Hospital night nurses are way too perky and I have never felt more tired in my life. However, my baby daughter needed to be fed every three hours, regardless of what time of day it was. (Drawn by Althea Peterson)
I have never had more drugs and less sleep in my life, but to ensure that you receive the correct baby, they require you to read off a code on a wristband each time she is returned to your room. Fortunately, my husband also had a wristband with a code. (Drawn by Althea Peterson)
I knew that the day was coming, I just didn't realize how fast it would arrive.
The weekend before, my husband and I did a parent class that included a hospital maternity area tour. I booked a room for my due date. I put a down payment on an epidural that expected to be fully refunded when I didn't need it.
Expect the unexpected.
Kick, kick, kick
My husband and I had just finished an invite-your-neighbors-over backyard grill, watched a "First Four" NCAA tournament basketball game and now, a bit of video gaming.
I mused that our baby was especially active that night, thinking nothing of it. After all, she wasn't due for another 10 days, and first babies are usually late arrivals, right?
Long story short, I was trying to survive contractions from being 7 cm dialated later that night. The next morning, I had given birth by Cesarean section (read that entry
here).
The only things we had brought to the hospital were the clothes on our backs and cell phones without chargers. Whoops.
Our three-night stay with no sleep
Thanks to the c-section, I was unable to move from the waist down until about 12 hours after delivery. They removed the catheter (without going into details, it removes body fluids when you cannot do it yourself), this leg massaging device (that keeps blood flowing to your legs when you're not moving them) and expected me to somehow make it to the restroom that was at least 10 feet away from my bed.
I can barely move, and they want me to walk?!
The sleepless night phase had also begun, as a mother only produces colostrum (basically, that's the breast milk before the breast milk, which helps protect infants from diseases) for a few days. Every three hours, no matter what, they are reminding us to feed our daughter.
"No matter what" includes visits by the nurse to check temperature, blood pressure and pill distribution, which happens at all hours of the day. It also includes "but I can barely move," and "that baby likes to bite me." Baby might be tiny, but she's losing weight rapidly and needs to be fed, either by breastfeeding or by the formula provided by the hospital.
In retrospect, I still have no idea how I didn't give up and use formula (read the breastfeeding entry
here).
Epilogue
Just a few weeks ago, I received what hopefully will be the final bill from the hospital, nearly five months after delivery.
I still have a scar and pain from the c-section. I am just starting to get full nights of sleep again.
However, the hospital stay provided our family with a good start to our daughter's life:
Getting used to a regular baby feeding scheduleLearning how to breastfeed, swaddle and answers to all baby-related questionsHaving a professional support system for the very difficult transition to parenthood.That said, please learn from my mistakes:
1- Have an overnight bag packed weeks in advance. Cell phones (and chargers) are a must so that you can contact family and take photos. Comfy footwear is also necessary for walking around in the hospital. Pillows, toiletries and clothes for mother and significant other are also a good idea.
2- Take a hospital tour and parent class well in advance. We took ours only three days before the contractions started. Take yours at least a month before your due date.
3- Get as much sleep as you can during pregnancy. It is going to be months before you ever get a full night's sleep after the baby arrives.
4- Book a hospital room and, if necessary, sign up and make a down payment for an epidural. You may be able to have your spouse or a family member sign off for an epidural on the day of delivery (they lost our paperwork and allowed my husband to do this during my contractions). Talk to the hospital and your OBGYN office about both, even if you plan to attempt a natural birth.
5- Plan to stay for awhile. With a c-section, we needed to stay several nights as my mobility slowly returned. If you have an easier delivery, you will still probably have to stay at least one night.
-- Althea Peterson
PS: Please leave a comment! And then, please join me again next week Monday as I attempt to lose my pregnancy weight and encourage a healthy lifestyle for my infant daughter.
Trimesterly tribute: Before the hospital stay came the hospital tour, and before that, our parent class showed us video of what labor looked like. It went something like this: "Here is a natural birth." (Mom screaming, mom in pain, mom doing everything to minimize pain and it's not working) "Here is what an epidural birth looks like." (Mom's pain gone immediately after the medicine takes effect). Even after seeing that, I was convinced that the pain wasn't that severe and that I could do a natural birth. Wrong.
Mommy moment: My editor emailed me, asking me to put
a story on a Bumbo recall up on the site. I'm like "Oh, OK. I have no idea what a 'Bumbo' is." When I look at the story, my eyes immediately zoom in on "infant skull fractures." I immediately find out what "Bumbo" is, and realize that I've seen that seat at my baby's daycare. I immediately call them, asking for my baby (and hopefully others) to not use "Bumbo" till the recall repair kit arrives.
Baby bit: While my daughter is probably jealous that she cannot speak like us adults, she can definitely make noises that adults like me cannot. For example, she did an imitation of a sandhill crane this week. Check out
this youtube video if you have no idea what that sounds like. Pretty impressive!
Althea's previous entries:
Aug. 13: Returning to work after maternity leaveAug. 6: Life as a single, working mother with a babyJuly 30: Dealing with a baby's first sick timeJuly 23: Delivering a baby by Cesarean sectionJuly 16: Introducing a new baby to your pet cat and dogsJuly 9: Breastfeeding a baby is a challenging decisionJuly 2: Baby airport travel requires patience and timeJune 28: Baby means there's never an awkward silence
Althea Peterson is the proud mother of a five-month old girl. Althea returned to work at the Tulsa World in May after two months of maternity leave. Baby advice, baby questions or baby words of encouragement can be sent to althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com. Also, follow Althea and other parents on Twitter at twitter.com/twbecauseisaid.
