Homecoming

It's safe to say that my family and I had a much better hospital experience this time around than the first time I gave birth.  Maybe it's because this was my second child, but the nurses were actually rather pleasant and just did an hourly round to check up on us - pretty much leaving us alone most of the time.  Also, I feel like I recovered better this second time.  I was able to walk around the room pretty much right away with just some pain on my bottom and a little trouble getting in and out of bed.  I also think it helped that we were a little more prepared to take care of a baby since we had been through this stage before.  Anyway you look at it, it was a rather good stay.  We also had lots of family and friends stop by to meet our little guy which helped pass the time.

The nurses kept a close watch on Owen's blood sugar the first 12 hours, primarily because he was such a big baby compared to his gestational age which was 41 weeks but he measured at 42 weeks.  Luckily he ate well enough so that wasn't a concern at all.  Then they had to monitor his biliruben levels to check for jaundice.  The doctor was initially concerned because Owen had a big bruise on the back of his head from the two hours in the birthing canal.  We were happy to learn that when his levels were checked on the morning we went home that it had gone down and was no longer a concern!

I think I only got at most eight hours of sleep total during the two nights in the hospital because the nurses kept bringing Owen back into my room to feed during the night.  John spent both Tuesday and Wednesday nights at home and came back to the hospital around 9 both mornings.  He obviously slept better in his own bed and then was able to grab breakfast at home too.  Oh, and as an added bonus, John really scored on lunch on Wednesday.  He went down to the cafeteria to purchase a meal and was surprised to find out that there was free food out for all staff members because of national nurses week.  Nobody questioned why he was there and he was able to bring two big plates of food up for lunch!

The second day, Thursday (when we were scheduled to come home), John brought Megan along to the hospital with him.  It was nice just to have a couple hours of family time at the hospital.  The two days prior Megan had been with grandparents and really only saw me laying in the hospital bed.  She really wanted nothing to do with me those last couple days but that Thursday was a lot different and she was actually happy to see Mommy!  Megan was able to keep occupied by Nick Jr., coloring book and crayons that my friends brought over for her, and my hospital water bottle.  She still didn't want much to do with Owen at the hospital but we weren't going to push it.

We were lucky enough to have our doctor stop by early in the morning and everything checked out with both Owen and me.  Our nurse asked if we'd like to be discharged in the morning and we did not hesitate to tell her "yes".  It was a gorgeous day outside and I was more than anxious to get home with our newest family member!

 

 

It wasn't too long after we had gotten home that Megan asked to hold her baby brother.  She still didn't want to touch Owen but sure giggled as she watched him move about as he lay on her lap.