Thursday, May 19, 2011

Hospital to Now

Following a normal delivery, moms and babies stay at our hospital for 3 days and 2 nights. They counted the day I was admitted (technically Sunday) as one day and the day we were discharged didn't have to be a whole day. Monday was long because Joey didn't sleep much Sunday night. He was up almost every hour for different things, several times it was for a new diaper, several times because he was hungry, several times for burping, and even a couple times just to be held. We didn't have visitors until much later on Monday, but we were so glad that they came! First "Aunt" Cheryl came over, then my mom, then our friends Matt and Jenny. Jenny brought presents for us because she missed the shower and it turns out that was the best thing ever! Among other things, she got us a package of "swaddlers", which are these fabric pieces with velcro that allow you to easily swaddle your baby. We really stunk at swaddling with just blankets so we were excited to try the swaddlers. Holy. Crap. Joey loved them so much that I actually had to wake him up to feed him in the middle of the night! Even though I had to undo the swaddler to change his diaper, he slept through the whole diaper change and I had to coax him to wake up to feed. Despite me waking up every few minutes to make sure he's still breathing (something that is completely common for new moms I'm told), both Dan and I got much more sleep and were much happier when we woke up.

Tuesday went by quickly because Joey had several tests in the morning, and we spoke with the pediatrician and lactation consultant before we left the hospital. We were able to leave around 10:30 or so, tucked Joey into his car seat, and stopped by Chik-fil-a on the way home for lunch. We had Tess and Chris over to come visit the baby and that was super fun. Wednesday was long, but it was also our first venture out of the house with Joey! One of the families that attends our school owns a Greek restaurant and they do fundraiser nights, so we went with my parents and the school chaplain. It was great because lots of people from work came around the same time and we got to show off Joey.

Later this morning we're taking Joey to his first pediatrician's appointment and then Dan's going back to work. He could have had the whole week off, and he definitely would have like to take it, but we need the money. This will be the first time that Joey and I are left completely alone. In the hospital, there were doctors and nurses, and up until today, at home there has been Dan. After he leaves for work, it'll just be me and Joey.

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