Things

Things I'll always remember about Kate's delivery at the first days that followed . . .

I was SO hungry the ENTIRE time. I made joke after joke about wanting to have the baby JUST so that I could eat. I couldn't eat before I arrived, and by the time Kate had arrived . . . I was just famished. I'll never forget seeing the dinner tray come in with the tech who cleaned up Kate. I stared that thing down for a good 3 or 4 minutes before they finally brought it over to me and let me eat it. Hmmm . . . hospital food. Cardboard would have tasted good to me at that moment -- I didn't care.


I had an enema! Yes, it's true. While not necessary (I guess they used to do this will ALL women at one point in time), I sort-of requested it before we did the epidural. I've mentioned my 'poop problems' before . . . and I was just worried I'd become uncomfortable as the day wore on. Or . . . worse . . . I'd # 2 on the table as I pushed. The enema was NOT bad . . . it's nothing to fear, if ever you are faced with having one. I was scared, but it had to be done . . . and I don't regret it at all.

Snoozing between contractions and having Jim sit right beside me the entire time.

My right leg was numb from the epidural for hours and hours after delivery. It was like a sack of potatoes each time I swung it over the side of the bed in an attempt to get up and go to the bathroom . . . even once we got upstairs to our 'family care' room. I started to worry about it being so dumb, but it came back FINALLY at about midnight.

Kate was a CHAMPION nurser from the very FIRST attempt. She nursed for more than 30 minutes during that feed, and nearly each feed after was equally as fantastic. Meg was a good little eater . . . but I don't remember it being as easy with her when we were at the hospital. Some of it is me -- I know -- because I've done it before. But she's a vigorous sucker, and I can't take credit for that.

Meg's arrival at the hospital the day after Kate arrived was indescribable. It was a moment that I'll cherish always. To see her little face light up when she saw Kate was truly priceless. And she KNEW, without a doubt, who was in my arms and that she was the little sister she'd been hearing so much about.

The billi-lights . . . seeing her placed on them in the nursery, then wheeling her back to our room. Our little glow worm. I felt so helpless when she cried and we couldn't snatch her up into our arms. After the nurse left the room and we were staring at her 'blueness' -- she started to cry. I sang to her . . . the same song I always sang to Meg. A 'Backyardigan's' lullabye. And it worked.

All the cramping that came after the delivery. I wasn't prepared for that at all. Nobody warned me . . .yet when I mentioned it to those I know who've delivered two, they responded with, "Oh, yeah . . . that's true, there are way more cramps the second time." Thanks.

The visitors . . . in no particular order . . . my parents, Jim's parents, MEG, Jim's sister, Kathryn, Dan, Cliff, Erica, Gregg, Becky, Doug, Jackson, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Evelyn . . . and others.

The nurse we had the day of 'check out' -- Mashawa, a woman from the mid-west with a name that sounded like she was from mid-somewhere-on-another-continent. She was fabulous. Without her, we probably would not have been able to leave with Kate on the billi-bed. She got the pediatrician in our room as early as she could that morning so that tests could be run at appropriate times to allow for an evening departure. She arranged for the medical company to come to the hospital and deliver the bed . . . even though we were not 100% sure we'd need it. If she hadn't ordered the bed when she did, there would have been NO way we could have taken Kate home with us. I thanked her profusely . . . I know she was the one truly responsible for getting us home together as one happy family.

There are many more details of the experience, but those are a few that I never want to forget. So now they will live in enfamy in Blogville :)

Happy 4th, everyone . . . tomorrow I'll post about our fun-filled family day.