Hospital stay & our first week home!

Here is the story of the rest of our hospital time and our first week home!!

I made it known that I did want to try and nurse Gabrielle but I wanted our first time to be very private and comfortable.  After she and I were all cleaned up and I got some food into my tummy everyone except for Rachel and Steven left the room and we gave nursing a shot.  She latched on well to the left side but had some trouble with the right.  Gabrielle wasn’t too interested so we decided to wait a little while to give it another shot.

Around 11:00 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. we headed up to Couplet Care and took Gabrielle to the nursery for her first bath and assessments.  While dropping her off at the nursery Tracy, a nurse I had worked with on Friday when I was at the hospital for work came out to congratulate me.  I joked that Rachel, my L&D nurse, failed on her mission to get me a new room.  Tracy told me that they were having a discharge soon from a new room and she would be sure to get me in there – sweet!!  (I must explain that Women & Babies is a very nice hospital and over the past year or so they have been remodeling and adding on – the new rooms are extremely nice, much nicer than the old rooms.  I didn’t want to be a pest but I knew the nurses would hook me up if I mentioned something!)

My first Couplet Care room was #8 but we didn’t bother unpacking since I knew I’d be moving to a new room shortly.  I got into bed, ordered my lunch and turned on the WVU vs. Rutgers game.  Steven decided to leave to go home and shower then go pick up Gavin from Aunt Patty’s house so he could come and meet his baby sister!  I got about a 10 minute nap before Gabrielle was brought back to me around 1:15 p.m. They let me know that she passed her hearing test!  Dr. Snyder, a doctor from our family doctor’s office, came in to examine her.  He said that she looks just great and he would be back to check on her again tomorrow!  I attempted to nurse her again – she again did very well on the left side but struggled a little with the right.  After some position changes she finally latched on to the right side.  Nursing her was nothing like nursing Gavin, it was not painful at all – but something just did not feel right.  I hate to say it, but I felt like a milk truck – it just does not feel natural to me at all – I was not comfortable with it and I really think she knew I was not at ease with things.  I wrestled with the idea of bottle feeding her but in my head I felt like a failure for giving up so soon… but I knew I had to do what was best for me and my family, so ultimately I decided to move forward with the bottle feeding.  (Looking back, this was the best decision I could have made.. I honestly hated nursing her and I really don’t think it would have gotten any better.. please don’t judge me for this.. I did what I felt was best!)

Big brother Gavin and proud daddy Steven arrived around 2:30 p.m. and it was so amazing to see Gavin eyes light up when he saw Gabrielle for the first time.  The first thing he said was, “Mommy, you don’t have the baby in your tummy anymore!”  He came right over to the bed and touched her head then gave her a kiss – truly adorable!

 

I moved into my super nice new room (#30) around 3:30 p.m.  My nurse was Wanda and Gabrielle’s nurse was Karen.  Gabrielle had her first bottle around 4:40 p.m. and she ate a little over 1 ounce.  Uncle DD and Aunt Donna arrived around 4:40 p.m. and Aunt Patty and Nevaeh came about 10 minutes later.  Gabrielle enjoyed meeting these special members of her family :o)  Uncle Mike and his friend Ian arrived around 6:30 p.m. to meet Gabrielle.  I know there were a ton of other people who wanted to come to visit with Gabrielle on her birthday but the weather was actually pretty yucky.  It was the first snow fall of the year :o)

 

 

 

 

I finally got my IV taken out around 7:15 p.m. and I was a happy girl!!  I changed Gabrielle’s first wet diaper around 8:10 p.m. then her first poopy diaper around 9:00 p.m. – oh that newborn poop is just lovely!  We heard her first sneeze around 11:50 p.m. and she got the hiccups around 2:00 a.m.  It was so awesome to watch her have the hiccups since I had been feeling them in my tummy for the past couple of months :o)  We decided to take Gabrielle up to the nursery around 2:45 a.m. so Daddy and I could get some sleep.  It was hard to say goodbye but we knew we needed the rest.

Sunday morning started wonderfully – I got to take a shower!!  My nurse Brenda came in shortly after my shower to let me know that my hemoglobin levels are low – 9.3 – so I need to continue taking my iron supplements for a couple of months.  This was definitely no surprise to me.  Steven left again to get a shower and pick up Gavin.  Gabrielle’s Meemaw came in to visit around 11:20 a.m.  Meemaw was thrilled to sit and snuggle her first granddaughter!!  My parents, my niece Shayna and my newphew Lucas came in around 2:15 p.m.  Shayna and Lucas were both very excited to meet their new little cousin.  Gabrielle got photos taken with everyone :o)  I was beginning to feel pretty crappy so I asked for some pain medication.  My nurse Brenda brought in some medicine for me and had to scan my bracelet and scan the medicine packet to log what I was taking.  My adorable son asked, “Mommy, we pay now?”  He is just too funny :o)

 

 

 

 

Steven’s brothers Mike and Chris and Chris’ wife Christy arrived around 2:45 p.m.  Gabrielle had met Uncle Mike last night but this was her first time meeting Uncle Chris and Aunt Christy!  Around 3:15 p.m. my coworker Amy and her hubby Travis came to visit.  By this time our room was getting a little crowded, which was actually really nice!  My family decided to head out and I could tell they were sad to leave little Gabrielle.  It was really nice to spend time with our family and friends, they are all very special to us!

 

 

Gabrielle headed to the nursery around 5:45 p.m. for an assessment and her HepB shot.  While she was gone Steven and I enjoyed our nice dinner together – he had crab cakes and I had chicken alfredo.  For dessert Steven had apple pie and I had peanut butter pie – I would definitely recommend the apple pie :o)

Meemaw came back for a while then took Gavin home with her for the night. Steven and I decided again to send Gabrielle to the nursery for a few hours so we could get some rest.  We knew this would be our last opportunity to get uninterrupted sleep for a very very long time!  Tiffany was the baby’s nurse on Monday morning, which was funny because she was the nurse for the baby that was discharged in our agency’s care on Friday.  She walked into my room and just laughed when she realized it was me!  Tiffany shared that Gabrielle looks great and she went over our discharge instructions for her.  Dr. Snyder came by to check her again and said she still looks wonderful!  He suggested we call to schedule her first appointment in 5 to 7 days.

We got Gabrielle dressed in her special photo/going home outfit and she looked just adorable!!  The photos were a little bit of a hassle because the photographer didn’t really know what she was doing but oh well, we survived.  My nurse Brenda and midwife Jana both gave me discharge instructions and told me to take it easy and all that post-baby stuff.  I called Maria, the social worker while I was there.  She and I work very closely together in regards to my job and I knew she wanted to visit with me and meet Gabrielle while we were at the hospital.  She came in and chatted for a few minutes and we of course joked about me having been at the hospital earlier Friday morning and how I should have just stayed there!

 

When all the discharge stuff was complete Steven and I loaded Gabrielle into her car seat, took some photos and then I climbed into the wheelchair and Steven set Gabrielle on my lap.  Steven went ahead to pull the car up for us.  I wish I could have gotten a photo of us walking out – picture this.. me in the wheelchair with Gabrielle in her car seat on my lap and Gavin walking next to the wheelchair holding my hand the entire way out of the hospital.. he did not let go once.. it was just priceless.. he was such a proud big brother!!  I was wheeled out right to the van; Steven took Gabrielle from my lap and set her into the car.  Gavin climbed into his seat, Steven buckled him in and I slowly made my way into the passenger seat.  Oh wow, we are leaving the hospital with our daughter – Oh wow, we have 2 kids in the car now – Oh wow, we are a family of 4 – I was definitely overwhelmed but so very excited!!!

 

 

Since coming home Gabrielle has been doing great!  She is up about every 3 to 4 hours to eat and get a clean diaper.  She does have some awake periods throughout the day and has only had one really restless night.  Gabrielle is a fairly slow eater and does not like to burp.  She has adorable dimples when she smiles!

On our first night home Meemaw brought us dinner so we didn’t have to worry about cooking, thank you!!  After dinner we decorated our Christmas tree.  I broke down around 8:00 p.m. because I was in a lot of pain and was just very emotional.  I forgot how little control you have over your emotions after you have a baby.  Thank goodness I have a supportive and understanding hubby :o)

My mom, niece and nephew came over on December 11^th to hang out and have dinner.  Gavin loved seeing them, as always, and had a great time playing with Shayna and Lucas.  Gabrielle seemed to have fun too, although she slept most of the time!

 

 

She met her Uncle Gene, Aunt Judith, Aunt Manda and Cousins James and Jordan on December 12^th.  She was awake for only a few minutes while they were here but everyone still seemed to enjoy holding her!  I also bought her first pack of headbands on December 12^th – the first of many! :o)  She had her first bath at home on December 13^th.  It was a super short bath because it was cold and she was not a happy lady!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am still in shock that it’s all over and our beautiful Gummy Bear is here with us.  From our long 10 months of trying to conceive through the long 38 weeks of pregnancy my faith has grown immensely and my marriage is stronger now than it has ever been.  Words cannot come close to expressing the extreme feeling of love I have for my family – I feel so lucky and so blessed to be Gavin and Gabrielle’s mother.  Our family feels complete now and I am in awe of God’s goodness!