Day Four of Life

Day two (Thursday) we spent in the hospital, making some phone calls; being checked upon by nurses, a midwife, and a pediatrician; and seeing friends who stopped by. I was feeling pretty good, all things considered, and I was able to spend some time in the glider chair and walking around the room. It was such a pleasure to be detached from the catheter, toe oximeter, and IV! Benjamin was doing well too. He’s a little guy, and we’ve had some trouble keeping him awake to eat. We slept pretty well that night, though!

Day three (Friday), we were hoping to go home. Dave was out driving Phoebe from the Brinkmans’ house to daycare, so I told the nurse our plans, who thought they sounded fine. Our pediatrician gave us the okay for Benjamin, and a midwife cleared me to go, too. However, as the day progressed, we had more and more trouble keeping Ben awake and nursing. We had some good help from a lactation counselor, but he remained lethargic. In the end, the nurses decided we should stay in the hospital through Saturday. We were pretty bummed to be stuck there, but of course we were mostly worried about getting Ben to eat. Our pediatrician recommended supplemental pumping, so I started pumping milk so that he could take a bottle of milk after nursing. He did a little better Friday night, and we were extremely ready to go home on Saturday.

Saturday morning was stressful because Ben was really, really sleepy and we needed to get some help and advice. Once we’d talked to the nurses and the pediatrician again, we had a battle plan and felt better. By noon, we were all ready to leave and set up camp at home! Phoebe did really well. She was a little bit anxious when we arrived, but by the time she went to bed, she was interested enough to touch her baby brother’s hair.

Today was nice. My parents took Phoebe to church, so Dave and I spent some time with Ben. He’s eating much better, both nursing and from the bottle. Grandpa and Daddy took Phoebe to the children’s museum while Grandma and I entertained the baby. Phoebe’s been really enjoying playing with the baby seat and car seat; her lion has been buckled in and out several times today! I even took a nap this afternoon while Grandma and Grandpa spent a heroic couple of hours playing with Phoebe in her room.

Tomorrow Ben will have his first follow-up doctor’s appointment. Stay tuned!