In the hustle and bustle of getting things cleaned up, the nurses let my mom pop in to see her new grandbaby (my dad had been with her but had to leave for a minute so he didn't see Sawyer right away). She loved on him for a bit and then it was time for him to try nursing (right when my dad got back..awesome). Trying to wrangle that business and keep it covered was not the easiest task so my parents decided to leave and come back later that night.
After nursing for a while, Nurse Cynthia was back with me and took Sawyer to clean him up more thoroughly, give him some shots, and all of that aftermath. He was completely content, as long as he was in the warm baby bed. Even while he got his shots he didn't make a peep but as soon as she took him to scrub him down he was not pleased.
After waiting for my legs to be a little more functional Nurse Cynthia decided it was time to get me cleaned up as well. We handed the baby to Dillon and the nurse told me we had to take getting up sloooowww so that I didn't get dizzy. So I sat on the edge of the bed for a minute. Good. I stood up and paused for bit. Good. Walked over to the bathroom with Nurse Cynthia. Good. Sat down. Not good. As I sat, I told the nurse that I was seeing stars. I leaned my head against the wall trying to get the spinning to stop. She had me lean over and put my head between my legs. "Better?" she said. "Um...no. Now I can't see at all." She hit the help button and my favorite nurses Carolyn and Phyllis rushed back in. This is where things get a bit foggy for minute. I remember Carolyn saying to come down towards her...then nothing...then her hair was in my face and I couldn't figure out why. I slowly processed that she was basically holding me up as I sat in my awkward stinkbug-like position.
Slowly they all lowered me to the floor. I laid there with a pillow under my head as they changed my gown and cleaned me up on the floor. Yup. Naked and dizzy on a hospital floor. The dignity of delivery and post-delivery. All modesty goes out the door and frankly, I didn't care. They were actually quite slick at sliding one gown under the other as they switched them out.
They asked me whether I had had anything to eat since delivery. Uh....no. So they pumped me with some apple juice as I laid on the floor. I turned my head to look at Dillon and give him a weak grin. Poor guy was sitting in a chair, holding the baby and looking lost as to what to do.
The nurses got me up and into a wheelchair and wheeled me into a recovery room. They helped me into bed and brought Dillon and the baby in. It was decided I would try that whole standing up, walking, and bathroom routine later after I had eaten.
Dillon flicked the T.V. on and we found Jurassic Park, of all things, to watch. The channel was having a marathon of all three movies. We never felt like changing it and so, ended up watching each movie at least two times before we left the next day.
We ordered dinner from the hospital cafeteria and about the time it was done, my parents came back with dinner in hand for Dillon. So Dillon and I split it and had a double dinner. Neither of us were sad about it. We were both starving.
My dad finally got to hold Sawyer and was the first one to receive his tiny little baby smile.
They took off and it was just the three of us for a minute but then nurses switched shifts so Nurse Cynthia came in with Nurse Cathy to fill her in on all of the events of the day. Nurse Cathy and I figured out that I had taught her daughter in my class the year before and so talked about that for a little while. Then it was time for standing up and a bathroom trip again but I only made it as far as standing up this time and had to lay back down. Nurse Cathy suggested I drink water like crazy to hydrate to help with my dizziness. She then let me know that when she came back if I still couldn't make it to the bathroom on my own, it would be time for a catheter. (For the love! No, no, no, no, no.) Thankfully, the next time we tried I was able to maneuver successfully. Stiffly. Awkwardly. Painfully. But successfully.
Nurse Cathy was my nurse all through the night. She taught Dillon how to change a diaper (Which was about the cutest fumbling you've ever seen. Don't worry, he's a pro now. Probably due to the fact that he changed every single diaper while we were at the hospital. I didn't get up and down a whole lot). She was so sweet- a couple of times through the night, I heard her open the door but seeing that all three of us were peacefully resting she left and let us sleep for another hour or so instead of insisting it was time to do this or that. She also never kneaded my stomach like bread dough to "help" things go back to normal so she gets a thousand bonus points.
When morning came, things got busy. We saw Dr. Gatherum, Dr. Nielsen the pediatrician, a nurse who talked to us about Sawyer's hearing test, social security stuff, insurance stuff- all of the loose ends, the phlebotomist again, pretty much everyone. Our night had been so peaceful that the morning overwhelmed me and actually made me want to go home with my baby just so we could take a break again.
Two of Dillon's sisters and his mom drove over from Delta and made it to the hospital just as it was time for us to check out. I'm glad they were there. It was helpful to have extra hands for everything we needed to carry out and get done.
We got Sawyer dressed in his going home outfit. Which was way too big and that kind of made it even more adorable. Then we loaded him into the car seat which he thought was rather rude. They wheeled me and the baby out and helped us get situated in the car and that was that.
We were on our own as new parents. Things got really real. We drove home- on our way to a terrifyingly exciting, lifetime adventure.
Modesty out the door is right. Labor and delivery humbles you pretty well, haha. I'm so glad you're feeling better and you have such a sweet healthy boy!
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