Even though I didn’t get much sleep that first night in the hospital, I still wanted to get up and get ready for the day. I remember with past babies that it was tough to get ready between visitors and I wanted to start the day off feeling fresh!
They told us that they would have to come and get Tess from us at 6:15 in order for her to be seen by our pediatrician that morning when he made his rounds. I remember very well how long they kept Carter from Casey and how it totally messed up his day so I wasn’t about to let them keep Tess too long! I told them that they could take her when she was done nursing and that I needed her back to eat again. Of course, she wasn’t back when we wanted her back. I called down there to them and they said our dr hadn’t been by yet and that they needed to keep her until he came by. Zach got pretty crunk about it and told me to tell them she’s my baby and I want her. He takes nursing seriously and she was late for her feeding! I told them I’d give them a few more minutes and when I got off the phone Zach said “that’s it. I’m going to get her.”
Luckily, the lactation consultant (who is new and I LOVE HER) happened to be in the nursery when I called and she and Zach crossed paths because she heard me on the phone and when I hung up with the nursery staff she brought Tess to me!!! While I was feeding her the pediatrician came into our room, I unlatched her, and he took like 5 seconds to do his exam then I could go right back to feeding her 😉 Worked out great!
When he did the exam he said she was perfect! I asked about her fluid and he said it all looked fine (I think it’d already cleared up a lot from the day prior). He did say she had a clogged tear duct (her eyes were very goopy and yellowish) and just to massage it throughout the day and it would clear itself up soon. He also said she did not have any tongue tied issues. We didn’t catch Britt’s tongue until after we got home and if Tess needed hers clipped I wanted to do it while at the hospital! Luckily, it wasn’t a problem!
Rachael text me that morning asking for a pic! I think this was the only time she was even fussy haha I told Rachael that she was saying she missed Auntie Rach 😉
Zach and I had a little time with Tess that morning and he enjoyed loving on her before the big kids arrived. I love this video he took of her hiccups 🙂 Our plan for the day was for Mrs. Charlotte to bring the older kids to the hospital around 9:30. Zach would take them home and Mrs. Charlotte would go do some baby shopping 😉 The kids had a lot of fun things to do while Mommy and Baby were in the hospital. We had talked about it a ton leading up to the birth and I knew they would be eager to get things going!
Kye and Britt were SO excited when they arrived! I really am so in love with the pictures from Tess’s birth. Zach’s face showed his love all over it and these that I took of Kye are very much the same. You can just SEE his adoration for his newest sister!!! So yes, I took a lot of them 😉
Britt loves her too!
Proud Big Sister
Haha Britt 😉
My three greatest blessings!
Timing worked out well for Mrs. Charlotte’s shopping trip. Whenever we have a new baby she has a tradition where she goes shopping while we’re in the hospital. Since we don’t find out the sex of the baby no one can buy us any clothes while I’m pregnant so G-Mama likes to spoil ’em with new clothes once they arrive! This was a tradition that she always did with my mom. I’m thankful Mrs. Charlotte didn’t forget about going and that Mr. Rusty even supported her spending the money on our Tess. It meant a lot to me and the timing worked out great because it was Tax Free weekend! Plus I had an awesome coupon I gave to her that was good for that weekend only. Maybe Tess was waiting to arrive so she could get those good deals on clothes 😉
Jordan came up to visit for a bit while Zach and the kids were still there. He’s such a great uncle to our babies!
Zach and the kids headed out to get started on all of their plans (that included going to buy Tess a present from each sibling, decorating her nursery with the bedding, making a welcome home sign for us, and having lots of fun with Daddy!). I was very tired but had no plans to nap that day. With Britt I had her sleep in her little crib at the hospital, but with Tess I just wanted to savior our quality time together. I knew once we got home that life would be crazy and that my attention would be very divided. I wanted to enjoy my one-on-one time with her as much as possible. Since Zach wasn’t there I could get away with holding her more haha. I loved on her a lot, took a lot of pics (post to come) and let any visitors that stopped by hold her too! She got some great spoiling!
Courtney came by for a bit!
A visit from Auntie Katie on her lunch break!
That afternoon Mrs. Charlotte came back from shopping and Casey was able to come visit for a little bit as well which was perfect timing to see all the clothes! G-Mama did AWESOME and got such cute things for Tess. Having a girl is SO FUN!!!
Once the kids were up from naps they headed back up to the hospital to visit some more. Zach didn’t like being away from me and Tess for too long which was super sweet. They brought their gifts for Tess and my push present with them. I had packed the gifts I put together for them with me and had them ready at the hospital for them too! I felt bad b/c ZACH was the ONLY person without a present!!! Oops!
Zach and the kids got me a beautiful ring and matching earrings! They are the August birth stone. I know Tess was born in July but the July birthstone is Ruby…which I’m not a big fan of and Zach didn’t really like it either. He went with the August one (a pretty green color) because she was due in August and he just knew I’d like that color better. Plus it’s his birth stone so that’s special to me too! I love, love, love the whole set!
Zach did not luck out with it being Tax Free weekend. He took the kids to Target and it was a MAD HOUSE! Britt picked out an adorable baby doll for Tess! I love it and it’s her first baby 🙂 Kye got her a squeaky elephant that I’m sure will get played with (and annoy me to death) often!
Oh Tess, get ready for a life of overstimulation haha
The kids never expected a present and were just so happy to give me my gifts and gift Tess hers. But I’m glad I put together a fun little bag for each of them and they were so pumped about it! You can see everything included in them here!
Had to put on my new jewelry 🙂
LOVE this man 🙂
Nursing went really well that whole day. At 11:45 that morning she started eating and then ALL she wanted to do was eat. She didn’t stop eating until close to 3:00! I just let her nurse as much as she wanted. Mr. Rusty, Katie, and Sarah (friend from church) all popped in for a visit while she was hardcore nursing. She’d take little breaks and be held and such but then she’d just want to eat some more. Since she went so long the day before without eating I just wanted to let her do her thing. Plus MY MILK CAME IN. I couldn’t believe it! She had white milk around her mouth and I could feel the let down and fullness. I was in shock that it came in that FAST! I had just birthed her 24 hours prior! I figured maybe that had something to do with her need to nurse for so long?
By the evening I was EXHAUSTED. Between the lack of sleep and the hardcore nursing session I was pretty out of it. Robyn came to spend the night with me and I showered and we got ready for bed pretty much as quickly as possible. I cannot thank Robyn enough for staying with me that night. It’s such a big sign of a TRUE friend. Not only did she offer to stay, but she legit wanted to. I am so, so thankful for her friendship! It was def a bonding experience and it’s a night I’ll always look back on with fond, happy memories 🙂
Changed my first diaper! And it was NASTY poop! What’s crazy is my milk came in AND her poop already started to transition to the yellow, seedy poop! All just in 24 hours! She pooped so, so much and had so many wet diapers that I had a hard time tracking them all.
Not happy about the diaper changing!
The first night when they offered to let Tess and I both sleep as long as 6 hours I was hardcore about refusing that offer and told them I HAD to have her at 3 hours max. That second night though I was so, so sleepy. Even that afternoon when the nurses and such came in they could tell how exhausted I was and one sweet nurse offered to take her to give me a little break. I think I maybe got a 30 min nap haha. I talked to Robyn, texted Casey, and talked to the nurses and decided to let Tess go a little longer that night, if she would. I needed my sleep and she had nursed SO MUCH that day! Of course she ended up not sleeping any longer than 3 hours from her last feeding haha. She did go one spurt where she went 4 hours between feedings so I was able to get close to 3 hours of solid sleep which was amazing! I still didn’t get much sleep that night but enjoyed those late night feedings and tried my best to let Robyn sleep!
I don’t typically take pictures nursing but now that it’s my third baby I just LOVE it in a way I didn’t fully appreciate with the others. Having that closeness and having her sweet little hands holding me is just the best thing in the world. I’m thankful to have a couple pictures of this experience as it’s something you do quickly forget and I always want to hold tight to these sweet moments!
We didn’t get much sleep but we had fun and Robyn got a lot of quality Tess time which is super hard to do when we both have kids running around all the time 😉 So thankful to not be alone that night and to have such wonderful company!
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Oh I adore those sweet black and white photos at the end of her nursing and then lying on your chest. Really, really special!
I wish I had more pictures from the hospital and from my son nursing as a newborn. I take more of him nursing now because I cherish that bond so much! I can't wait to take lots of my next as a newborn.
Love the pictures of Kye and Britt with little Tess. Makes me wish for a 3rd. Tess is really a beautiful baby.
Loving these pictures! The name of the birthstone is called Peridot. Pronounced Per-i-doe. It is a very beautiful color!
These are beautiful photos! I love nursing pics too. I have a ton. 🙂