Well, here it is already a week after Daniel's dramatic entrance into the family. As precipitous as his labor was, I felt remarkably good afterwards. I guess there is something to be said for a quick labor! Later that day I still felt as if I'd been run over by a truck, or at the very least run a 100-mile marathon, but the more I got up and moved around the better I felt. The hospital stay was fine -- all the staff over there practically trip over themselves to be helpful. Unfortunately, they still always manage to come in JUST after I've fallen asleep. I think that's standard hospital policy everywhere.
So the day afterwards I expressed a wish to go home early. I could have stayed until Thursday, but I was looking forward to being home. I missed the kids, and my own bed (although those infinitely-adjustable hospital beds are pretty comfy), so after about 1,000 visits by various medical staff and dozens of approval forms filled out in triplicate (okay so maybe I exaggerate) we were given permission to leave early, even though several nurses made it apparent that I was crazy. :) I just knew that I would rest better at home.
So home we went! I immediately took the baby up to bed and stayed there the next day, occasionally making an appearance downstairs. Miriam was extraordinarily helpful, bringing me snacks and filling up my water vat. Daniel and I spent a lot of time like this:
Yeah, being at home is much better.
For one thing, except when nursing, I hardly ever need to hold Daniel!
Who needs a bouncy chair when there is a cozy big sister handy? (She seems to have a talent for getting him to fall asleep, too.)
The only drawback to the week is something we've experienced with each of the kids -- Daniel was pretty jaundiced. All of our readers who follow me on Facebook already know that we spent lots of time driving to and from the doctor's office and the hospital lab for heel pricks. I had been hoping that since Daniel was born later, jaundice wouldn't be a problem with him (it's typically worse for babies born early). But apparently "precipitous labor" can also make jaundice worse, since all that hard squeezing can break up blood cells! Sigh. We can't win. I've just resigned myself to spending the first week of each baby's life this way.
So Daniel's bilirubin level got fairly high -- just below danger level, but high enough to consider renting a bili-blanket for the weekend. However, the company covered by our insurance was out of blankets, and since Daniel's level didn't necessitate immediate treatment, the doctor prescribed lots of sunshine and more nursing (oh, great). So that's how I spent the weekend. It's been difficult getting the sunshine safely, though -- it's been so hot that I'm afraid of the baby overheating. But I found a solution -- our windows face east or west, so in the morning for about an hour I sit with Daniel in Joseph's room with the window open to let the UV light in, and a fan blowing on us to keep us cool, flipping Daniel over every 10 mins. or so to keep him from getting burned. Then in the afternoon I do the same in my room. I use my own sun-sensitive skin as a gauge -- when I feel hot, I move the baby. I just realized we're also both getting lots of vitamin D this way. :)
On Monday, after yet another heel prick (his little feet are covered with pokes, poor baby) and doctor appt., we learned that his bilirubin level had stabilized at 17.7 -- .3 below danger zone! I'm sure it's due to all the prayers for him. We have another appointment tomorrow to make sure the level is going down -- the pediatrician can tell just by looking at him whether he's less yellow. I hope so -- it's been a long week of doing not much more than sitting and nursing! Part of the challenge, aside from avoiding sunburn and hyperthermia, was getting him to eat enough -- apparently jaundice-y babies get tired really easily, so after a couple minutes of nursing he kept falling asleep, only to wake up a few minutes later ravenously hungry again. It was driving me crazy because I felt like I couldn't do anything, like take my sitz baths! (*weep*) But after a day of my really trying hard to get him to stay awake long enough for a decent feeding, Daniel seems to have settled into a more normal routine of eat-wake-sleep, rather than eat-sleep-eat-sleep-eat-sleep-rinse-repeat. Yay!
For one thing, now that he has predictable nap times, I can Get Stuff Done, like organize the monstrous pile of maternity/non-maternity/nursing/off-season clothes in my closet that was preparing to take over the world shortly. So now I have more than 3 over-large maternity shirts to wear, huzzah! In the process I discovered some cute shirts I forgot I had, that ought to fit me again before long.
Another boon of the past week has been Daniel's nighttime sleeping habits -- he is a GOOD nighttime baby. Last night he actually went for a whole 4 HOUR STRETCH in between feedings!! It's amazing how well recovery goes when you can get a decent amount of sleep at night.
Of course, in all the ease of recovery, I have to give a lion's share of the credit to Mr. Pickles. He has done such a great job of taking over management of the household so I can get the rest I need. He is such a good husband and a good papa! It's obvious how much he loves his family. I don't know what I'm going to do when he goes back to work next week!
Mama's boys
