This is the first entry in my “First Time Mummy” blog and a continuation of the delivery and birth chapter from my pregnancy blog. Milestone: Birth Milestone: Breastfeeding Milestone: First bath Lesson Learned: Breastfeeding in bed Lesson Learned: Check the obvious! Monday 1st OctoberOfficially the happiest yet the most exhausting day of my life! 5.18pmMilestone: Birth If you remember, the day started with first contractions at 3.00am and Ronnie was born at 5:18pm, weighing 8lb 11oz (3.95kg), 51 cm in length and had a head circumference of 36.5cm. All this is a very mathematical way of saying that he was a little adorable cutie! Well, not so little really - they all kept telling us that he was going to be a small baby and at 8.11 he is well and truly above UK average! I was in so much love and kept repeatedly telling every nurse that popped in to check on us that “it was all worth it!”. It was such a cliché thing to say, but so true as well! 7.00pmMilestone: Breastfeeding Ron was a real champion at figuring out the breastfeeding game straight away - I keep joking that this baby had read all the memos and brochures before he arrived! The surgeon finished suturing me up, I had a shower and the nurses had cleaned up the ward. Then there was just James, me and the baby in the ward and Ronnie had a lovely firm cwtch with his Daddy. Neither of us realised it at the time but as they were wheeling in that special delivery bed (with the leg supports) into the ward, they also wheeled out James’s bed out to make more room. Thing is, now James had no bed so he had to go and pinch the only other bed in the ward! Luckily, it was all ready and prepared in the corner by the bathroom. It was one of the perks of having the largest ward all to ourselves! The baby fell asleep in his little glass basket and James and I prepared a lovely cold buffet meal for that evening. He bought all the things I was not allowed to have for the last 10 months: a variety of cold meats, smoked trout, goat’s and Stilton cheeses on crackers. It was divine! It was a lovely end to a tiring day and a great start to a brand new chapter in our lives. 8.00pmWe cuddled up on the bed and watched an episode of an Australian soap opera “Neighbours” whilst we munched through our treats, as was our well-established family tradition. It was somewhat bizarre and yet so comforting to do something so. . . . normal and ordinary! (At some point a nurse came in and took the last little pieces of equipment away (I think it was a baby resuscitation station)). At the end of our meal there was a lot of food left so we saved some for tomorrow night. We then stared at Ronnie’s little adorable face for the whole eternity. Watching him, admiring him, telling each other just how gorgeous and perfect our little boy was. We couldn’t believe that we were finally on the other side of the waiting and hoping stage. We were relieved. We were dazed. But most of all, we were both so very tired. 9.00pmAs we were preparing to call it a day, Ronnie woke up and wanted feeding which was making me ever so happy. He nursed for about 15 minutes and then he was done, but he really didn’t want to go back to his little cot - every time I tucked him in he would stir, then make little noises and finally start to cry. He wanted to be close, cuddled and loved. James waited for months to cuddle his little baby, so he was more than happy to swaddle Ronnie up and walk around the hospital for a little while, showing him off to anyone he saw! Whilst they were out meandering the halls I had some rest (not sleep, just rest - I was too excited to sleep) and when he came back we tried sleeping again, but as soon as the lights turned off, Ronnie would stir up again. Due to having stitches earlier, I found it painful to sit down or lay down comfortably so getting in and out of bed was a struggle. James was such a trooper, he would get up, pick the baby up again and walk around with him for a little while, trying to calm and reassure him. We tried sleeping with lights on and with lights off and with some dim lights on but the baby would only settle for a little while before crying again. 10.30pmMilestone: First bath A midwife came in and said that the baby may not settle if he was a little windy after a feed. She then showed us a couple of ways to relieve the wind, mostly by rubbing and gently tapping his little back. I remembered seeing a vlog (I will link it once I find it again) saying that dads are usually great at winding the babies as they are firm and “do not smell milky and yummy”. This memory made me laugh but it was also when I realised that there is going to be so much for us both to learn! Winding didn’t help Ronnie settle down so the midwife came back and suggested that he may enjoy having a warm bath. She took the baby and showed both me and James the best way to bathe him - starting with the face, then head and hands and finally having his little body submerged in warm water. Ron loved the bath experience and the midwife told us it was because it reminded him of being inside the womb - warm and wet. He was clean, dried, dressed in no time and we tried sleeping again. 12.00amSomething was still a miss and the baby kept asking for love and reassurance. James and I were taking turns to walking him around the hospital, but every time we tried to sleep, he wouldn’t settle. I kept thinking that it was a big change for the baby and he must still be adjusting to the outside temperature, lights and sounds, but despite me trying my best to remain calm, I was becoming exhausted and irritated. 1.30amLesson Learned: Breastfeeding in bed At one point that night, I picked him up for a feed, got back into the raised up hospital bed, now contorted into an upright seated position and he latched onto the right side straight away. I was holding the baby close but at one point I must have dozed off as the next thing I knew there was a sharp pulling pain on my nipple. I jumped up startled, realising that I had actually fallen asleep with the baby in my arms, who was still feeding. I instantly realised how dangerous this situation was and felt so grateful that I didn’t actually let go of the baby. This left me feeling scared, disappointed and, most of all, angry with myself - first couple of hours as a mother and I was already making stupid stupid mistakes! 2.00amWe kept trying to doze off and kept turning the light off and settling in but the baby still wouldn’t settle for a sleep. Ronnie was alert, awake, upset and very vocal about it. I turned the light back on and asked if James was going to go for another little wonder with the baby, but there was no response from my husband. He was laying there on top of the hospital bed with his clothes and shoes on, his back facing me. “James?” - no response. I then realised that he was fast asleep and I couldn’t help but smile, remembering just how hard he had worked the previous day, running around like a whirlwind, predicting my needs, responding to my requests, helping out the midwives, all the while no doubt feeling anxious and tense. Sure, I was the one in labour, but I was actually mostly in a world of my own - it was James who was actually “working”! I decided to let him sleep and took the baby for a walk around the hospital. 3.00amI was walking around, cuddling the baby who was calm and sleepy (as he always had been until he was placed into the cot!). I was so much in love with Ronnie, which made me realise that at this point in the night I must be running on some magical “Mummy hormones”. I had 3 hours of sleep 24 hours ago, 15 of which I spent in labour and childbirth! This must be what parenthood was like. This must be what people had been warning us about when they all said “sleep whilst you can!”. . . 4.00amLesson Learned: Check the obvious! As I was returning to the ward after my little wonder around with the baby, I decided to investigate his nappy. Truthfully, I was prompted by the fact that the baby changing / washing station was next door to our ward so it was more of a "what else can this new baby do?" and less of a "I know exactly what my baby needs" kind of a thought. . . Sure enough, his nappy was just ever so slightly dirty and that made me feel ever so silly again! It's such a simple thing that I should have checked straight away! It's a sort of thing that's pretty high on a "baby checklist", isn't it? So obvious!
Well, I washed and changed him and decided to try to tuck him into the cot again, for the millionth time - just to see if I could get a wink of sleep! . . . I woke up at 9.00am the following morning!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
My Stories
All
Archives |