Our Story: The Hospital, Meeting Big Brother, & Life Now

Once the name was finalized, we waited around a bit for my anesthesia to wear off. About four hours post-birth I was able to walk, which begins the transition from L&D to the recovery floor. Brent's Mom went home to see Bill and B and prepare for a post-nap visit from the big brother. My Mom and Brent packed up and we all headed up to the next floor with help from my nurse pushing my wheelchair. The problem that began to develop was that I basically went from a lot of pain meds to none for about six hours. As my old doctor would have said ... the pain got ahead of me. It took awhile to get transitioned to recovery and get some appropriate relief so it was a very uncomfortable afternoon.

Otherwise, we spent the afternoon watching Maggie sleep, calling and e-mailing people, trying to rest and getting some food as we mostly hadn't eaten since breakfast (actually Brent was planning to go get lunch just about the time the excitement started and thankfully hadn't left yet). By around 6pm our visitors began arriving. First, Brent's parents came with Brendan who got to meet baby sister at last. It went pretty well and he was full of energy. He was just a little hesitant at first, but did well sharing his snacks with everyone and seemed very interested in everything. Bill and my Dad also got to meet the baby around this time which is always a sweet moment. Our first friends began arriving as well. I think Jennie was the first, followed shortly by Gavin who brought me a snow cone which was awesome! Tracie brought flowers for us and Jessie arrived shortly thereafter. It began to get pretty crowded and B's attention span had waned so he headed home. We spent time visiting with all the friends, taking pictures and saying our good-byes. My parents went back to our house for the night and then it was just Brent, Maggie and I.

The first night actually went fine once my pain was more under control. Brent got an actual roll-away type cot rather than the horrible chairs. Our nurse was helpful, but not overly in to interrupting us. To our surprise, we found that we rather liked the rooming in situation (Maggie staying with us all the time rather than going to a nursery). Believe it or not as we settled in to that first long night we were already talking about "next time" which is probably a good sign of an overall good experience on a day that you're 10lb child arrives. Maggie mostly slept with one of us that night and I wouldn't say we slept that much, but went as well as one could expect.

The next day we worked on getting discharged as the ongoing interruptions of hospital life were more annoying than restful. Maggie and I were both doing fine and both our Doctor's OK'd our release by noon. Of course, this being a hospital we didn't actually get to leave until 4pm when all the assorted paperwork, tests, etc were complete. During this day, my parents visited briefly followed by Aunt Jamie's arrival. Jamie stayed with us most of the remainder of the day and my mom returned to help with the transition home. The lactation consultant came by somewhere in between visitors and sent me into my usual tailspin that took Brent about 45 minutes to pull me up from and a clear decision that we're just not talking to them next time as they hurt more than help our situation.

Around 4pm, just 36 hours after arriving we packed up the tremendous amount of things we had accumulated and headed home. At this point I was really missing B as I hadn't seen him hardly at all in the last two days and very much needed to. Maggie handled the transition well and soon we were all home again. Brent's parents and Jamie arrived an hour or so later and we all feasted on pizza and gazed at Maggie before my Mom had to head home to work the next day (very sad). That first evening went pretty well. B continued to be interested in Maggie. He would tell us when she was crying and want to help with bottles, etc. She still wasn't opening her eyes that much and our night watch was still in development, but altogether a good day.

So that is really the close of the initial saga. What is left to tell is mostly what life has been like since. Some of that I touched on Monday. Other moments of note include Brent's parents watching B on Friday night. My parents watching Maggie on Saturday night. Learning to function together just us on most of these days in between. Brent and I have been trying various night shift combinations and think we've about worked it out. Just in time to change it again in a few days when he goes back to work (sob). --- Ladies, my hubby takes a completely equal 5 hour shift at night that is just like mine. Envious? Yes, he totally rocks and I'm completely spoiled. Last time I felt like having the baby was a big stressor our relationship. This time, I feel closer to him than ever. We are a team, a unit and so close together as we build our little family. Lucky us:)

We're transitioning back into the world as well. Monday, we went as a family to the Doctor. Tuesday, we went to dinner at Brent's parents (very yummy. Thanks!) Tuesday also marked the loss of her umbilical cord stub and oozy bleeding, but all is better now. Today, we went to get Brendan's haircut and to the bookstore all together. I think we all feel better getting out just a little and Maggie is generally handling it like a trooper. She doesn't like to be in her carseat overly long asleep or not, but otherwise is doing well with our adventures. Now it is nap time and time to think about what comes next. I hope you've enjoyed our story thus far as I'm sure there is so much more to come. Thank you all for your love, support, e-mails and interest in our little family. We love you!