries…the ONLY time we even hear his sweet cry is when mommy isn’t fast enough feeding him after he wakes up.  We left the house twice this week- once to go to the doctor, and once to have his newborn photos taken. We used Nine Sixteen Photography and Brittany was FANTASTIC!! SO sweet with him and we LOVE the pictures!! Here is the link to her blog with a sneak peek. (His hair looks more red in the pictures than it does in person?) Is he not the most BEAUTIFUL baby ever?!?!!

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PostPartum: I felt absolutely AWESOME the first week!!! I was moving around so well & had little to no pain so I would just take the Motrin & Colace every 12 hours or so, if I remembered. I had to constantly remind myself that I was recovering from SURGERY AND a natural childbirth…on top of being sleep deprived (I really think I might have slept about 10 hours total the whole first week)…

A shower made me feel like a new woman!

I did not have much of an appetite until Jase was about 5 days old. I made sure to stay hydrated and made myself eat, but did not feel hungry. My mom brought some of “my kind of food” (organic fruits & veggies, nuts, Greek yogurt, etc.) to the hospital for me and made some veggie soup for when I got home.

One new thing I experienced for the first time was night sweats! My gooooodness…..I woke up totally SOAKED every night!!! I am very cold-natured, so this was a new thing for me & pretty gross. It wasn’t smell sweat or anything…so I know it’s just hormonal.

Not to be gross, but I didn’t go #2 for about 6 days. I was (am) super worried about my digestive system going back to normal because all of my friends who have had c-sections seem to have issues afterwards…IBS, gall bladder, etc. I am still crossing my fingers all goes back to normal in that department.

Hormones…ohhhhh boy!! I had about 2 days where I cried over the littlest things. Part of it was hormones, part of it was sleep deprivation. I don’t know if it was full out baby blues because I didn’t really feel sad- I was just crying. We learned in childbirth class that about 80% of women experience baby blues, which is different from post-partum depression and only lasts for a few days. I cried when I’d talk about our birth story; I cried when Jonathan went back to work; I cried when he turned a week old because he was growing up so fast! Thankfully by the end of the week everything was back to normal and I felt more like myself.

I had strict instructions not to lift anything heavier than Jase, not to drive, & not to go up any stairs, so my mom came over to help every day when Jonathan went back to work on Monday. She was SUPER, SUPER helpful!!! Still, I miss Jonathan SO MUCH when he’s at work. It makes me sad every single morning when he leaves for work…(I still made his sandwiches for his lunch every night when I would wake up in the middle of the night.)

Thoughts: LOVING this sweet little blessing more and more each day!!!! It’s crazy…with every passing day you wonder how you can love him an more than the day before, but you do. The first week is not easy- not gonna lie. It’s actually really hard. You’re exhausted…recovering from putting your body through some INTENSE work…have crazy hormones…and are figuring out this new little person. I really don’t know how people do it with other kids?? But even though it is tough, it is SO worth every sleep-deprived second & painful latch. We are seriously SO in love & can’t imagine life without him already. It’s pretty indescribable and no one can prepare you for how full your heart feels and how much you love them so instantly. Jase has completely stolen our hearts!!!! I feel like I was MEANT to be a mommy and am loving, loving, loving every second. These two fellas are my world….

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15 comments:

Nikki said...

Danielle so so so sweet!

jackie said...

Glad to hear all is well!! You are right about the first week, it was tough for me too! Breastfeeding was hard at first, but after about 10 days it was totally normal. Also gald to hear I wasn't he only one who was crying all the time :) Darn hormones! I'll be praying for you guys!

~Momma to Twin Girls~ said...

The sweetest blog entry I have read. Tears were flowing... He is such a lucky guy to have you as a momma. HUGS!

Anonymous said...

Are you tired of all the "advice" yet? I know it can be overwhelming ..... Mine is short and sweet. If you will keep cabbage in the refrigerator ( must be cold) and put a cabbage leaf in your bra it will help with the engorgement and full feeling. I breast feed 3 babies each for over a year.... Hang in there:)

Jane {In The Pink & Green} said...

So great that you are writing all this stuff down to remember it, such a sweet post! I feel like you just have such a positive attitude about everything which is AWESOME and one of the reasons I enjoy reading your blog! Jase is just precious, congrats again! :)

P!nky said...

What an amazing post. Congrats on sweet baby Jase :)!

Heather said...

Hearing about your first week takes me back! I couldn't believe my hormones days 4-7ish. I sobbed over everything. And no one could have prepared me for trying to breastfeed while engorged and such. I feel your pain on that one - literally! :) But just know it gets easier and you will find your groove. And don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work. I had plans to nurse my daughter for the whole first year and she self-weened at 9 months. It was a little sad for me and I felt like I was doing something wrong, but she was ready and that is what worked for us.
Enjoy that sweet baby boy - all this baby talk is not helping my desire for baby #2. :)
Heather
Pittsburgh

Niki said...

Oh I love this! He is so precious. And who looks that amazing right after having a child?! :) love ya girl. I can't wait to meet him!

Christy said...

He's so precious! I love his little eye's. I'm so glad you're doing well.

Kae said...

OHHH Congrats! So happy for you both! :) xxoo

Jenn @ Bliss to Bean said...

So beautifully said Danielle! He is absolutely gorgeous. I've got chills and I'm tearing up just reading it; I can't believe how quickly they really do grow up. It seems like last week I was feeding Brooke every 2-3 hours; I remember feeling that same way, as soon as I'd be finished, it'd be time to start again! Oh, if only we could bottle up time. Love your photos, I cannot wait to see more of your gorgeous family. SO SO happy for you!!

Anna Demko said...

Awww he's precious! And you look amazing so early postpartum - go girl! I remember crying over his crib, and in the bathroom, and in the shower - I mean All the time :) Breastfeeding really does take a toll on ya - it hurts at first but the more you do it, the better it gets. After first 4 weeks it became easier and now at 14 weeks, it's like no big deal. I can do it laying down and fall asleep while he's still latched on. First month is def the hardest, but yes, cabbage helps. And if you start getting early mastitis (breast is hot and tender to touch) start massaging it. I know it will hurt but don't stop nursing and constantly massage the lump - I had it twice and thank GOD didn't get too bad. Shoot me an e-mail because I would love to talk about baby stuff now that someone is going through the same thing... You are in my prayers!

happymedley.blogspot.com

Kristi G said...

Love you girlie! (And Jon and baby Jase too!) Hang in there. Breastfeeding isn't easy and it hurts. I didn't try cabbage but tea bags helped soooo much. The first six weeks were kind of rough but after that it got easy breezy... just stick wit it! I also used to pump just to ease engorgement at the beginning a bit.

He's so handsome!

Caroline and Kyle said...

Just came across your blog! Love your story and reading about your birth with sweet boy!
Caroline
carolineesmith.blogspot.com

Caroline and Kyle said...

Loved reading your birth story and about your sweet boy!!
Enjoy mommy hood! Mine is 16 months and time flew by!!!
Caroline
carolineesmith.blogspot.com