Life at Home

My parents picked Jordyn and me up at the hospital to take us home. They arrived later than I would have liked, because trying to get me and Jordyn and I both ready to leave, plus packing up the entire room (yes, I had stuff spread out everywhere!) was really hard to do alone, especially since I was so incredibly sleep-deprived. So we ended up leaving the hospital a little later than planned (about 2pm instead of noon), but it all worked out and was fine. 

I had a whole elaborate plan for introducing my dog, Sydney, to Jordyn. I'd played yout.ube videos of newborns crying prior to Jordyn's birth to get the dog used to it. I'd sent clothes and blankets that Jordyn had used home with my sister, who took care of Sydney while we were in the hospital. Sydney had sniffed them and lay on them. My sister had brought Sydney back to my house before we got there, and I went in first without Jordyn so Sydney could throw me a party (I knew she'd be really excited to see me since she hadn't seen me in a few days). She did, and then my dad came up the stairs and handed Jordyn to me in her carseat. My sister was there to help with the dog, and stayed right with her as I introduced her to Jordyn. As it turns out, the whole thing was a nonevent - Sydney sniffed Jordyn for about half a second, and then went and lay down. And she's pretty much ignored her ever since. 

My mom stayed with us for the first week after we got home. She was incredible helpful - I honestly don't know how I could've done it without her. During the day, she helped with things like cooking, making sure I was eating and drinking, laundry, straightening up, bringing me things when I needed them so I didn't have to move around too much, etc. I did all the night feedings (at this point I was almost totally breastfe.eding, anyway), but she was so helpful during the day. My sister came over a lot and was also really helpful. 

My dad and brother came over a few times, but that got complicated. Here I was trying to get brea.stfeeding figured out and established, and my dad and brother kept coming over not just to visit for a little while, but to stay and hang out for long periods of time. My dad took over my computer and the tv, and neither of them seemed to "get it" that I needed more privacy and space to work on breas.tfeeding without them there. I was (and still am) uncomfortable breastfe.eding in front of them unless I'm covered up, and especially in those early days, covering up while still trying to figure out what I was doing was pretty difficult. Plus, it was really hot, and I was already sweating enough without adding a layer. I finally had to sort of kick them out, as nicely as I could, by explaining that it was just too difficult to work on breastfe.eding with them around. Then I felt bad, because I knew my dad really wanted to be involved and to be helpful, and I'd just sent him away. I ended up throwing Jordyn a one-week birthday party so I had something to invite them to, to get them to come back over and feel more included. 

After the first week, my mom went home at night, but still spent a good amount of time at my house on most days. My sister continued to come over a lot, too. My mom came with us to Jordyn's first and second ped.iatrician appointments (there were two close together very early on due to weight-gain/breastfee.ding issues), and both my parents came to her 1-month appointment. 

I was pretty sore for a while at the beginning, and my feet were swollen, and my tailbone hurt. I think my tailbone might have been bruised from the birth. It was so difficult getting comfortable in any sitting position because of the pressure on my tailbone. And any position that was more comfortable for my tailbone meant it was less comfortable down below. I had a donut pillow, but it wasn't really helpful for some reason. I was also sweating a lot (because of hormones, not just the August heat!), especially when I was sleeping, and I kept waking up drenched with sweat. I also felt really weak, like I could form my hand into a fist, but couldn't squeeze it tight, if that makes sense. And I felt kinda shaky at times. I walked pretty slowly, and took the stairs even slower. Oh, and then there was the engorgement. That was fun... not. By the third or fourth day, my breasts were absolutely killing me! My nipples were sore from the latch (they really do have to sort of toughen up at the beginning), but also inside, as my milk came in. Taking a shower hurt. I lathered up my nipples with lano.lin cream before getting in, but just the pressure from the water hitting my breasts hurt, and it hurt to move my arms up too far. But each day got a little better, and eventually all the soreness and other stuff went away. 

When Jordyn was 5 days old, I put her in a sling carrier and took a walk down the street. My sister was walking Sydney around the block, but Jordyn and I just went up the street and back. I was still pretty sore, so that was plenty of activity for me at that point. When I was nearing my house, I saw my across-the-street neighbor just getting home, and ended up chatting with her and her partner, who'd just had a baby boy exactly two weeks before Jordyn was born. We'd bonded in the past several months since we were pregnant at the same time, and I ended up going in their house and hanging out with them for quite a while. Jordyn had her first mini playdate with their son and 4-year-old daughter!

Also on day 5, Jordyn's umbilical cord stump fell off. I thought it was kind of early, so I was a little worried, but it healed fine and she has a beautiful belly button!

At Jordyn's pedia.trician appointment on day 6, I asked when it was ok to take her out in public. The doctor said as long as everyone didn't touch her, she could be out at any time. So, we went to Ta.rget and then picked up food at Pan.era right after the appointment. That's right - Jordyn's first public appearance was at Ta.rget! 

Several friends came to visit in the first couple of weeks after Jordyn was born, and she's continued meeting more family and friends over time. When she was five weeks old, she attended her first SMC meeting, and we went out to dinner with some other SMCs afterwards. She had a newborn photo shoot when she was 11 days old (she also did my maternity shoot, and I still haven't seen the pics from either shoot - I'm so annoyed with the photographer, who's a friend of my sister!).

When Jordyn was 12 days old, I was feeling up to driving again, so Jordyn and I made our first trip over to my parents' house. Our cousin Don came over to meet her there. We've started spending a good deal of time at my parents' house, including sleeping over many nights. Turns out, my dad likes to do night time feedings, and who am I to turn down that kind of help?! It all started when I had my 2-week postpartum appointment with my midwife. We talked about sleep (or, lack thereof, really), and she suggested I have someone help with night time feedings once a week so I could get a good/decent night's sleep. My mom was at the appointment and told my dad she'd said that, and he took it and ran with it! So, now we spend lots of nights here, and my dad gets up in the middle of the night pretty much every night we're here. I sometimes hear Jordyn and end up waking up, too, and occasionally take over (like last night, when she was crying and wouldn't go back to sleep after her bottle, so I ended up taking her and nursing her to sleep). But since we have a room here, and my dad really does like having one-on-one time with Jordyn in the middle of the night, we've sort of moved in. Not really - we do go home to our house for a night or two or three here and there, but we have been spending many nights at my parents' house. 

Other places we've been and adventures we've had so far:

~ farmer's market

~ lunch and shopping in quaint local town

~ new moms groups in two local towns - we're continuing to go to these every week as they're free and I like them a lot

~ new moms class at local maternity/baby store and educational center - this one isn't free and is an 8-week session

~ Mac.y's, Cart.er's, Home Dep.ot

~ airport to meet family friends who were flying through, then to a downtown tourist hotspot with shops and restaurants - this was totally nuts as it was crowded and made for a long day, but she slept through it

~ outside part of a local museum with huge (and very weird) sculptures

~ temple (for prospective member open house and high hol.iday services)

~ coffee shops

~ picnics 

~ apple picking

~ restaurants - including Chees.ecake Factory, which was WAY too overstimulating for her!

I may have missed something, but that's a lot of what of we've been up to so far. A lot of our adventures have been with my parents ("Nana and Grandpa"), but some have been with my friends or on our own. 

We have another big adventure coming up soon - we're going to volunteer at a camp/retreat in Maine where I've been volunteering for about 10 years. It's for families that have a child with can.cer or another life-threatening illness, and it's SO much fun (not to mention rewarding)! My parents have volunteered there a couple of times with me, so we're all going up together for 5 days in October. It'll be Jordyn's first time there, of course, and a lot of my friends can't wait to meet her. 

Oh, so you want to know how's it's all going?? It's good. Really good, mostly. It's hard, REALLY hard. But also really fun, at least most of the time. And now that I'm not quite so sleep-deprived, it's even better. Jordyn's been smiling a lot lately, and that's been really nice. I think she started smiling right around 4 weeks. She's getting so much more aware of people now, and the things going on around her. She's so stinkin' CUTE!