The Journey of Parenthood…

Hospital Stay {Part 2}

At around 11 (right about when Mr. Rusty and the grandmothers came to visit!) I was finally ready to “start the day” and felt SO much better to be clean!!! We had Brittlynn stay in the room with us for the day and she continued to do well with nursing. My nipples got a little sore but nothing major and I did end up asking for some lansinoh cream to put on them after she fed to help with the soreness. She was taking an hour to get a full feeding each time and she was nursing every 2-3 hours so basically I’d nurse, get an hour or so break, then nurse again! I felt a TON of contractions while nursing her and I was thankful for them. I didn’t lose a single pound the first 8 weeks after I left the hospital when I had Kye. I’d always heard nursing helps drop the weight but it didn’t help me a bit! I also never felt those contractions while feeding Kye so I was hopeful that feeling them while nursing Britt meant it’d help me drop some pounds sooner 😉

Mommy’s girl

I kinda thought we’d have some visitors throughout the day but we actually didn’t have anyone again until after 5 that evening. It was a nice, quiet afternoon in our room and it gave us some sweet time with Brittlynn and a chance to rest.

Our girl

At some point that afternoon Zach fell asleep for a good nap. He needed it after having to sleep on that terrible fold out chair in the hospital room!

Brittlynn was sleeping just like her daddy

But me? I couldn’t sleep. Sure I NEEDED the sleep and was straight up exhausted but I was too scared to sleep. With Kye I NEVER had a single concern about SIDS or really any other health issues. After baby Tripp went to Heaven I knew my life would never be the same and I knew I’d never have that complete fearless attitude anymore when I had babies. I was right. I was SO scared that I’d fall asleep and she wouldn’t be there when I woke up. I ended up talking to the nurses about it from the nursery and they took her out when I needed to nap later on that day and the next day. I slept better knowing someone was able to look after her. Since I couldn’t sleep I spent my time while Britt and Daddy napped hunting for fabric for her nursery.

With Kye we decorated his nursery in a neutral but I wanted to wait to decorate Blitzen’s until he or she arrived. We had an awesome fabric picked out for a boy’s room but I hadn’t found “the one” for a girl and since we didn’t know if it’d be a girl or not I didn’t stress over it. Since Brittlynn arrived one of my first thoughts was that I needed to get going on the fabric deciding! I literally spent my afternoon looking at every single fabric Etsy had to offer 😉

Later that afternoon the visitors started to pour in! It was nice to have company and I was hoping lots of people would visit us at the hospital. I don’t like hospitals so it helped the stay go by quicker for me and I didn’t want a million people stopping by the house all the time once we got home since we planned on starting the Babywise basics right when we got home (not legit scheduling but working on full feedings and napping).

Auntie Courtney

Auntie Casey

Awkward Uncle Jordan 😉

I LOVE when people aren’t mega comfortable around babies…cracks me up…

They brought her a little monkey stuffed animal

Best Friends!

And soon-to-be brothers 😉

Elizabeth came by for a visit too and she was the first to get puked on 😉

When we decided that I’d be staying 48 hours in the hospital I really didn’t want Zach staying with me both nights. I know that’s surprising coming from me since I’m pretty much attached to my husbands hip but I wanted him to a) spend quality time with Kye and b) get a solid nights rest. Last time around we learned that Zach is the type that needs his sleep…probably more than I do and I thought if at least ONE of us was well rested before we brought Britt home it’d be a better situation for us all. At first Zach mega resisted b/c he didn’t like the idea of me being up there by myself. After the first night his back was killing him so he told me as long as I could find someone to stay with me that he’d go home. After I fainted, he went back to not wanting to leave but once Casey said she’d stay he felt better about it.

Our plan was for him to order a pizza then pick up Kye from Mom’s and enjoy guy time with him. So Zach stayed until 5:30ish and was able to visit with a lot of our guests. It also worked out great because I was never alone from the time he left until Casey arrived! I had a constant flow of friends 🙂

Matt and Robyn

Robyn ~ can’t wait for Brittlynn’s new friend to arrive in July!

Auntie Katie

Brandi was my last visitor of the day and she is SO sweet to help me with the nursery. She’s making curtains, a lamp shade, a bedskirt, a pillow, and a crib rail cover for Brittlynn’s room. She is great at design and has been an AWESOME help to me. I showed her the few fabrics I found that day and she loved one of them. I was at that point where I was just over it and decided that it’ll be perfect 🙂 SO excited to see the final results 🙂

Casey got there around 8ish and was able to spend some quality time with Brittlynn while we waited for us to be MOVED ROOMS. Yes, MOVED. Isn’t that crazy?!?! They had to wax the floors! Why would they put me in that room to start with then if they knew they’d have to move me the next night?!?! So dumb. And the room they moved us to had new chairs, that didn’t fold out flat so we had to drag in one of the other chairs for Casey to sleep on. So annoying.

While we were waiting Brittlynn was loving on Auntie Casey and got a case of the hiccups. It was precious. Here’s a video (sorry it’s kinda dark). I was SO appreciative of Casey staying with me that night. I slept about the same as the first night…but didn’t need help going to the bathroom so that was nice. I still woke up on cue for Brittlynn to eat. One of the times I called the nursery to see if she was ready I heard a baby crying in the background and I could tell it was her. This is HUGE for me. I never know Kye’s cry. Isn’t that funny? If I hear a kid crying I always ask “is that Kye?” But I recognized Britt’s cry right away and said “I think my girl is hungry huh?!” I think it’s so neat how in tune we were with each other and how well I knew her needs. I never understood when people said mothering came naturally but that must be what they meant 🙂 

Emily Parker
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1 Comment

  1. Amanda Jones
    December 24, 2011 / 3:33 am

    I love reading your updates! She's so beautiful 🙂

    Reply

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