Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Home Sweet Home

In case you haven't already, check out our Early Labor, Labor & Delivery, and Hospital Stay stories.

Grace and I were discharged from the hospital around noon on Tuesday, April 5th.
Grace was SO tiny in her newborn sized going home outfit and looked even tinier in her infant carrier seat!

Ian made several trips out to the car to get everything packed away then made one final trip to get Grace and I.
Before going home, we stopped by a mall to get groceries and lunch. Ian carried Grace in and sat her on a table where I sat with her while Ian did the grocery and lunch run. In hindsight, we should have just stayed in the car. The walk into the mall just about did me in! I had cold sweats and the shakes and began having some terrible pain all before Ian made it back to us. I was in tears and told him I just wanted to get home, so he made a quick Subway/McDonald's run and then we skidaddled back to the car.

We were able to cross the border without any hiccups, praise the Lord! Considering Grace didn't even have her real birth certificate, let alone a passport, the border guards really could care less.

We pulled up to our building and I let out a giant sigh of contentment. Home, at last!

We had a bunch of visitors come over that evening, and I won't lie, it was a bit overwhelming. Our apartment is pretty tiny and there were kids and adults stuffed into 10x12 family room and at one point, one of the children told me he was sick that week and I had a melt down.

I took Grace into her nursery, fed her, and stayed in until I was 1) all calm and 2) everyone was gone. ha! Our friends are awesome, it was just alot to take in at once.

Since then, I've done alot better with saying "No, Thank you," to visits and protecting Grace's health first and foremost.

I'm not really sure what the next several days contained. Lots of laying around on the couch, nursing, burping (the baby, not myself), watching Gilmore Girls, and blog reading.

Grace fell into a pretty natural routine around hour 48 of being home, where she feeds every 3 hours on the dot, even during the night. We're thankful for this routine as it helps us plan out our day, but we're still pretty flexible. For example, yesterday she slept right through her 4 am feeding (and, honestly, so did I-otherwise I would have woken her up,) and when she woke up at 6, she was famished, so I fed her, then refed her at 7 (she was still hungry!)

Her coloring has changed alot from this picture. She was so dark and red when we first brought her home, but she's much paler now. Her eyes are still indistinguishable in color but her hair is still there (when or will it fall out?)
During the night, I get up at the feeding times, feed her, rewrap her, and put her down, while Ian gets up with any fussiness in between feeding times. He's gotten 3 or 4 nights straight of 6-7 hours of straight sleep since she isn't waking up for anything between feedings. Yay! Can't wait until we feel like she is big enough/strong enough to make it a little longer between night feedings. We're just taking it one day at a time right now though.
I've lived in my pajamas now for over a week and I'm really okay with that! Grace and I had our first day alone yesterday, as Ian started back to school. It was a perfect day, with Grace eating and falling back to sleep for the rest of the 3 hour shift until I rewoke her. I watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun and 13 Going on 30 until Ian came home.

Today, our 2nd day, was really NOT good. She fussed all morning and couldn't get comfortable due to some gas. Poor girl. We're praying for a good nights sleep and a good day by ourselves tomorrow. Who knows.

7 comments:

Ria @ Life as a Wife! said...

What a sweetie pie!! :) I love this post.... the reality of real life with your darling girl. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hearing the updates. You are a great Mama!

Lyndsey said...

Liam has had some fussiness due to gas (I think?) and it's rough when the just can't be soothed!

Rachel and John said...

Aw what a cutie. I'm glad things are going so well!! I hope they continue to!

Jessica said...

I've really enjoyed reading all your posts about the hospital stay and the baby and everything! She is sooo adorable :-)

cait said...

She's such a sweetie! I'm glad your transition has been pretty smooth so far! Enjoy every minute. :)

Emily said...

She is so beautiful!

Kaylyn said...

I know this sounds crazy, considering you have no sleep right now, but this post makes me want another one. I already miss those very new infant days! Enjoy them!!! (Oh, and great movie choices!)