After Leo was born and the NICU team was done with him, a nurse handed him to me, completely naked, to hold and keep warm. He was heavy and thick, but beautiful. His hand waved in front of his face and he began to suck his fingers. I said, "Wait a minute, buddy, I have something better." And he started nursing right away. For the rest of our stay, the nurses were amazed at how well he took to breastfeeding so soon. (After four babies, and mostly for the sake of my boobies, I learned a few tricks over the years.)
Having a baby in the middle of the night actually has its perks. We had seven hours to admire the little guy and catch a couple hours of sleep before all our guests arrived. It was nice and quiet for us. Walter went home around 4am to sleep. They delayed Leo’s first shots and checkups to give us some time together, but the nurse came to get him shortly after Walter left. I was thankful for someone to hold him while I tried to sleep a bit. I woke up on my own around 6am and with perfect timing, the nurse brought the baby back to me ready and hungry. The hospital started buzzing at the 7am shift change. I was visited by the new nurse, the lady to take my vitals, the lady to take the baby’s vitals, the pediatrician, the dietician, and the on-call OB. Walter arrived around 8am and said he only slept until 6:30 also.
Walter’s mom and Aunt Joanne brought the kids up to meet their new brother. They were so excited and couldn’t wait to get to the hospital. Roman ran over to my bedside and asked to see my belly. I laughed. He was actually more interested in my belly than the baby. Of course, it was still paunchy and he asked all kinds of questions about why it wasn’t flat yet and when it would be flat again. Chloe was immediately smitten and got to hold the baby first. Roman sat close to her on the little couch and admired the baby over her shoulder. It was the sweetest moment. After several minutes in Chloe’s arms, we passed the baby to Roman who didn’t exactly know what to think about this new little life in his arms. The look on his face was priceless: his arms were stiff and his eyes were wide. Roman didn’t really get comfortable holding Leo until a couple days after we got home, but then he asked to hold him every chance he could. (Which wasn’t often because eager big sister was always there waiting for her turn.) Grammy and Aunt Joanne finally got a turn to hold Leo and then the lady came in to do the newborn hearing screen. Sherrie, Phil, and his mom came to visit after lunch and they brought me a wonderful cherry limeaide from Sonic (a sort of tradition now). After they left, Walter had to take our defective infant car seat back to Babies R Us and get someone to pull a new one from inventory. By dinnertime, Walter and I were both flat out exhausted, only having two hours of sleep in the last two days. He eagerly waited for me to give him the okay to go home for some rest.
Leo and I got to know each other better once it was just he and I alone. He woke up frequently to nurse and I learned that he slept best on his side (not on his back, as recommended by the AAP and required by the hospital.) So, I held him pretty much held him until I couldn’t stay away any longer and the nurse offered to take him to the nursery for a couple hours so I could sleep.
The unmedicated birth is really the way to go. I know I would differ in the moment, and my birth story has probably scared all newlyweds from ever having kids, but my post-partum experience was remarkably different. Not having all those artificial hormones in my body gave me a lot more energy the next day and being able to go with my body (instead of watching the monitor to know when to push) minimized the trauma to my girl parts. An ice pack and a few hours of sleep was all I really needed in recovery. Every time the nurse came to check on me, she insisted that I should need some pain meds by then. But I really wasn’t having any pain. She said that with each baby, the post-partum cramping is worse, but really, it wasn’t for me. She came in again and said I didn’t have to be a martyr, and I insisted that I was still just fine. My recovery this time was actually amazingly different. Even though the unmedicated delivery was extraordinary, I felt like a million bucks afterward. Okay, maybe a couple hundred grand, but still really good comparatively speaking. With the others, I could barely traverse the room, but this time, I felt okay to walk around for a short bit. With the others, I was still most comfortable in bed for at least a week after we got home, but this time, I was doing light housework and even made it to church a week later. People there were even amazed to see me so soon. I think the only thing I could really complain about during labor was the fact that I had to roll on my side. And that was only because I was on the monitors which indicated a dip in baby’s heart rate during contractions. And because of that, I think I highly advocate home birthing for uncomplicated pregnancies. Skip the stupid monitors and let nature work its course. And don’t let them make you roll on your side if it’s not comfortable. There’s a reason women birthed in a sitting or squatting position in ancient days.
The next day, after the morning and lunchtime rush of doctors and nurses and staff and visitors, we made a leisurely effort to pack up and check out. When we got home, Grammy brought the kids up the street and they took turns holding their brother again. They admired his little features and stood nearby while Daddy changed diapers. (I have to note this: I didn’t change a single diaper for the first three days; I married the best daddy.) Walter worked from home during our first week home. When I wasn’t napping or feeding the baby, I managed to set up a couple impromptu changing stations up and downstairs, and set up my out-of-office reply on my work email account.
Leo is a good sleeper! I learned the first night in the hospital that he likes to sleep on his side, so our first week home, I had him propped on his side. I slept nervously with the nightlight on so I could make sure he didn’t roll on his face or burry himself in the blanket props. But after a couple days at home and a few naps on my chest, I realized it wasn’t actually sleeping on his side that he liked; it was having his arms snug that kept him from waking up. I guess an extra week in utero for a large baby got him used to having his limbs tucked in tight. Once I noticed that, I swaddled him tight at night, and I was able to put him to sleep on his back and we could turn off the nightlight with confidence. But that kid is strong and smart because even with my best attempts at swaddling, he managed to work his arms out and wake himself up after a while. I saw one of these SwaddleMe things at Babies R Us and promptly ordered a pack after our first rough night of Leo coming out of his blanket all night. Miracles! Angel choir singing! Everyone with a wiggly baby needs one of these things. Now I can pin his little arms down and he will sleep 4-5 hours at night if I didn’t need to wake him up to feed him. (With Chloe, I was content to let her sleep, but I NEED to feed this guy or I wake up sore and drenched in my own milk.)
So now, we’re on our second week of leave and Leo and I are settling into a nice routine. He usually takes a really long nap in the morning and another in the afternoon with a quick snooze through lunchtime. He’s very alert in the evenings and gets fussy right before bed. Walter takes him on a long walk after dinner and he really enjoys being outside (just like his big brother did). This year, we broke the record for the hottest summer with pretty much three months of straight 100ยบ temperatures. The day Leo was born, we finally had reprieve from the heat and have had beautiful weather since then. We’re now looking forward to the fall weather and holidays soon too.
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