The Birth Story... Part 3

I don't remember much about recovery. I remember everyone coming back in groups of 2 or 3 to meet Gracie. I also remember when Nick was feeding her for the first time because Gracie turned gray! Turns out, she had some mucous and the formula was choking her. As soon as the nurse saw it, she hit Gracie on the back a few times and she spit it all up and returned to pink. I would have probably have been more scared if I wasn't so doped up! :-) When Mom first came back, I asked her who Gracie looked like. Mom answered, "me" just to make me smile! I think I answered, "of course." LOL. I'm not sure how long I was in recovery but they eventually put Gracie back in my arms and rolled me down the hallway to the elevator. I remember seeing Dad out of the corner of my eye as we rolled past some people, but I'm not sure who all was sitting there! Like I said, I was out of it! We took the elevator down to the post-partum floor and I got into my room. I have no concept of time but I remember everyone passing Gracie around and taking lots of pictures! I'm so glad everyone was there because everyone was loving on her. Todd, Sarah, Aeden and Jordan came by late (they had taken Aeden to his first Red's game that night to see Griffey play... just in time because he was traded a few days later!) Aeden was so cute... he was amazed that Gracie had finally come out! :-) Sarah has a video of him singing "You are my sunshine" and "Jesus Loves Me" to Gracie.... soooo sweet!

I have no idea what time everyone left. My next memory is the nurses coming in at 3:30am to help Nick feed/change Gracie and to get me out of bed. They said they would be happy with me just sitting up in bed, but I knew the faster I got up, the faster I would start feeling better. So I managed to stand up and walk to the bathroom. Nick was sooo tired from all the excitement with hardly any sleep and I was still so tired from the medicines (including the lovely percocet I was taking!) that we asked that they take Gracie to the nursery so we could sleep. It ended up being the best thing for us because we felt so much better the next morning.

My next visitor showed up at 6:30. A young guy walked in the room and turned on the lights. He said he was a student resident (?) and wanted to ask me a few questions. He was so awkward that I remember I kept looking at his name tag to make sure it looked like everyone else's..LOL. He told me that I wouldn't be going home today. I just said, OK, but was thinking, "No shit, my c-section was 12 hours ago!" An actual resident showed up about a half hour later with the same guy to look at my incision, so I'm guessing he was just new. I hope he gets a little more comfortable with his job real soon!

Saturday and Sunday was filled with holding Gracie and lots of visitors and lots of painkillers. Everyone oohed and awwed over her and I was so proud of her! :-) She was an angel all day. I wasn't the best company but I know everyone understood. They also took out my central line on Sunday which was uncomfortable but not really painful. The worst was getting the two stitches out. My doctor and midwife both stopped by to check in and kept assuring me my incision looked good. I was all set to go home on Monday. The pediatrician also came to look Gracie over and he said she was perfect (which we already knew!) :-) She also got her first shot and bloodwork done. They said she didn't even cry!

On Monday, I was allowed to get up and shower. It was the best shower ever!!! It felt so good to get all the blood off my neck and wash my hair! The pediatrician came to discharge Gracie. Then I had to wait awhile for my nurse to come remove my staples. A few of them hurt, but it wasn't too bad. I had 20 of them! Luckily, the nurse said the incision looked infection-free and I was finally allowed to go home!! We got Gracie in her car seat, Nick left to move the car to the front of the hospital and we were on our way home!!

Mom and Dad stayed with us most of the day and I will never be able to thank them enough! In fact, they were with us most of the week and I don't know how people do it without help! Monday night, I developed a high fever (at one point, it was 104 but mostly around 101-102) and we called the doctor Tuesday morning. I had to go into the office at 1:30 and I was a mess. I couldn't stop sweating and feeling light-headed. Dr. A checked me out and couldn't find anything wrong. (Other than the fever.) He sent me home with antibiotics and a warning that if the fever was still here in 24 hours, I would be readmitted to the hospital to find out what was wrong. Thank heavens the fever broke later that day (it probably started breaking in the office since I was sweating so much).

I can't believe it's been a week since we've been home! The time has flown by yet it seems like Gracie has been here for awhile! She is so perfect. She sleeps and eats mostly but has been having periods where she is awake for longer periods of time. I am feeling sooo much better and other than taking Motrin for my incision pain, I feel almost back to normal! The bruises are fading and the physical pain is almost gone. Even the mental pain of everything is starting to fade. My friend Julia came to visit yesterday and I was able to tell her the whole story without breaking out in sobs (which has been a first!)

Gracie had her first pedi visit last Friday and is doing great. She is up to 9lbs 6oz and 20.75 inches long.

Well, I'd better go for now. I can hear Gracie stirring... maybe she's ready to wake up to play for awhile! :-)