We were rushed out of the recovery room and into our hospital room... At the time of writing this post, just 26 days later, neither parent can remember why we left early... Pat thinks it was because I was obsessed with breastfeeding, I think it was because Baby Kate needed to be under the warmer and I wanted to keep her with me... they couldn't bring a warmer into the recovery room and I had met all of the requirements such as holding down fluids and my vitals were where they were supposed to be, so they let us leave a bit early...
Everyone remarked that Baby Kate had a lot of hair, was very alert, and was a beautiful baby!!! I couldn't help but agree!!! I was so stunned that immediately after being born, she was trying to hold her head up!!!
In our room, Baby Kate got her hair washed by the nurse who took care of her in the recovery room... the nurse from the nursery who would take care of Baby Kate for the rest of the afternoon came in and gave us our newborn gifts from the hospital (a mini blanket with ribbon tags around the edges) and Similac Formula Company's gift (an organizer with formula samples and coupons) and stocked the drawers under the bassinet with diapers, blankets, tee shirts, wipes, etc... she also brought me the kit to express breast milk...
Pat hung out for a while, then left to go to his "usual" after birth meal at The Village Bar... last time I discovered this on the credit card statement, this time I encouraged him to go... he had a "Better Burger", French Fries, Splurged on Onion Rings, and two beers... by his own admittance, he fell off his low carbohydrate diet...
Knowing that Mrs. Kathy (our version of Mary Poppins) arrived around 9 am to relieve Mom so she could watch my niece and nephew and Pat was to relieve Mrs. Kathy after lunch... he headed home after his celebratory lunch...
I took the opportunity to get some much needed rest... I also enjoyed the time to snuggle with and discover just how amazing every part of Baby Kate is!!! She has the most adorable tiny patch of longer hair on one part of her ear that I do not think anyone else has discovered...
The pediatrician on call from our doctor's office stopped by and said Baby Kate looked great!!!
Around 4 pm, my Mom arrived to meet Baby Kate... we discussed how big she was and how my brother Richard was also an 8+ pound baby... we also discussed that Baby Kate looked like me as a newborn... then Mom decided that she needed to organize and put all of my belongings away... since I knew I wouldn't be out of bed until the next day, I was thrilled that she did this for me...
Mom offered to watch Sarah and Anna, so that Pat could bring the older kids to visit as we decided that as far as Sarah and Anna were concerned, "Out of sight was out of mind" when it came to me... not wanting to upset them and trying to imagine them running around the hospital room with Pat and the older five, I agreed...
My friend Laura poked her head in the room and I had to ask her and her family to come back after dinner as my kids would be there any minute and would be heartbroken if any other kids saw Baby Kate before they did...
Soon there after, Pat and the older kids arrived... it was so great to see them!!! Each loved getting to see and hold their new baby sister... before we knew it, Laura and her family arrived and the room was packed!!!
I decided I needed to change Baby Kate's clothes so that we could take her photo in her Onesie Outfit I lovingly and obsessively created and her "Just Born" sticker... since I was confident Baby Kate would be born early and be tiny... which she was born at 39 weeks and 6 days AND 8 pounds 5 ounces... I bought the newborn sized onesies that fit up to 8 pounds... let's just say, she was not easily fitting into the outfit... before I knew it, bright red blood was squirting everywhere... since I had a room full of 8 kids (5 of mine and 3 of Laura's) I was wondering where the blood was coming from... was I hemorrhaging??? and from where??? What a relief when I discovered that I had pulled my IV out of my hand while trying to cram Baby Kate into this Onesie for a photo... honestly who else does this happen to??? Quickly, I turned off the IV and applied pressure to my hand... then called for the nurse... since Laura and her family have known me for 12+ years, we all had a good laugh about this...
Soon after the IV incident, everyone decided to call it a night and Baby Kate and I were alone again... knowing that I desperately needed sleep, I allowed Baby Kate to go to the nursery so I could sleep with the agreement that the nurse would bring her back if she was crying and for her feedings every 2-3 hours...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
I was still in a lot of pain and knew today was the day the nurse would remove the catheter, which would mean that I would have to make the painful walk to the bathroom with my box of epidural medication and tubing in my hands... not much fun!!! In fact, I was dreading it...
In the morning, I called home and reminded the kids that I wanted them to each make a card with a picture of Baby Kate and write what they thought of her the first time they saw her...Mrs. Kathy came around 9 so Pat could go into the office until 12:30 or 1, then come home and work from home on the computer while the twins napped... Later in the afternoon, Pat brought Jack and Mary Christine up for a visit while Mom watched the other kids... It was great to see them, although I wished all of the older kids had decided to visit as well... Pat brought the cards the kids made, so that helped with my homesickness a bit... the cards were adorable and be forever cherished!!! I proudly displayed the cards by the window and looked at them often during my stay!!!
As much as I was loving my time alone with Baby Kate, I was also realizing it was probably the only time we would have alone, AND missing all of our other blessings... yes, an emotional mess in the making...still brings tears to my eyes almost 4 weeks later... Since I chose not to watch TV, I also had time to reminisce about all of our blessings and their unique and individual journey to our family... I realized how quickly time was flying by, how much each of the children had grown, and how I really need to enjoy the stage where they are each and every day....
I was beginning to feel bloated and uncomfortable... starting to fear I was going to be constipated...
Thursday, December 29, 2011
My epidural ran out of medication around 4 am, so the anesthesiologist on call decided to remove it when she stopped by for rounds around 6 am... I wish I would have asked her to SLOWLY remove the tape from my back... it hurt so badly that I literally cursed at her and asked how much skin did she remove... she lied and said none- just hair... well the mirror in the bathroom didn't lie... luckily, after the initial pain went away, the red spot did not cause additional pain...
I called home for my morning conversation with my family... the call didn't go well...
About mid morning, the newborn photographer came by and took the most amazing photos of Baby Kate as she remarked how alert she was during the entire photo shoot...
I called home again around 11:30 to check in with Mrs. Kathy and the kids... Mrs. Kathy sounded miserable... she had come down with the stomach flu I had the week before... the kids were out of control and she felt awful... Fearing Baby Kate would catch the flu as I had planned to come home the next day, I was furious that Pat had allowed Mrs. Kathy to stay and expose our entire home to the virus again... Luckily, Pat was on his way home to relieve her...
For the first time, I was literally in tears when the lactation consultant came in to help Baby Kate and I with breastfeeding... I explained the situation to her, my nurse, Baby Kate's nurse, and the pediatrician... all decided it would be best for us to stay until Saturday... my nurse asked for the kids to stay at home... my mom had previously offered to watch the kids so Pat could come up later, she was just as frustrated as I was with Pat's decision...Late in the afternoon, I finally answered Pat's phone call and told him the kids were not allowed to visit and that Baby Kate and I would not be coming home on Friday...
Around 2 pm, my cousin, Julie, and her husband stopped by to meet Baby Kate... they brought me the most amazing and yummy ice cream sundae complete with caramel, chocolate and pecans... it was gone in no time!!! While they were visiting, Dr. Lackey, from the pediatrician's office stopped by and declared Baby Kate just perfect... which is always nice to hear!!!
After the epidural was removed, my itching also stopped!!! But, just as I feared... soon after I began the oral pain medication, nausea started... and the bloating continued and seemed to worsen, even after several doses of an anti gas tablet... after consulting with my nurse about this all day, late in the afternoon, we decided a suppository was the best option as I was miserable...
Once the suppository did it's job, I decided to take a much needed and desired shower... I also decided to follow the nurse's suggestion to take a walk and chose to walk to the nursery to get Baby Kate instead of having them bring her back to me... I did a couple of laps around the floor with Baby Kate riding in her bassinet, then went back to our room... once again, the nausea and bloating were getting the best of me and I decided to go to bed...
Friday, December 30, 2011
My emotions were all over the place as my hormones really started to fluctuate... I also continued to be nauseated and bloated... add the fact that I hadn't seen Sarah and Anna since Monday night; William, Patrick, and Lizzy since Tuesday night; and Jack and Beanie since Wednesday night; a perfect hormonal, emotional nightmare was brewing... I was supposed to have gone home on Friday, but realized I wasn't ready... neither was Baby Kate...
Even though I had worked with the lactation consultant each day, Baby Kate had a good latch on my breast, Baby Kate and I were "skin to skin" as much as humanly possible with her naked body (except her diaper) on my naked chest, and feedings every 2-3 hours which frequently turned into her being attached to my breast for hours at a time, my milk had yet to come in... and Baby Kate's birth weight more than 10%... I was told to breast feed her every feeding on both breasts, then pump 10 minutes after each feeding... I was also told they were going to call the pediatrician... I knew what this meant... we would have to supplement with formula... as Baby Kate's health was much more important than my desire to breast feed, I decided formula supplementation was best- even before hearing back from the doctor... having used the tube feeder attached to my breast before, I knew that was more stress than I could handle at the moment and that she had a strong latch on my breast, I agreed to let her use a bottle with a slow flow nipple... we started out with supplementing .5 of an ounce and by the end of the day she was up to an ounce... the official news that the pediatrician said that Baby Kate was not to lose any more weight brought tears to my eyes and pain to my heart... I felt like my body just wasn't working right and was harming my precious baby... as I sobbed, I felt even more guilty that I was emotionally devastated over the fact that I had to feed her formula... that I was so upset and crying over this when I should be thrilled that she was healthy...
Mid afternoon, in spite of around the clock anti gas and nausea medicine, my bloating and nausea continued... my nurse and I decided that, as I had feared and previously discussed with the doctors, the oral narcotics/pain medication was making me nauseated... we decided to stop the oral prescription pain medication and just take the over the counter pain medication... in an attempt to get rid of some of the gas and bloating, I decided to go for another walk with Baby Kate in her bassinet...
After several laps around the floor, several nurses mentioned that I was getting a lot of exercise... it felt great to be moving and out of our room... plus I really wanted to get rid of the gas and bloating... my tummy was still huge and sounded like a drum when tapped on... one nurse looked directly at me and warned me that, "I better be careful... She would catch up with me later..." That got me to hurry back into our room as quickly as possible... soon there after, it was time to pump and I couldn't get the hospital bed raised high enough so that I could hold Baby Kate in my lap while pumping... this brought me to tears... I was frustrated and angry... the lactation consultant and Baby Kate's nurse came to our room as I was sobbing... I explained the situation and what the scary nurse had warned... we decided she probably said "it", not "she", would catch up with me later- meaning that all of the walking would cause pains later... apparently the nurses only wanted me to walk once around the floor- just to get moving, not do several laps at a time- who would have thought that I would be the over achiever in laps??? The lactation consultant also shared stories of other new moms whose hormones got to them as well... which made me laugh... at least I wasn't crying over the dog food commercial...
Since I was still complaining about nausea, stomach pain, and bloating when the evening nurse came on at 7 pm, she decided to call the doctor and request a drug (Reglan?) that would help with all of the above AND increase breast milk... she finally got approval late in the evening and it seemed to help!!! Finally my tummy was feeling better...
Since Baby Kate, Sarah, Anna, and Jack's baptism was in the morning, I decided to take another shower... the lactation consultant also thought the warm water may help my milk come in...
It was my last night to be in the hospital and I was physically and emotionally exhausted... I knew that once I was home, I'd be the one in charge of all of Baby Kate's needs and feedings... I decided I was going to have Baby Kate stay in the nursery other than for feedings and if she was upset so I could get some much needed rest... that was until I met her night nurse... the night nurse seemed really confused and a bit overwhelmed... I decided it would be best for me to keep Baby Kate with me during the night...
Saturday, December 31, 2011
I woke up feeling much better as the newest medication really seemed to be helping with my tummy- I was thrilled... I packed up our room and reminded the nurses that we needed to be discharged by 8 am... both my doctor and Baby Kate's had already filled out the discharge instructions, so the nurses on duty just needed to print it, review the information with us and get my signature... Mom went to our home to watch the kids and Pat arrived around 8... of course the entire process took longer than expected and we did not leave the room until almost 9 am...
Baby Kate smiled for the first time in the elevator... the lady pushing me asked if Baby Kate had siblings at home and Pat replied, "She has no idea what was waiting for her at home..." I giggled and Baby Kate smiled as if to say I sure do and I can't wait to be home with my seven older siblings!!!
I did get the gal who wheeled Baby Kate and I out to take photos in front of the tree in the lobby... just as I had daydreamed about on the way in...
Much to Pat's and my delight, Baby Kate slept the entire way home...
No comments:
Post a Comment