Our hospital stay was interesting. They ended up being over full and my bed sheets did not get changed the entire time I was there. In some ways it was nice not to be bothered a lot but you could tell they were greatly understaffed for the amount of patients they had.
Mike went to the hotel about 2 am after Bo was born. I didn’t sleep much at all that night — maybe about an hour or two max. I was way too keyed up. He came back the next morning and I had already taken a shower and talked to both my doctor and Bo’s. We spent the day admiring Bo. 
I did take a nap that afternoon. I had asked everyone I know not to come visit us in the hospital (yes, I’m strange like that) but Mandy came that evening. I have to admit I was glad to see her.
I didn’t sleep much that night either. Mike went back to the hotel about 8:30 and I slept from 9:30 until 11 when it was time to feed Bo. I took him to the nursery about 12:30 and went back to sleep. I had some HORRIBLE nightmares that night and woke up about 2ish very upset. I almost called Mike but I talked myself out of it. I finally got back to sleep expecting them to bring Bo for a feeding anytime and when I woke up it was 6:30. He went most of the night without eating (or seeing me) and I was pissed. So I marched back down to the nursery to get him. I know they were busy and packed but they were suppose to bring him to me every 3 hours for a feeding!!
The next day was Thanksgiving and Mike’s parents came down. We had take-out for lunch with them at the hospital and they spent the afternoon with us. I was ready to go home that morning and had the all-clear but Bo had to wait the full 48 hours. We were finally able to come home at 10:15 Thanksgiving night. Needless to say we didn’t get home and settled into bed until nearly 12:30.
I did not take any pain medication after the birth and I am doing pretty well. Going to the bathroom is quite the production right now and I will be glad when all of that is back to normal but overall, physically, I can’t complain. My feet are still swollen but they are better than they were. I have been up and moving since the morning following labor and to me that is amazing. With my ectopic I had a full c-section cut and I felt pretty awful. Vaginal labor is difficult but the recovery is much faster and easier. I was really afraid for a long time and thought I wanted a c-section just because I knew what to expect but I have to admit that vaginal is FAR better. Having been through both now I don’t know why ANYONE would have an elective c-section.
On Friday I took Bo over to meet my mom and grandpa. It was bittersweet. The picture of us just is not how I pictured that first meeting… Grandpa is doing somewhat better. The whole situation with home care has been very stressful for Mom but they seem to be adjusting and Grandpa does seem to do better being at home. Grandpa and Mom were both excited to meet Bo and thrilled with him. Grandpa’s first comment was that he is going to need a haircut soon!
Jim and Sherri made a huge Thanksgiving dinner which we ate at my parents. It wasn’t the best Thanksgiving ever — and it didn’t really feel like Thanksgiving, but we were at least all together. I think by this point I was just so tired… We finally came home and I ended up going to bed about 5:30. I still got up every 3 hours to feed Bo but at least going to bed that early I actually had a fair number of hours under my belt by morning.
Everyone commented on Saturday that I looked much better. I have to admit the numerous days with very little sleep caught up with me pretty quickly. I wish I had spent more time resting in the hospital but I was so keyed up and worked up that I just didn’t. Definitely something I will change next time if I am ever blessed enough to go through all of this again.
Saturday we started having visitors at home. One of my yearbook girls brought a full meal over — manicotti, bread, salad, cheesecake for us to heat and eat. I thought that was incredibly nice!! We also went to my parents to visit. (That is going to be a daily occurrence that I have mixed feelings about.) Jim and Sherri can’t sit still so they had about a million projects they were tackling. They are ridiculously helpful but sometimes I wish they would just sit down!!
Today Jim and Sherri went home about 12ish and we went to visit my parents. We have been home since early afternoon and I was able to take a nap this afternoon! We also had some more visitors but everyone has been very polite and hasn’t stayed forever which is nice at this point.
Caring for Bo is going well too. Breastfeeding seems to be going well and my milk is in. He is going to the bathroom often so it seems like he is actually eating what he needs at this point. He has looked a bit yellow so I have been careful to feed him every 3 hours to help push things through so he does not get extremely jaundiced. Overall he seems very healthy and advanced — especially since he isn’t even due until this coming Thursday.
He held his head up on his own the day after he was born and today during “tummy time” he held his head up and switched sides on his own twice. He already flips his leg over too like he wants to roll over. I’m not ready for him to be able to flip over on his own yet!!
Bo only really cries when he is hungry, getting his diaper changed, or naked. He doesn’t like not having clothes on AT ALL!! We did the first sponge bath tonight and he didn’t like that a whole lot either… Overall though he is a really good baby and we can’t complain.
The past few days have been a blur but I wanted to write down some of the highlights to look back on later…
