Home at last

If you have kids, I'm sure you experienced the ups and downs of bringing home a newborn for the first time.  If you don't have kids, I'll explain ours.

It all starts on the drive home from the hospital.  Jon and I chatted excitedly via the rear-view mirror because I obviously sat in the back with Peanut.  We talked about how psyched we were to finally get home, take a warm shower in our own bathroom, use real shampoo, introduce Peanut to the puppies.  We were thrilled to spend time as a family without any nurses or doctors interrupting us.  We couldn't wait to relax on the couch together and set up many of our awesome gifts. 

Then we pulled in the driveway.  The panic started setting in.

You mean we would be home all alone with no doctors or nurses checking up on us?  What have we done?

We walked in and nervously introduced Peanut to our house.  Our friend brought back our dogs and we followed all the right steps to let them meet the new addition to the family.  Then we started the routine of changing, feeding, and burping the baby.

Our changing table didn't have the high bars like the hospital so we had to be more cautious.  Peanut didn't like how much colder our house was than the hospital, so she started wailing the second that her little bum was exposed to the cold.

She didn't like the feel of the wipes either.  We managed to change her and I marched her to the living room to attempt to feed her.  I say "attempt" again because the second that we left the hospital we forgot how to feed her.  Everything hurt.  Nothing was going right.  Peanut wailed out of hunger while I struggled to get her to latch on.

Then she threw up her entire meal in one big burp.  It was my turn to cry.

The evening didn't go much better.  Peanut fussed and cried most of the night, letting us snooze for 30 minutes at a time.  But there was no one in our hallway that could help us.  There wasn't anyone to give us guidance.  We were both in panic - our perfect sleeping angel wasn't sleeping.  What were we doing wrong?  Did she sense our fear?

By morning we were exhausted and defeated.  Nursing the baby wasn't going well at all and I was crying every time she latched on.  The baby seemed to hate everything in the new surroundings.  We were so lost.

Then a new day started.  I pulled ouy all the information from the hospital and books on nursing and reread it.  I tried every tip and hint they mentioned, reading it over and over again before nursing.  I called a lactation specialist at our Pediatrics practice and she walked me through some of my mistakes.  Peanut and I seemed like we were on a way to recovery.  Jon plugged in the wipe warmer and Peanut seemed to enjoy the warm wipes a lot better.  She even stayed awake for an hour or so and "played" with us.

That evening we decided that we weren't dressing her in enough layers for bedtime and put on an extra layer.  She slept beautifully.

We successfully survived the first couple of days at home and even figured out how to keep our first kid happy.  We were on our way to becoming parents.

Happy birthday Hubs!

Today is a very special day.

This guy

is 28 years old.

Well, old man, what can I say?

You're my best friend,

my partner in crime,

my true love.

I can't nor want to imagine a single day without you in my life.

You're an amazing husband

and a wonderful father.

We love you and wish you the happiest of birthdays!

PS- I think Peanut has a present for you in her diaper.

Bloggy Bake Sale is tomorrow

I'm knee deep in baby poop and spit up here.  But you don't want to hear that.  Instead here's an update on the Bake Sale tomorrow from Kari's Blog.


As many of you may know, tomorrow is the day of my blog bake sale to raise money for Kisses from Katie. If it's your first time here, please visit my Running for Katie page to read more about my goals for the year.

So far Kristen and I have raised over $500 with the help of generous family, friends, and readers. We're excited and encouraged by the outpouring of support from everyone. Our goal is to raise $5000 to help support our friends Vickie and Alan as they work to support children and families in the pediatric ICU.

The bake sale tomorrow includes over 30 tasty offerings from friends, family, and even quite a few awesometacular bloggers.

In case you needed some enticement to come back tomorrow. You can buy the perfect gift for Valentine's Day, a care package for someone far from home, a delicious treat for yourself, OR a birthday gift for me! You can even use whatever you win as  motivation for your next workout. Like, I better get on the treadmill today, because 2 doz. cookies are on their way to my belly! Or, you know, something not weird at all. 

The sale will be live from 8 am to 8pm, so stop by and do some bidding!!

Our 5 star accomodations at Yale hospital

Peanut was born at Yale Children's Hospital in New Haven.  After the whole delivery ordeal, we were transferred to the maternity floor to spend a couple of days recovering.

The first few hours were less than fun since there were way too many deliveries that day and we were placed in a double.  Can I tell you how awkward that is?  Imagine talking to the other person behind the curtain while people are going in and out of the room.  We were by the door which meant that her visitors walked right past us as I lay in my post-delivery gown, waiting for the IV to finish so I could shower and get dressed.  I also chose to breastfeed, so...yeah...the whole thing was awkward.

A couple of hours after we moved to the maternity ward, Jon's mom, brother, sister and my mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend visited us.  I felt bad for our roommate as everyone piled in to the room, held the baby, and chatted happily.

After a short visit, our guests left and Jon and I were on our own (along with about 3 nurses, doctors, and other staff).  I was finally able to get a shower in and we attempted our first feeding.  I say attempted because the whole nursing thing is a learning experience for both mom and baby.  We weren't very successful since Peanut wanted nothing to do with eating and preferred to sleep.  Not thinking too much of it, Jon and I agreed to take a break and try again later.  The nurse offered to finally wash the baby and we eagerly agreed.  Once in the nursery, they took Peanut's temperature and blood sugar levels which were not up to par.  The next thing I knew there were about 3 nurses, a lactation consultant and some other staff in the room, waking the baby up and trying their hardest to get her to nurse.  Hectic as it was, we were all successful and Peanut's blood sugar levels went back up.

At 3pm the nurse came in to let us know that a room freed up and we were moving to a single.  We took about 5 seconds to pack up and bolt out of the double.  The new room was amazing!  There was so much space and privacy.  Peanut was finally able to nurse without anyone forcing us and Jon and I enjoyed every moment together as a family.  Addison got a much-needed bath by the nurse and we settled in for our first night together.

I'll tell you what Jon and I expected with our first baby - we thought that babies cry non-stop.  We thought that we'd take turns being up with the baby, calming her.  But Addison nursed, got a diaper change, and fell asleep.  Jon and I sat over her, wondering if something was wrong.  Why was she so quiet?  It took me almost a full hour to fall asleep, knowing that our little baby was sleeping in her hospital crib next to us.  We all know I'm a paranoid freak to start with so falling asleep while Jon was asleep made me uncomfortable.  Who would be watching the baby?  Who was going to check that she's breathing every 3 seconds?  But I did fall asleep, waking up 2 hours later to an alarm.  Our first night was a success!

Day 2 was very different from day 1.  We got up and took turns showering and eating breakfast.  Jon's mom and sister visited in the morning after another successful nursing session.  Motrin and a couple hours of sleep apparently do wonders for new parents.  The afternoon was also full of visitors and we were glad to socialize with everyone.

The hospital staff came in and out of our room, showing us how to swaddle the baby, taking our vitals, making sure the baby's temperature stayed up.  Jon and I learned about postpartum and when to call the doctors.  We were like sponges, absorbing as much information about the baby as we could.

Our second night went even better than the first - Jon and I slept for a couple of hours between feedings and marveled at our little angel sleeping.  We woke up early, ready to take on the day since day 3 meant we get to go home!

Our morning was hectic as we were seen by every doctor in the hospital, along with a social agent, the pediatrician, and the nurses that had to prepare us to leave.  By 10 am everyone passed all the tests and we packed up all of our stuff.  By 11 am we were finally ready to face the real world on our own.

Little did we know, it's a lot harder to be on your own when there are no nurses or doctors to look over your shoulder and let you know if you're doing things right.

Next: our first couple of days home.

February Blog Feature: Katy's Neverending Story

Like many of my favorite blogs, I found Katy's blog from a couple of comments she left.  Katy's funny and entertaining to say the least.  But I'll let her speak for herself.

Who are you:  Katy, aka semi-new Newlywed, aka Southern transplant to NYC.  I've been married 8 months to Mr. A, who works in television production.  

Why did you start blogging:  Originally, I was in the process of trying to lose weight, so blogging became a great accountability tool.  Later, getting engaged, married and moving to a new state turned the blog into more of a daily account of our lives.  I really always thought only my mom was reading this, but it turns out blogging has made me some wonderful internet buddies!

Describe your perfect Valentines Day: Wow.  I guess I should be all "NYC cosmopolitan" and say that dinner at some swanky place followed by a night out at some hot new club would be great, but in reality, the thought of a quiet dinner at home really gets me excited!  I'm such a homebody!!!

And the guest post: 

My Valentine’s Day Dog (and why I need another one)

This will be the first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, and let me tell you, I have high expectations.  Mr. A is an excellent holiday celebrator.

Take for instance, our first V-Day together.  We had only been dating maybe a month so we were in that awkward “I don’t want to get you something really nice because we’ve only been dating a month, but I feel like I do need to do something special for you because even though we’ve only been dating for a month, I really like you a lot” phase.  I completely freaked out with my gift (I often do when faced with pressure of what to get people- I really am not a good gift giver, but that’s a story for another blog).  I got him some red pajama pants with hearts on them.  So cliché, but I couldn’t handle the pressure.

Mr. A, on the other hand, got me the perfect gift:

Yes, he got me a DOG!  A cute rescue dog who was quiet, easygoing…. And who ran away 3 weeks later in the middle of a huge thunderstorm.  We searched everywhere, put up fliers, but our first baby was never to be seen again.

Sad story, right?  Yes it was, and lamenting over my lost dog is definitely a story for another blog, but for now, I’m keeping with the Valentine’s theme.

A dog was a perfect gift for me.  Sweet and loving, without wasting $$ on flowers that will just die in a week, I loved Mr. Bak (that was the dog’s name).  And now, that’s why, I think (4 years later), ahem, hint hint, that this should be the year of another dog for Valentine’s.

It’s our first Valentine’s as newlyweds, so the significance of giving the same gift that he gave when we were dating is just sweetly sentimental to me.  Also, it will give me someone to love on when Mr. A endures his extra-long hours at work.  Finally, it’s a dog.  Seriously, what could be more perfect?!?!

Someone like this:

Or this:

Or maybe even a larger version, like this:

Oh wait, did I forget to mention that we live in a 4^th floor walkup- not exactly pet friendly.  Oh yeah, and didn’t our lease say something about no pets?

So maybe this isn’t exactly the same as that first Valentine’s.  But a stuffed dog is better than no dog at all, right?

Check out Katy's blog at Katy's Neverending Story.