Welcome Home, Allison

Yesterday we left the hospital with our very own little girl and brought her home. They're going to let us keep her! For some reason, that is overwhelming to me (in a beforeafter very good way--I'm just so happy about it). How strange to leave your home on a Monday as just the two of you and to return on Friday with a family of three.

I'm very, very thankful that having a c-section meant a full four days in the hospital. Not only did I have time to gradually recover (with the aid of a bed that moved up and down to help me get in and out), but we also had the option of having Allison room in with us or be whisked away to the nursery when we were desperate for a few hours IMG_5082_Vgaof sleep. But I think the main benefit was access to lactation consultants. I saw four different consultants multiple times and, boy, did I need all the help I could get! I’d  read plenty about breastfeeding and was all ready to go for wide, fish-lipped latch ons and all of that, but it turned out that I needed professional help. A lot of professional help! I’m so glad I wasn’t sent home after a day or two to suffer and bleed in confusion and agony at home. I’ve learned a lot about the football clutch, the importance of lots of pillows, shields and shells and gel packs, and how a pump can help save your sanity.

Nana Alice is still here with us; she will likely head home this weekend and then come IMG_5021_QVga back in a week when Seth’s paternity leave is over. We’ve been grateful to have her here and little Allie is glad for bonding time with a sweet Nana who loves her so much. We are all tired, but having a three-adult to one-baby ratio is very helpful, even if only one of the adults can really address the need to feed. But after a feeding, it is so wonderful to know that Nana can look after Allie and her needs while I go slip into a coma for a blissful hour or two (or, rarely, three!).

So we’re trying to figure out what life looks like now that we’re home and parents of a newborn. On the side, we’re trying to figure out what it looks like to buy a house during this busy season. We’re told that the contract is signed and now we’re just waiting for the city to come deal with an issue in turning on the water so that we can have an inspection. It’s exciting but still very surreal.

Okay, it’s taken me all day to write this blog between feedings and naps. I’m off to another nap now!

Comments

  1. tiffanieJuly 27, 2009 at 8:25 AM

    so, Allie, not Ally? i like it. great update! love the "to/from" hospital pictures. what a great record of this wonderful event! and yay for that house that's going to be YOURS!

    ReplyDelete
  2. stephanieJuly 27, 2009 at 9:06 AM

    Wow, a new baby and a new house and a new world! Isn't it amazing how someone so little requires so many hands? =-) Welcome home.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gray Day

I think it might have actually been sunny today, but since I was homebound for the day (I wasn’t feeling well and Allie was fussy last night/today so we stayed home from church in case we are getting sick), but it sure feels like a gray day to me. I’m still struggling with nursing issues. The short version is that is has been determined (after much, much ado that exhausted all of the lactation consultants’ ideas) that I am not making enough milk. That, combined with the slow let downs I’ve mentioned before, means that Allison won’t nurse. And even if she would nurse, there isn’t enough milk for her. So I am using an electric pump to get out the milk that is there, feeding her that in a bottle, then giving a supplemental bottle of soy-based formula (because we think she may have a milk sensitivity; I am off of dairy, as well). Meanwhile, I am getting blocked milk ducts almost every day (a painful but temporary issue that goes away after a few hours or a few days with heat packs, pumpi...
Read more

NYC 10th Anniversary Trip: PART 2

Image
[For the beginning of our anniversary trip to NYC, start here with Part 1 ] Sunday October 6 Overcast, misting rain in the first half of the day. Low 70s. What We Did: West Village walking The Meadow Shop, West Village (read about on a blog; they sell flowers, chocolates, finishing salts; purchased several chocolate bars Meatpacking District walking High Line walking (former elevated train tracks turned into green space for walking) Chelsea Market (interesting shops, especially enjoyable as an escape from wet weather) Greenwich Village walking (saw the “Friends” apartment exterior at the corner of Bedford and Grove Streets) Washington Square Park (good people-watching) Soho walking Canal Street over to Chinatown walking Little Italy, Nolita, and Noho walking East Village walking Union Square Flatiron Building exterior Eataly (Mario Battali’s giant Italian gourmet market filled with groceries, produce, multiple dining options) What We Ate: Joseph...
Read more

New York City 10th Anniversary Trip: PART 1

Image
To celebrate our first decade of marriage, Seth and I decide to take a trip to NYC. Neither of us had ever really spent time there and it was something we’d been hoping to do for a few years. My parents graciously agreed to come watch our children while we went on a 4 day/4 night adventure together. It’s been several years since our last big travel adventure (Europe trip in 2008), so we were a little rusty but we quickly got into the swing of things and had a great, busy, exhausting, fun time together. I wanted to record everything because I’m well aware of how short my short-term memory lasts. So this is a record of what we did, what we saw, and, as importantly, what we ate. Our eating philosophy was “more less is more,” meaning we wanted to try smaller amounts of more things (especially quintessential NY things like a bagel, cheesecake, a hotdog, Brooklyn pizza, etc.), so we snacked our way through the city rather than sitting down to full meals and then tried to walk off all those d...
Read more