Madison's Big Day of Firsts

So at just 5 days old Madison had her first big outing; her first bath at home (2nd bath total); and her first bottle.

The outing took us 5.5 hours to go to the doctor, Adam's Walgreens store, and a quick trip to the grocery store.

We started at 12:45 by heading out to her pediatricians office (which is actually where I work) for a 2:00 appt for a weight check and bilirubin level . We left early so we could grab a bite to eat first and then I could have time to show her off to my coworkers before my appointment. The oogled over her of course which I enjoyed, everyone said she looks like her daddy (and I agree).

So her weight was the same as when she left the hospital 2 days prior. At least she hadn't lost any. Her bilirubin level was still slightly high but for her age and size it is a low risk and should be corrected with more feeding.

So as for the more feeding part. . .Everyone kept saying how great I looked and I felt good yesterday. I got quite a bit of sleep the night before, Madison (like her mommy) loves to sleep. She was only waking up to feed every 3 hours and I didn't know to do any different. I was told that I now have to feed her every 2 hours and let me just say that after a day of being on an every 2 hour schedule I feel the sleep deprivation coming on strong. . . By the time I get up and go to the bathroom, wake her up, feed her (usually about 30 minutes) and change her diaper it's been almost an hour. So I get one hour of sleep and it's time to do it all over again.

Anyways I fed her at the Dr office and we headed further down south to Adam's Walgreens store. He needed to get on their computer system to enroll her in insurance and we had a few things to pick up. Also to show her off. . .of course.

By the time we were leaving there it was time to eat again! So I sat in a back room near the pharmacy and 3o minutes later we left. Since she was recently fed and we were out of food at the house we decided it was an opportune time to stop at the grocery store. So she got to have her first grocery store experience. Then when we got home, time to eat again!

First Bath:

So we gave her her first sponge bath (really second bath, but our first) and of course she screamed the whole time until we got to her head. Which we did last after she was wrapped up in a towel. She loved it when I rubbed her little tiny head with my soapy washcloth. It was so cute. She just gave me this look of "Ohhhh yeaaah, mommy, I like that." So we made it through, we were nervous about her getting to cold and all that but it went fine.

First Bottle:

So this whole feeding every 2 hours instead of 3 is really tough as I mentioned. I have started to occasionally pump the side she won't be feeding on and pumping whats left in the side she does. I had a little over 2 ounces last night from one pump in the afternoon. Adam got to feed her for the first time and it was special to him. I know he enjoyed it. It was amazing though, what takes her 30 minutes to eat from me each feed, took only 5 minutes for her to guzzle down from the bottle. Feeding time was a lot shorter, and I was envious. We are trying it again tonight to give me a break. Hopefully I won't need to pump and can make it to the next feed without too much pain.

So that was Madison's BIG day of firsts. I think it was more exhausting for mommy and daddy than her (she slept a lot in the car).

Today we stayed home and did not leave the house. I'm starting to hit the brink of exhaustion b/c I'm not obeying that whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" rule. I need to do that more, even little cat naps if I can.

Oh and can I just say that sleep sacks are amazing! We have put her in just a t-shirt and sleep sack with socks on at night, then swaddle her. When I need to change a diaper there is no unbuttoning or unzipping of a onesie. All I have to do is unswaddle her, pull up the sleep sack and then change the diaper. We will eventually stop this I am sure, but for now it's easy access.

Blessings and Football

So Madison's first experience after coming home from the hospital was a blessing and a Superbowl Party. I know you might think we are crazy as we had only been home from the hospital approximately 2 hours before taking her somewhere.

We are a part of a house church that currently is meeting in our best friends home 4 houses down the road. We did not get home until right when church was starting but we did end up going down the road for the end of worship to have a blessing offered over Madison and our new family and to partake in communion.

Following worship, they were hosting a superbowl party (we usually host it every year but are happy to have passed the buck this time around). I of course wanted to show my little beauty off so we decided we would only stay for a little while. We are trying to train her early to be a sports fan so it takes early in life and she is able to appease her future husband on a Sunday afternoon by allowing him to watch football. Albeit, I think most of the women, and some men, were more interested in the pass the baby game than the actual football game.
She made it through and we left when the game was over. It was fun, but for those of you who thought we were crazy by going to a social event just after getting home from the hospital, you are probably right in thinking so. Let's just say that we had a rough first night at home. Between my forgetting to take my pain medicine, extreme pain during breastfeeding, and forgetting to lower the third side to my co-sleeper (so I had to get out of bed-OUCH! note the forgetting pain med part-every time to get her out or just check that whole breathing thing) I didn't get much sleep and my incision was excruciatingly painful the next day. Luckily when you and your husband are both off work currently with no where to go staying in bed until 10:30 is an option. And bringing the baby into bed with us kept her happy and quiet for the morning hours.

Hospital(ity)

So we had heard all these horror stories about how when you deliver at the hospital, you don't get any sleep, and are always interrupted by doctors, nurses, aids, visitors, etc. . . I am pleased to say that was totally not the case during our stay after Madison was born. Not to say they were negligent either.

We delivered via C-section at Brigham and Women's Hospital (the hospital I used to work at for 3 years in Cardiac Surgery), the #1 Labor and Delivery Program in the country. I had a c-section on Thursday morning Feb 3, 2011 and Madison Rylee was born at 9:34 am. (More to come about my freak out during c-section later). We sat in the recovery room for a little over 2 hours and had Madison with us the whole time. I was able to hold her and begin to feed within the first 30 minutes after I had use and feeling of my upper body again. From there we were taken to the post partum floor where our nurses were nothing short of helpful and wonderful. We were there for 4ish days and 3 nights. During that time they encouraged us to rest when we could. They have nurses on staff for the nursery 24/7 and made us feel safe about leaving her in there so we could get some rest. We took them up on that at night, keeping her with us until 10ish then having her brought in for feedings at night every 3-4 hours or when she was awake.

Anyways, they only did my vitals every 8 hours and the nurses made their assessments of me at a convenient time. If I was sleeping or feeding or eating, they would come back later. They were not in a rush just to get their paperwork charted. . .etc. One thing they were on top of which was greatly appreciated was my pain medicine. Toward the end they would leave it up to me if I wanted it or not but they always brought it in to me right on time if I wanted it on schedule. Good thing too, b/c I would have gotten way behind and lost track of when I had it last.

Even though they mostly new I was a nurse and even some new I worked in Pediatrics, they were always willing to answer my questions and never looked at me like, this is something you should know.

All in all I can't speak highly enough of the nurses of CWN 10 at BWH. It was such a pleasant stay and I did actually feel somewhat rested when we came home.

As for my C-section:

Lets just say that all the preparation I did, relaxation techniques, and even seeing a section before did not prevent a freak out on my part.

I did fine during the spinal block. The nurse was impressed that I was so calm and cooperative. She held my hand (they wouldn't let Adam in just yet) and I barely had to squeeze hers. That is where my calmness ended.

A lot happened very quickly after that:

They proceeded to lie me down on my back-my legs and abdomen beginning to go numb, put my arms in these arm rests (and told me not to move them), put up a blanket right in front of my face, place an oxygen mask on my face, poke me with a toothpick like thing and try to insert a catheter. . .all at the same time-oh and my IV started burning b/c of the antibiotic. Adam still was not in the room at this point.

I think I got too over stimulated and slightly claustraphobic (with the sheet and mask on). I couldn't feel my legs yet I could still feel areas on my stomach the anesthesiologists was poking with the toothpick and I was worried I would feel the incision too.

Anyways I remember starting to freak out and move around (which they didn't like). I started stating I couldn't do this, I wanted to just go home, taking off my pulse ox and mask, trying to sit up. . .etc. . .I was just crazy. One of the anesthesiologists took my hand while my OB tried to calm me down and tell me it was going to be ok and that people freak all the time (but they are probably not nurses). They brought Adam in the room (finally) and I remember thinking how irrational I was being. I was able to just close my eyes and focus on him holding my hand and stroking my face. I was calm as a cucumber from then on. My OB even asked if the anesthesiologist had given me anything to calm me down, which he didn't. The next think I know after thinking I just needed to cut it out and chill out, I heard my baby girl crying. I didn't even know they had made the incision yet and there she was crying for me to here.

I listened for 2 things. . .the word "She" and her weight. 7lb 2 oz, 18.5inches long.

It was amazing. I remember Adam bringing her over to me and I just remained calm during the closure b/c I could see her beautiful face.
So nurses don't always make great patients. It's so weird being on the flip side of being the one to care for the patients.

More to come later, but for now I must get back to this whole motherhood thing :)

I've never been good at this

So I've never been the greatest at keeping up a blog of any sort but at the request of my family and some friends I will give it an attempt as I now am a mother and I know my mom and sister's want to hear every little detail. . .well at least the big ones that are going on in my life as we live so far apart.

So here goes nothing. . .