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February 29, 2004
Ireland was born at 11:42pm, on Saturday, December 13, 2004. Since it was before midnight, insurance companies look at that as 1 day in the hospital already. Sunday was our second day and I was released already on Monday, December 15th. I was pretty anxious to get home, even after only being in the hospital a day and half because I missed my rambunctious toddler. With the flu epidemic, the hospital wasn’t allowing anyone under the age of 18 up to any of the rooms so that meant that Collin couldn’t even come up to see me or to meet his new baby sister. My bed was so uncomfortable, I was growing tired for hospital food and I just wanted to get our new bundle of pink home.
Our stay was actually quite uninteresting. Mark came up for a few hours here and there but pretty much stayed home with Collin and got the house cleaned up for our arrival home. Seemed like all our friends were sick so the only visitor we had was my MIL. Mark’s brother was out of town and since we were released so fast, there wasn’t really any time for anyone to visit. I spent my time snuggling and getting to know our cherub and talking to friends and family on the phone.
I got no sleep Saturday or Sunday. By Sunday the blissful hormones wore off and I was dead tired. Mark left around 10:00pm and I was looking forward to turning in and finally getting a full night of sleep. Around midnight, Ireland decided she was going to wake up and go on a nursing binge. She wanted to nurse NONSTOP from midnight to 6am. I’d work hard to latch her on; she’d suckle for several minutes, doze off and unlatch. Then she’d get seriously mad because she wasn’t nursing. This went on all night and we were both getting a little flustered. Around 4:00am, I had to call my nurse in to help me latch her back on because she was so upset she couldn’t even stop fussing to latch on. From 4:00am to 6:00am she nursed quietly and finally wanted to sleep. I got her snuggled in her hospital bassinet and I happily snuggled up to my pillow and snoozed off. 15 minutes later, our pediatrician came merrily bouncing in to check Ireland and sign her release papers. Ugh. I swore I felt like someone had knocked me in the head with a sledgehammer. Ireland got a clean bill of health and Dr. Sindelar signed her release papers. It was funny, because as he was checking her backside, she decided to let loose a mass of meconium so Mr. Pediatrician got the job of changing her diaper. Way to go Ireland!
After he left, I realized that my OB would probably be in soon to check me and also sign my release papers so I got up and showered. By then I was hungry and breakfast (French toast, eggs, fruit) had been brought in so I ate. By then it was almost 9:00am and my body and mind started to do it’s own thing. I started getting dizzy and faint and that panicked me. I called my nurse in and told her that I felt horrible and that I needed them to take Ireland to the nursery so that I could get at least a couple hours of sleep. I also told them that if she woke up to eat, to please just give her a little formula. I was that desperate for sleep. They wheeled my sleeping beauty away and I felt so guilty I wanted to cry but knew I needed to get a tiny bit of sleep. I dozed off for about and hour but it wasn’t very good sleep. My back was killing me from that uncomfortable bed and all I could think about was my baby being away from me. Around 11:00am I called back down to the nursery and told them to bring Ireland back to my room. 25 minutes later they brought her back and told me she took 29 cc’s of formula down at the nursery. I hated that, but I was grateful for the teeny bit of sleep I got. My girlie was back with me and I was a happy mama once again.
From there on out, I had lots of staff coming into my room so the next few hours few by. A young girl came in and got the information for Ireland’s birth certificate, my nurse came in to check my uterus and stitches, the nurses aide came in to take Ireland’s vitals, the lactation consultant came in to check my severally bruised and battered up nipples and the maintenance guy came in to clean up some blood off the carpet by my bed.
Mark came up around lunchtime and we started getting everything ready to go home. My OB was upstairs doing a C-section so I was told she would be down soon to release me. I ate lunch (cheese pizza) and by the time I was done, my OB was there to see me. We talked for several minutes, she wrote out a prescription for Motrin for me to take home, and we thanked her for everything.
After that, we got Ireland dressed and ready for her pictures and while Mark wheeled her down to the nursery for those, I got dressed and packed up all my personal items. As many times as I double and tripled checked, I ended up leaving all my foo-foo yummy smelling shower gels and shampoo in the shower. Bummer! It was bitter cold and windy, so Mark went out, pulled the car to the front and cranked the heat. A guy from transportation came up with a cart, helped me load everything up, and then escorted Ireland and I out to the car.
We drove home, slowly, just like when we brought Collin home from the hospital 2 ½ years ago. Nothing like transporting a brand new infant home to make you drive a snails pace. Mark muttered a few choice words to a couple drivers who were zooming by and driving recklessly and soon enough, we were pulling up into our driveway.
Collin was plastered to the front glass door, waiting anxiously for us to arrive home. I almost cried at the site of him. He looked different - Bigger and cuter than two days prior. Whew! My mommy hormones where in high gear. He opened the door and I greeted him with huge kisses and hugs. He didn’t seem the least bit interested in me; he just wanted to see his new sister. He was giddy with excitement and tripping over himself. He kept asking if we brought him his baby sister. Mark carried her in and Collin was never more than an inch away. He couldn’t wait to set eyes on her and see what was under the blanket. As soon as Mark sat down and uncovered the car seat, Collin finally got to see Ireland. He was in awe! He kept whispering, “Hi baby sister!” It was a touching moment and my heart was about to burst. He stood by, touching her arm, her hand, kissing her plump cheeks and introducing himself over and over. “Hi baby sissy, I’m your big brother, Collin.”
I sifted through my hospital bag and pulled out a gift sack. I told Collin that Ireland had brought something for him. He jumped up and down and wanted to know what it was. He tore through the bag and pulled out a few tissue wrapped packages. He instantly knew what one of them was. To digress a little, Collin has always said that his new sister would bring him cocoa. I’m not sure why, but he’s just always said that she was. So of course, when I was picking out small gifts that Ireland was going to “bring” Collin, cocoa had to be one of them. He was as happy as a hog over the cocoa with mini marshmallows and loved his new Hot wheels motorcycle, suckers, crayons and coloring pages.
We spent the next few hours relaxing and cozying up. We were home and the house felt warm and bursting with love. I had my husband, my son and my daughter. It didn’t seem as if Life could get much sweeter than that.
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