Our First Night Together

After the excitement and exhaustion of delivery, Dan and I finally had our first night as parents... thinking back now, even after just 10 days experience, all I can do is laugh! We had NO CLUE what the heck to do with her! I hadn't changed a diaper since I was 13 and here I was taking care of a baby, my baby!

When we got into our room, we hoped it was quiet time as it was 11pm... we were wrong. The nurse had check on Jane and I every couple of hours, including Jane's first bath. We didn't get to "sleep" until 3am and, of course, didn't sleep at all. I stared at Jane in her bassinet all night, trying to figure out her peeps and squeaks but mostly making sure she was still breathing! It sounds insane, but I kept checking... anytime she was too quiet, I'd rub her hair and she'd move a little and then I'd be OK! :p At one point, Janey was sleeping on her back but her head had fallen to the side. Dan and I were actually worried because we didn't know if her head was allowed to stay to the side like that! I seriously asked the nurse! She must have thought "we're letting these people take this baby home?!?!". ha ha ha. They don't tell you this stuff in baby books... how the heck are we supposed to know all the tiny things! I suppose it's common sense, but still! When you finally have this little baby, you're constantly worried about her, you question everything, even your own common sense.

Thankfully, breastfeeding was going well. Jane's latch was great from the start and I am determined to keep it that way. My girlfriends had suffered from razor-blade nipple pain and I want to avoid it and to make sure she is getting the best out of "the boob". What I hadn't expected initially was the uterine cramping. As soon as Jane latched on, I could feel my uterus cramping back to its original size. It felt a lot like mild menstrual cramps and, for me, with all the other little pains (boobs, twat, IV, etc.) I barely noticed them except that they made me a little nauseous. My cramps lasted about 3-4 days and I could feel the difference in the size of my uterus with each "session".

Our two days in the hospital were OK. We had a great nurse who helped me learn the ropes and was super supportive. What was difficult were the constant visitors... not friends and family, but the nurses, docs, flower deliveries, reading program people, etc. Although most of the check-ins were necessary to make sure baby and I were doing well, I wish that the "team" could have coordinated themselves. Perhaps they could team-up on visits instead of each coming one after the other! Every time I got comfortable feeding her or got her to sleep, someone came in to do a check, woke her up, made her scream bloody murder, and then said, "OK, looks great, bye"! Leaving us to calm her down and figure out the whole swaddle thing AGAIN... initially we could not do "the swaddle" - how did they get it so tight?!?! But rest assured, it will come, you will be a swaddling machine!

Jen :)

PS - Anybody have any funny/embarassing stories from their first few days? Come on, I told the whole head-to-the-side story! :p