We're on night #2 at home with Molly and I can't even tell you how much better the second day/night has been than the first :)
Jason and I were total rookies the first night she was home. We couldn't seem to swaddle her, dress her, comfort her, feed her, or even figure out where to put her to sleep. Ha! Our grand plan of having her sleep in the Pack N Play in our room was abandoned in favor of having her sleep in her crib and alternating who sleeps on the couch in her room to be in charge of feedings and diaper changes and who gets a few hours of quality sleep in our bed alone.
After an incredibly long, rough first night, we managed to make it to our 9am pediatrician's appointment this morning with no problem. Go figure! And since then, we've actually established a little routine that seems to be working...we'll see how long this lasts :)
Jason has been a super dad so far. But what did I expect? He loves his little girl and happily took on most of the responsibility this past morning/early afternoon when I was trying to fight through a killer migraine. I've never had to deal with intense headaches before, and have discovered there is almost nothing worse. But my mom did a little research and it looks like headaches can be a side effect of an epidural or spinal tap and should go away in a few days. Let's hope so!
Everyone seems to want to know how the whole breastfeeding thing is going, so here's a summary. It hasn't been easy, but like everything else, it seems to be getting a little better. We were off to a rough start from the get-go with Molly in the NICU and on an IV. I wasn't really able to breastfeed her at first and just had to bond with the pump for 20 min every 3 hours. Once they started weaning her off the IV, I started attempting to nurse -- sometimes it would work out okay and other times not so much. So, we did have to start giving her formula to get her blood sugar up and get her off all the wires. When she went under the lights for jaundice, we had another set back because they only wanted us to take her out every other feeding. I was worried we were going to lose ground, but she still remembered what to do. But then we got home, and without the help of the NICU nurses and lactation specialists, I started to have trouble getting my angry girl to latch on. So, back to the pump I went! I know bottles are supposed to be a no-no in the first 2 weeks while you're trying to establish good breastfeeding habits, but with no sleep and a migraine, I just had to take a little break. Once I started feeling better late afternoon/early evening, I picked up with the breastfeeding again, and to my total surprise and complete joy, it's been going really well. I'm still pumping and giving her bottles after a feeding if she seems like she needs it. But we've made tremendous progress and I am feeling pretty darn good about how it's going!
Enough about that...you guys probably want pictures, not prose! Unfortunately, the cord to download pics from my camera to the laptop is in our bedroom where Jason is sound asleep, so I will have to wait to post an album of Molly photos. Until then, here's one I snapped with my phone:
Molly has to have her hands free -- we learned this the hard way
Hanging out on her new Winnie the Pooh quilt -- hand stitched by Great Grandma Janet
