day 1 - the recovery

I guess I thought I would wake the next morning a refreshed, happy mother. I was right about the happy part, nothing else I was prepared for. I never really heard anything about the time AFTER the delivery. It seemed all the literature and preparation took you to the point of delivery and then picked up with baby care. I had no idea what to expect from our hospital stay.


To my surprise, once we arrived at our mom and baby room (around midnight on your birthday), it was not all rest and relaxation. Don't get me wrong, we had the nice bonding moments, but that was just a percentage of the time we spent there.

I was expected to go to the bathroom within hours of the delivery. I cannot even begin to explain how hard this was after delivering a baby. Nothing seemed to work "down there" anymore. I thought I had to go, but couldn't. It was hard enough just sitting down. Of course, the nurse was standing right there, which didn't bother me, but might other moms. I guess the delivery itself wasn't enough exposure.

Well, I was also hungry! Twenty-eight hours without eating is a long time for someone who was pregnant for 24 of those hours. Prospective mommies be ready to fast during the delivery... The cafeteria was closed at this point, but the cheese and mayo sandwich did me just fine. Your father had already eaten the meal that was delivered for me before we pushed you out.

Expecting to sleep at some point, the night was filled with feedings (where you mostly fell asleep) and regular baby and mom checkups. Breakfast came around seven AM, which was fine since my hunger rivaled my sleepiness. I picked the bacon off my vegetarian meal and had some nice warm nourishment.

I chatted with your grandparents later in the morning. The first and foremost topic: how tired THEY were. I can imagine...

The rest of the day was much the same, dosing off, checkups, feedings, cuddling. You had your Hepatitis-D vaccine and slept most of the day away. This parenting thing seemed easy enough, if I could just catch up on my lost sleep. My biggest concern at this point was whether your sleepy head was going to get enough to eat.