Know the Facts: Bringing Home Baby
We were so nervous after my daughter was born. She came a little over 4 weeks early, just days before the safety of 37 weeks. Much of my pregnancy was stressful due to Hypermesis and a previous loss at 19.5 weeks. So, when the doctors admitted me into the hospital hoping to stop my preterm labor from progressing any further, I was a tight bundle of nerves. Luckily, after all the craziness of my labor, Mya was born with minor breathing issues and jaundice. She had to stay in the NICU for 6 days and four days after my C-section I had to go home without her.
It was scary, but truthfully, I was in a daze. I barely remember the days before she came home. Those days were filled with me expressing milk to take to the hospital and freeze at home, sleeping, and completely trusting her doctors. It was all that I could do.
When we finally took Mya home, I was so excited and protective. I wanted to make sure that Andrew and I bonded with her right away. I forbade visits from family- we were living with my in-laws so that was rather hard to do- and I made sure that we worked out a schedule so that I could pump enough to build up my milk supply. I chose to exclusively pump breast milk for my daughter so building a supply demanding a lot of time. I also spent many a night holding a mirror near her nostrils to make sure that she was breathing. I slept with the phone in my hand just in case I had to call the doctor because she hiccuped three times in a row.
For me, the most important thing was learning to understand my daughter- learning what she wanted and what she needed before she cried or at least knowing enough to be able to respond quickly to her crying. To make things a little easier for me, I decided that I would carry my daughter in a sling because the ability to hold her close at all times made me feel better.
And of course, I had a great support system. My husband made sure to give me enough time to pump, my father-in-law had the magic arms that would put Mya to sleep as soon as he picked her up. And my mother in law who helped keep me sane with stories of her screw-ups as a first-time-mom.
I can completely relate to this – especially the wanting baby close to you at all times. They are such small bundles and I realized when I had my baby, that each time I held him, I was holding my heart. He is my heart. I too had a C-section, but not because he was early, because he never descended into the canal. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have to leave him in the hospital as you had to with Mya. I just can’t imagine.
It’s a beautiful thing that support structure you had with Andrew and your in-laws. Absolutely, beautiful. I spent the first year of my son’s life living with my mother and had it not been for that, I would have been a walking zombie because I paid attention to every little thing where that little man was concerned. His breathing, the crying, did I burp him enough times…EVERYTHING!
I’m happy that though you were early, Mya made it to the world healthy. My condolences for the baby you lost, that had to be hard.
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Thank you for commenting Traci. I love “I was holding my heart” as that explains it exactly. Support is a beautiful thing and we need to encourage woman to support one another. We need to go back to the old adage of “it takes a village”.