Our hospital stay

Needless to say, we were in the hospital much longer than expected since I had a c-section. We checked in Saturday evening fully ready to be gone by Sunday, but after surgery I wasn't discharged until TUESDAY. Which meant having LESS sleep than I would have had at home, and the boys were left to fend for themselves the first part of the week. Poor Hayden, he just didn't understand why mommy and his new baby sister couldn't come home. Sunday was a blur of doctors, nurses, feeding, changing, sleeping, eating, visitors and the like. I remember being surprised that I wasn't in much pain. I think it was late Sunday evening before my incision finally started to hurt and I needed a pain pill.

By Monday, I was ready to go. My doctor came to visit; the attending doctor who delivered her came to visit; her pediatrician came to visit. Then there were the people who needed to record her information for the birth certificate, the nutritionist and for the love of God, the lactation consultants. Here's the thing. I breastfeed. I judge not people that bottle feed, but I choose to breast feed. I did it for six months with Hayden but am planning on going the full year with Lila. Is that enough for the lactation ladies? No. They want to hear all about her wet and soiled diapers, want to know how often and long I'm feeding, want to "score her latch" while she's feeding...here's an idea, how about "don't call us, we'll call you"? They drove me nuts. My favorite? Every time they checked her sheet and wrote down that she ate for 15 minutes an hour ago, they'd look over the list with pleasant smiles and nods. Then they'd get to the previous page and find out *GASP* what happened after she was born.

What happened is that her blood sugar was low. So low that they couldn't give her a bath because a drop in her temperature would cause it to go even lower. So while I was in recovery, they brought her to me to feed. She latched right on, but the poor kid was just too tired to eat. So they took her back and said we'd try again later. They called from the nursery and asked if they could give her a small amount of formula to try to get it back up. After six months of nursing Hayden, I'm not an expert. But I'm a lot more comfortable this time around, which means I'm not a purist. I'm not worried about "nipple confusion" or my c-section preventing us from "adequate bonding" or that the taste of formula will RUIN her for the milk I make. I let them give her a syringe of formula. I LET THEM FEED MY BABY FORMULA. Oh, the displeasure on their faces when they saw that! I feel like I could have told them I was a meth head and they would have been fine with it, as long as I was still planning to breastfeed exclusively.

 The great thing about Monday was that Emily was there to have baby Link, and I got to go see her! I was ready to be up and at 'em and dressed and walking on Monday, so I walked down to her L&D room. Which, as luck should have it, had been my L&D room! Emily was excited to see me alive, as they had just told her a c-section was a distinct possibility for her. Nothing like seeing another Salem sister to make you even MORE excited about the birth of your baby! All told, I believe four Salem babies were born that weekend.

I did rather enjoy the room service experience, and my nurses that went to every corner of the hospital to find my cranberry juice. I was an easy patient, never paging them (why would I? They were in every hour regardless!) and my only request was the cranberry juice I had become addicted to since I was allowed liquids again...so they obliged. They kept saying how easy I was and how they wanted to do more...all I wanted was sleep and my own house. And the juice.

On Tuesday I expected to be kicked out by "check out" time at 11. So I ordered my breakfast early, packed us up, did my hair, etc. Jay got there at 10. Car seat was ready to be inspected. Lila was dressed. The only problem? No one seemed interested in discharging me on time. We waited and waited, and finally someone showed up. Oh wait, she's the picture lady. It was well after 1pm before my discharge doc came in, asked two questions and left. Then we had to wait again, for them to write up my notes and discharge papers. A little after 2, we were in the car and headed home. Without any cranberry juice for the ride. But with a sweet new girl snuggled in her seat, ready to go to her new house!

Now what?

A weekend away

Thanks to our good friends the Bakers, Jay and I got to spend a weekend away in Paris! We spent the night at Ramstein and got to stay in the new KMCC, which has a new hotel with fancy rooms. No kids allowed, which is why we've never set foot in it up until this point. We enjoyed a little dinner at Mac Grill, a movie at 8:30 (wow!) and dessert in the room. Not a bad start to our vacation!

We got up early and headed to Paris. We've now decided there's never a good time to drive into or out of Paris, but we still had a good time. We got checked into our hotel, did a bit of exploring and enjoyed a lazy, leisurely afternoon walking around the city of love. We toured the Louvre and the Pantheon, and barely missed the catacombs; they stopped taking people in while we were in line.  I even had time for a bubble bath before we went to the Eiffel Tower! These are things a working mom only dreams of. We had 9pm reservations for the tower, so we took an evening stroll to see it, all lit up and pretty. We made our way to the third level, despite my recent fear of all things cable car, and were nearly ONE THOUSAND feet above solid ground at the top. Insane! It was pretty amazing to see the city all lit up at night, and to be doing it without the fear of my toddler tumbling over the side. There are just some things kids are not meant for; mainly, moms with overactive imagination.

On Sunday we set out to visit the beaches of Normandy, which did not end as we expected. We got very close, but after a day of train travel, we arrived an hour after the buses stopped running. Any other means of transportation would have made us miss the last train back to Paris, so we turned around and went right back. Another reminder that in travel, it's not the destination but the adventure you have along the way and who you have it with! We made it to the Hard Rock and after a midnight stroll down the Champs Elysees, managed to catch the very last subway and bus back to our hotel. A little luck was nice after our long day.

Meanwhile, Hayden had a blast with the Baker girls! Despite an impending ear infection, he had a blast traveling and even went to a football game! The girls spoil him with love and attention, and I'm certain he didn't miss us at all! After we picked him up he fell asleep instantly in the car and slept the whole way home. I think this may officially end our travels in Europe, as we're about to leave! We pack our household goods and ship our car soon, and we'll be back in the states for good just in time for Thanksgiving! We have had an amazing four years here, but we're ready to get back to the good ol' USA!

We're back!

Hello to our faithful readers! We got back from our whirlwind trip to the states on Tuesday, and have spent the past three days recovering from jet lag. Yesterday we went to Jay's graduation from WLC (Warrior Leaders Course) and I think we are finally getting back to our normal schedule. This weekend I promise to update you all on the fabulous time we had in the states, but for now I have to get our house back in order! Jay is home for the weekend but leaves again on Tuesday for three weeks in the field. It was SO great to see so many of you while we were in the states, Hayden enjoyed meeting all of his family and friends!

Here's one picture to hold you over, taken by my friend Liz during Reunion Weekend at Salem College.

A baby story: Part III (going home!)

Tuesday morning came early, since Hayden doesn't really sleep much at night. Neither do I, and I want to look at him when he sleeps, so tired was the name of the game. I was so anxious to get home, it seemed like the day was dragging. When they came in at 6, luckily I didn't have to get out of bed since we'd be leaving that day. They told me the pediatrician would be there at 8:30 to see Hayden, so I waited until a decent hour (7am) to call Jay and tell him when to be there. He had been up most of the night himself, doing his own "nesting" by doing dishes and vacuuming so the house would be ready for us.

I got us dressed and ready, leafed through my book a little while time draggggged on. Seriously, slowest morning of my life. Dr. Stadlbauer stopped by to give us some going-home rules (I did NOT know I still can't take a bath, what a bummer) and said he'd see us in 6 weeks for my postpartum appointment. The nurse finally came to get Hayden to see the pediatrician a little after 9, and Jay had just called to say he was on the way. I wheeled Hayden down the hall and met the pediatrician. He had to do an ultrasound to check both of his hips, and I know how cold that gel is, so it was no surprise that Hayden howled and howled. I have a feeling I will NOT be any good at consoling him when he gets shots, as I will need Valium to just get through it. What a terrible sound, to hear your baby wail like that. He checked his circumcision, looked him over and we were all done.

We got back to the room and Jay was waiting for us. We packed up, and headed upstairs to "check out". For a decent sized hospital, I was surprised that there was only one person working to sign people out. We waited about 15 minutes, then I went in to finish up the paperwork and head on out. We took our little man to the car, strapped him into the carseat, and were on our way. I sat in the back to watch him, while Jay drove at an unusually slow speed for him. Babies make you more careful drivers, that's for sure. We got home, laid Hayden in his playpen (it has a little bassinet attachment that is AWESOME) and sat on the couch, just taking it all in. I have never been so happy to be home (though my run-ins with Space A travel come a close second), and was so grateful for my little family. All that was left was Oscar, but we decided to give ourselves a day to get used to Hayden at home before adding him to the picture. Besides, he never minds an extra day at the farm!