Catch Up - Hospital Stay

I want to get back to blogging about my normal days, instead of what happened a couple weeks ago.  I'm going to try to post everything as soon as possible.

Hospital Stay:

Once we got into the recovery room, I started feeling exhausted.  I attempted to feed Cooper for the first time in the L&D room, but he wouldn't latch.  So we tried again in the recovery room and he did latch, but didn't stay on long.  We were both very tired.  Our nurse Colleen was young and very nice.  Once I tried to feed Cooper we all laid down to take a nap.  The hospital is focused on family centered maternity care, so the baby rooms in and there is a cot for dad to sleep on.

I had to ask for assistance the first couple times I had to use the bathroom.  I still looked about 6 months pregnant and I was just a little unsure of my body.  I was taking Motrin and Percocet for the first couple of days to dull the pain and discomfort.

The nurse gave Cooper is first bath and he didn't cry one bit.  The pediatrician came in to see him at 9 pm and said that he was perfect.  She came back every day to check for signs of dehydration, but there weren't any, so we didn't have to supplement.

The first night wasn't too bad, we were all just a little tired.  At one point I woke up holding Cooper like a little football...I guess I fell asleep with him!  The night nurse was more destructive than helpful when it came to helping me learn to breastfeed.  She would try to get Cooper to latch my shoving him into my boob over and over.  It would just make him mad and he would scream his head off.  Then I would get frustrated.  I had to tell her that I would keep trying and she could go. 

Once she left I calmed Cooper down, waited for him to open his mouth and drop his tongue.  I would bring him to my breast and he would get irritated that I was controlling his head.  So I would release and we would start all over.  Eventually he latched on and I could feed him for 5-15 min.

The second day was long and I didn't get much sleep.  They kept coming in to do tests and take our vitals.  They always seemed to do my vitals when I was trying to breastfeed...which made it worse since we were both learning how to do it. 

Chris went home for a little bit to get some rest and spend time with Scout.  I was trying to change Cooper by myself and he turned his little sprinkler on.  He peed all on his face, all over the bassinet, all over his shirt.  I was so shocked I just kept letting him pee instead of covering him up.  I had to call the nurse to come help me.  It really was quite funny.  That afternoon we went to discharge parenting class.  It was all pretty basic stuff, but helpful anyhow.

They brought us a celebration dinner that evening.  Chris had filet mignon and I had chicken cordon bleu.  We split some sparkling cider.  It was good, but we both were just so tired.

The second night was AWFUL!!!  Chris went home to try to get some sleep, so I was on my own.  The night nurse was the same gal and by then I was losing hope on getting Cooper to latch right.  She basically kept me up all night to get him to feed.  She tried to give Cooper a pacifier, which I had been told not to do because it would make his latch problems worse (teaches improper sucking).  I would do okay when she wasn't there, otherwise she would make matters worse.  I was in tears after she left every time.  I only got about 3 hours of sleep in the previous 24 hours.

The night nurse also weighed Cooper again.  Except she forgot to remove his hat, mittens, and diaper, which meant it looked like he had gained almost an ounce, when he was supposed to be losing weight.

The following morning, a new day nurse, Margie, showed up.  She was an angel.  She spent an hour teaching me how to latch Cooper (he kept tongue thrusting and would suck on his lower lip when trying to latch).  Without her, I probably wouldn't have been able to breastfeed.  Then all of sudden there were about 4 people in the room all wanting something and I nearly broke down.  It was so overwhelming!

We expected to be discharged around 9 or 10, but we ended up waiting for the pediatrician and lactation consultant to arrive.  This meant that we didn't sleep and we were getting cabin fever.  The lactation consultant was also a big help.  She checked my technique and said I was doing everything perfect.  She was glad to know that I refused to supplement and refused to give him a pacifier.  She said that I was on my way to successfully breastfeeding.  It was great to hear the encouraging words.

The pediatrician checked Cooper out and weighed him again.  He was discharged weighing 8 lb, 1 oz, but the pediatrician said that was within normal ranges.  Finally we were discharged at 2 pm.