Lots of baby talk here, with a spattering of pictures.
Unless time has played tricks on my memory, Clark has been by far the fussiest baby. Fortunately, I’m still really enjoying him, but it’s been hard. I’ve been getting 3 hours of sleep a night, in 1 hour increments. I haven’t been able to sleep during the day, but all of this will change.
My milk is in, which is obviously more satisfying to his demanding little tummy than colostrum was. That helps.
At the recommendation of my sister-in-law, I sent Nate to the store to pick up some Lansinoh. I’ve never used it before, and it is glorious. I don’t hurt nearly as much now, and I wasn’t even cracked. It just made it all better.
This is my first time using a Boppy. Wow. I feel like an idiot resisting with my other babies.
First of all, when I was in labor at the house and about ready to go to the hospital, sitting enormously increased the most painful contractions. I didn’t know how I was going to survive the car ride, so I sat on the Boppy in the car, and my contractions were way better. I was actually relatively comfortable.
I sat on the Boppy in the wheelchair up to the doctor’s office to get checked (couldn’t walk at that point), and in the wheelchair back down to be admitted in the hospital, at which point, I think I loved the Boppy as much as I love anesthesiologists that administer epidurals.
Right now, I want to go on and on about my admitting nurse. She is Superwoman. I was hurting SO bad, and between the time I was at the doctor, and the time I was “checked” in the hospital, (about 30 minutes, tops) I had dilated 1-2 more centimeters and effaced the remaining 30%.
She jumped into high gear, ignoring all the computer stuff she had to do. She got a helper in with her, and got my IV started immediately with the antibiotics and hydration. Right on the heels of that, she ran and got my epidural supplies, called the anesthesiologist from my room, and had me out of pain sooner than I thought was humanly possible.
All the while, telling me how brilliantly I was handling my contractions, and how amazing I was.
I really love nurse Kathy.
After the fact, she told me that the contractions had been 2 minutes apart, and were very intense. So I got my wish to go into labor on my own, eh? :-).
Back to the Boppy, it next proved it’s worth when the girls came to visit Clark for the first time. You know how awkward it is to hand a brand new baby to young children? Well, we put the Boppy around their little waists while they sat in a chair, and set Clark on top. There was no slipping, head dropping, nothing. The girls were confident. The baby was secure. We could step back a little bit and give them some “alone” time without having to interrupt and reposition, or correct them.
Third, nursing. Ah, it’s better that way.
Another thing I did differently this time was buy cute jammies for the hospital. I also bought several pair of underwear in matching colors. Sounds silly, as things are so messy after delivery, but I didn’t want to wear the nasty hospital clothes and disposable, netting panties any longer than I had to.
So on Tuesday, I re-braided my hair, put on my new stuff along with a nursing bra, and felt pretty!
I also slipped Clark into a little sleeper, which he seemed to really appreciate.
It felt SO good, that Clark and I spent quite a bit of time walking the halls. Clark got oogled by nurses and visitors alike, and I got to chat with a few Grandparents-to-be waiting in the lobbies for their own good news.
It was a pleasant way to spend the unforeseen extra day in the hospital while Nate was out making Abby’s birthday special.
We’re still very tired, and I’m going to get off the computer and try to take a nap while the house is quiet.
But before I do, here is a shot of Nate on the couch after dinner, asleep.
And Clark cuddling up in a diaper.
Oh, and Clark and I got a nice stretch of sleep this morning from 6:30-10:30 after a couple good feedings. I so desperately needed that! I have high hopes that now that my milk is in, we’ll be able to sleep a bit more.
