The Hospital Stay & First Two Weeks Home

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

I'm finding time slips away much easier with a baby. And I haven't held the energy or spare moments to catch up with many of you personally. I'm so sorry that thank you cards, phone calls, texts, and emails have fallen very far on the to-do list. I'm hoping these posts- though few and far between- can help make up for it for now. These posts are also helping us documents these precious days of being brand new parents to our teensy Eli. I hope you enjoy all the pictures as much as we do as we try to catch up on the past few weeks to look back and remember this crazy time!

The Hospital

We were in the hospital from when we were admitted early Tuesday morning until mid-afternoon on Thursday. Our stay was filled with routine check-ups, visits from doctors, shift changes, paperwork, a couple of videos, and very broken sleep. The staff was the most kind, helpful group, and they made such a big change happen that much more smoothly.

After delivery, everything with Eli continued to check out beautifully. He was a healthy baby boy needing no special treatment.

His hair looks combed. It isn't. He has some significant cowlicks going on!

My experience was a little more difficult, and I welcomed all the assistance the hospital staff offered. They put in an IV as soon as I was given a room in Labor & Delivery, followed by the epidural, pitocin, and eight rounds of antibiotics over the course of our stay. The stint was in the full two and a half days. I was relieved when we were finally released to go home but was so discouraged when I realized how difficult adapting without their expertise and extra help was going to be.

Going Home

Hubs has been the most careful and attentive partner. He has been so amazing and had to do everything around here. How some people do this alone is beyond me. Hubs had to assist me getting up, sitting down, and almost everything in between. The first week, my trips were restricted from the recliner to the bathroom, which Hubs had to set up as a make-shift medical care facility. The whole thing has been mortifying and terrible, but he never flinched and made sure I was as comfortable as possible- even when I could tell he was insanely overwhelmed and didn't have a clue what to do. All the doctors and nurses had commented on how my recovery was going to be a long one. They weren't lying. I am still surprised at the difficulty of daily functions. And I'm still thankful everyday for pain meds. I can tell there has been improvement but know I'm still a long way from feeling any kind of normal again.

This happened our first day back home. Yikes!

The Sunday after we were discharged, we went back to the perinatal unit for Eli's well baby appointment. It was a short visit, and everything checked out perfectly, but that first outing took a lot out of us. Eli did it in style though.

One of the biggest helps was the meal train set-up by wives in our unit. We had four different families bring dinner the first four nights. The Blew's brought southern-style BBQ with all the fixings, the Worm's brought homemade enchiladas, the Thomas's brought us our favorites from Olive Garden, and the Sullo's brought us a chicken croissant dish and strawberry spinach salad. Hubs was able to simply make our plates and heat up leftovers for our meals. If that wasn't enough, Katie and Jenny both brought pretty potted flowers with balloons, Stephanie sent two bags of 0-3 month hand-me-downs, and Susie put together the cutest and most helpful "New Mom Survival Kit" ever. We are so blessed by these generous families.

Eli's daily routine is eat, poop, sleep, repeat. My daily routine is attending to Eli's routine, recover, and rest. Hubs went back to work last Monday, but before that, his daily routine was attending to my and Eli's routine. It sounds mundane. Slow. But it has been a whirlwind. The first fourteen days were the most painful and exhausting and emotional I've ever known. I'm pretty beat up. It's taking me so much longer to get up and moving than we thought. It's pretty crazy how none of that matters though with Eli here. I am so grateful that everything that has been difficult or gone wrong has with me and not him. We haven't had to worry about him for a second. Even nursing, while it kind of hurt a little at first, has gone as perfectly as possible.

This is how Eli sleeps in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

These are what my days look like. Recliner buddies.

My friend sent me a Moby wrap! Lifesaver.

This is a tiny Andrew face if I've ever seen one!

Last Wednesday, Eli and I both had our two week appointments. We were at the hospital for over three hours for him. The pediatrician appointment went perfectly and everything looked good. But then we had to go to labs for a heel prick and to pharmacy for vitamins. Most of it was waiting. I had just one hour to get home, get lunch, Eli fed, and get back to the hospital for my appointment. I'm healing well, but they refilled my med prescription and want to see me in another two weeks. Most women go in for the first time at a 6-8 week postpartum appointment, and I will have seen the doctor twice before then. I'm grateful they are keeping up with my recovery, but these appointments are definitely not pleasant. 

Our little wounded warrior.