Hospital Stay

I pushed for two hours before Maggie was born. It went very smooth, but I'm glad Kaleb was there to take it all in. I felt exhausted and in a bit of a daze. Kaleb was recording the first few minutes after she was born and I'm so grateful he did. I didn't want a video of the actual birth, but I love seeing her being weighed by the nurse and measured too. It really surreal at that point. You are so tired and you really can't believe what had just happened. Soon enough Maggie was on my chest and I was meeting her and looking her over. That is one life changing moment! The next 24hours were crazy. I had started labor at 10pm on April 29th and Maggie was born at 10am on April 30th. I had already been up over 24 hours because I had worked all day too. After she was born they wheeled me over to my recovery room (the room I would stay in for the duration). That is when the people train began. We had family and friends stopping by all day. Maggie pretty much slept, but the doctors and nurses and lactation consultants came and went. I did get a chance to take a shower (best feeling ever) and soon enough it was 8pm. I had now been up about 40 hours. What I did next will be different from what most moms do. I decided to send my husband home and the baby to the nursery for the entire night. Kaleb snores (loud) and if he was sleeping on the couch I wouldn't be able to nudge him quiet like I do at home. He was exhausted too, so I figured we would both sleep better if he went home. As far as the baby went, she went to the nursery around 10 and they brought her back at 5am. They asked if I wanted her to come in for the 1 am feeding or if they should feed her a bottle in the nursery. I had them feed her. The way I looked at it was, I'm exhausted and in the long run Maggie will be just fine if I get sleep and she gets a bottle. They also asked if I wanted to go home on May 1st or stay until the 2nd. I chose to stay another night and did the same thing in regards to sleeping/baby in nursery/husband at home...those were my last two great nights of sleep!