After three days in the hospital we were happy to be heading home. Two of my sisters (I have three) came to help out with this process. I didn’t really bring much, but I sure had a lot leaving (take all the freebies with you as you go through things within days!). Crazy feeling leaving the hospital with three people instead of two. I remember how nervous I was just putting her in the car seat and driving home, we were completely 100% responsible for this precious cargo!! We had a really sweet surprise once we arrived home, my family had prepared a clean house, welcome banner and announcement sign (thank God for wonderful family!) I have 3 sisters, 3 nieces, 1 nephew, 1 grandma, and 1 set of parents that ALL that live within a 1.5 mile radius from my home – it’s pure madness but amazing at the same time. Anyways, the husband quickly kicked everyone out of the house (he enjoys his peace and quiet) and we settled in to enjoy our new life. That lasted maybe about 2 hours…
So I heard that the time you spend in the hospital is a “honeymoon” period during which your sweet baby eats wonderfully and sleeps all day. Well we did discover that this lovely period was over that first night home, I think it was probably one of the worst nights we had. It couldn’t have been more than 3 hours after my dear husband kicked my sisters out when we were calling them to come back and help.
We (or rather I) was all of a sudden having a difficult process with nursing. I was able to finally calm her down, nurse and go back to sleep only to run into the same problem later that evening. It is the worst feeling ever to have this little baby cry her heart out and you can’t make her stop. My goal was to breastfeed 100% due to all of its benefits, but sheesh, apparently my milk came in that evening and the whole process was miserable. Adeline couldn’t latch on and it was just an overall a painful, uncomfortable, horrible experience for me l – definitely nothing “natural” about it. I finally ended up pumping a bit and bottle feeding her – it worked great. It took some figuring out (and a visit from my sister), but we were finally able to feed and calm down this little princess successfully. I would like to take the time to note that my husband somehow learned how to sleep like a rock that day and hasn’t changed ever since. All of a sudden he can sleep through screaming, feedings, fussing and not even nudge – how amazing and convenient all at the same time – ha!
But overall the first few weeks were tough. Adeline got the breastfeeding down but it was still a painful process for me (thank goodness for Lansinoh). She was also gassy A LOT with tummy aches. We were constantly burping and carrying this little girl around to ease the fussiness. I remember calling my mom a few times and asking “Since when do babies cry so much for no reason? No one tells you this.” She seemed to get particularly fussy around 6-7 pm in the evening. You would just have to hold and soothe her till it passed. During the day I would put her for naps on her tummy and that seemed to help her a bit. Someone gave us baby gas drops at the baby shower, the first time we used them it was fabulous, really seemed to work right away. Other times it didn’t seem to do anything at all. Then we discovered the pacifier and it worked wonders with Adeline. She really like to suck so she taught herself to use the pacifier and sooth herself when something was bothering her.
So all in all, those first few weeks – probably the first six (for us) were tiring, busy and stressful. Getting up in the middle of the night for feedings was tough due to the obvious lack of sleep and I am not a big napper. But I really can’t complain too much as from the beginning Adeline would mostly only wake up once for a nightly feeding. I had a co-sleeper bassinet right next to the bed, which made things much easier. Personally, one of the hardest things was recovering from the C-section. Those first few nights it was difficult to even sit up or walk around. My dear hubby James would have to change her diapers and bring her to me for middle of the night feedings. It was difficult to deal with as I’m used to being pretty active and independent. I would say experiencing delivery and then those first few days home with my husband, has definitely made our relationship stronger in a whole different sort of way.
So overall – here is what I learned those first few weeks as a first time mom:
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C-section recovery is extremely painful and disabling
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Breastfeeding is a lot more painful and difficult (in the beginning) than I expected
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Babies will sometimes just cry for no reason
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Family and sleep are extremely valuable
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I love people that bring me food (I actually always love this but it became especially significant those first few weeks)
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Coffee is the best thing ever (but not too much)
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Never change a diaper on your bed without a changing pad underneath
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Babies spit up a lot
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Your hormones are not quite yet stable
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It’s still a crazy and surreal feeling that you’re a mommy to this little person
