Not only had my epidural begun to wear off, but for the past hour or so, I could feel EVERYTHING on my left side. Talk about being miserable. Fast forward to 41 minutes later. I’ll spare everyone and leave out the details of those 41 minutes.
Meeting Mady for the first time is something that I will never forget. She entered the world on September 22, 2011 at 4:41pm, crying! (I probably would have been screaming if I would have had a cord wrapped around my arms and my legs and my chest and my neck.) But darn it if it wasn’t the cutest cry I had ever heard. The nurse placed her on my chest and my heart melted when we made eye contact. It was the most incredible feeling!
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| Daddy's chin! |
Within a matter of minutes, we had already decided that she had Matt’s chin and that she had beautiful, bright eyes! I was amazed at the amount of love that I quickly had for her in such a short second…already I could feel myself being wrapped around her little pinkie. : )
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| Madalyn SuzAnn Gibson 7lbs 8.4 oz 19in. Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:41pm |
Every woman that I had talked to, who had experienced delivery, always said that “once that baby arrives, you’ll forget about the pain.” I wish that would have been my case. I tried SO hard to focus on Mady while the nurses were examining her, cleaning her, etc. Nothing took that pain away. While the Doctor “repaired” me, I could hear the conversation he and the nurse were having and it didn’t sound good. After things had calmed down, and the nurse had taken Mady over to the nursery to get her weight and all that good stuff, Dr. E told me that I had had a pretty traumatic delivery. I could definitely tell that something “traumatic” had happened…and I felt that pain everyday for the next 3+ months.
The first night in the hospital was a little rough. Not only had I just had a baby and my body felt like it was in shock, but I was so excited to have her here, that I couldn’t sleep…plus the nurses coming in every hour, feeling the need to have a conversation about what their daughter did three years ago, and sleeping in that hospital bed didn’t make matters any better. I felt like such a terrible mother when I asked the nurse to take Madalyn to the nursery so I could try to get some sleep. I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours (minus a little power nap) and I thought that maybe I could get some sleep. I asked for them to bring her back if she started crying/got hungry. No sooner had I fallen asleep, I heard a baby coming down the hall, crying. “Here comes Mady,” I thought. It was strange to be able to know that it was her, just from her cry. : )
The next day, which was Friday, Matt and I enjoyed some quality bonding time with Miss Madalyn…not sure she enjoyed being fought over though. It was only fair to time Matt to make sure he didn’t get more time than I did. : ) We had a few visitors, but it was nice to relax (as much relaxing as you can do in a hospital) and enjoy the quiet, sleeping baby. Matt had gone home to get a shower and grab a few things and I tried to nap while he was gone. Before he came back, he did call to see if he needed to bring Mady any toys to play with. (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt…he wasn’t around babies an awful lot so he didn’t know that Mady didn't need toys to occupy her time.) I thought it was cute and had to laugh at him. : )
Nothing too excited happened while we were at the hospital. Saturday morning my Doctor came in to tell us that we could be discharged that day if we wanted. I was hesitant. Walking was extremely difficult; I needed help taking a shower, getting to and from the bathroom…I wasn’t quite sure if we…meaning Matt… could handle me AND Mady. I was overwhelmed. It wasn’t until the nurse told me that if I had any questions or concerns to call them, that I felt a little reassured. Plus living 2 minutes from the hospital helped a little too. It was scary to think about going home…where was the call button when you had a silly question to ask, or that extra hand to help me to the bathroom. But somehow we managed…and we have been able to keep Mady alive, fed, and diapered since. : )
I would like to take this opportunity to give a BIG “thank you” to Matt. Not only did he have Mady to help take care of, but for several weeks her had me to care for as well. I had never been so embarrassed and so dependent in my life and he was ALWAYS right there helping me with ANYTHING I needed…and when I say ANYTHING, I mean ANYTHING. ; ) So thank you from the bottom of my heart!
