What do you remember about the first weeks..

[Sonya]

after you brought your newborn home? I had such a bad time, I had to sleep sitting up, had fluid in my lungs, gallbladder attacks, major mood swings, and Sam was brought home on a central line and given antibiotics twice a day by a nurse who came to our home. I remember my mom and DMIL coming to help us and feed us, and me sitting my my PJs all day.
Of course I remember being very tired but very happy, and very tired.
Anyone have any good memories? Or do you remember anything at all?

 

[Minnie824]

My little angel pooped all over me. I was changing her diaper on our bed, lifted her legs up, and just then she decided to go to the bathroom, all over our comforter, my pants, socks, shirt, etc. That and being very very very tired.

 

[meeshi]

With my first dd I remember my mom coming and staying for a week to help out. She would not let me do a thing around the house and I was feeling very guilty. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have just enjoyed it instead of feeling guilty!

With my ds I remember coming home and my dd screaming when I went to nurse him! She was not very happy about that.

And with my youngest dd I remember being relieved that she was ok, able to come home when I did. (An ultrasound discovered a cyst on her brain when I was 7 mo pregnant and they (the drs) had no idea what to expect when she was born. She ended up needing surgery when she was 2 weeks old.)

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>My first was born right after Christmas, so I remember coming home, and family coming to visit. I also remember my mom making oatmeal for me. It was a nice, cozy time.

 

[always quiet]

My oldest was a preemie and spent 2 weeks in the NICU with all sorts of wires, buzzers, tubes, IV..... I never had any time alone with him. There was always someone around, either drs., nurses, DH, other parents of babies in the same unit. DH had taken as much time off of work to be able to go to the hospital daily, but by the time Kirk came home, he was all out of vacation and sick time.

I remember bringing Kirk home, DH dropped us off and had to leave pretty quickly after that. Once he was gone, I realized this was the first time I was EVER alone with my son!!! I stood over his crib, watching my precious little bundle awake in his crib. I smiled at him and said "It's just you and me now. Go easy on me, would ya'??"

 

[Kimberle]

My newborn spent 8.5 weeks in NICU before coming home at 3#'s, 15 oz.

I remember having to have her on a 3 hour feediing schedule for the next 6 weeks. I was a zombie.

2 weeks after she came home, I was forced to go back to work (either that or be fired as they "didn't care").

 

[mickeyboat]

After my premature daughter spent two weeks in the hospital, I was petrified

I was afraid she would get sick so I kept her at home.

I was also afraid that she would stop breathing so I didn't sleep much and I would startle awake and listen for her breaths.

I was afraid she wasn't getting enough to eat so I was nursing her any time she cried. One episode in particular stands out. All of a sudden she lifted her head away and threw up all over her face. She looked like a person who had been hit with a pie. All you could see was her eyes. My husband said "she blew up!" It was a riot.

Although I was blissfully happy after her arrival, I was very nervous. I wish I had just taken a deep breath and enjoyed her more. When DD#2 came a year later, I had a whole new perspective. Who had time to worry?

Denae

 

[Kimickey]

I'm still within "those" weeks you guys are talking about. DS is 7 weeks old and all he does is eat, sleep and poop. He's starting to sleep more through the night now which is good because I go back to work in two weeks. On a lighter side I have gotten squirted on several times since he's been born. We only have one other child (girl) and I did not know what to expect with little boys. I've learned now to change diapers fully armed with rain gear on

 

[RitaZ.]

I remember looking out my bedroom window in the middle of the night and thinking that all my neighbors were sleeping and I wasn't!!!

 

[onecoolmama]

I remember extreme pain! I couldnt sit, stand, lie down, go to the bathroom...or even use the sids thing...the doctor said it was just normal after brith pains. Finally, I went to the ER and they realized that my DS broke my pelvic bone!

There is nothing they can do for that...just let it heal, but oh I remeber the pain!

My DD came, I felt GREAT!! I could play with my son and I could walk, sit, stand...it was great! I didnt know giving birth could feel that good.

Of course the first 3-5 weeks you are exhausted from getting up every other hour...but once they sleep 6 hours in a row..I was fine.

I want 7 so the first one didnt scare me off that bad!LOL

 

[lynetteSC]

Ok, you guys are scaring me!

Keep the stories coming so all the new moms will know what to expect!

p.s. CONGRATS to all of you for making it through the first lil bit!

 

[CEDmom]

My situation is a little different because DD wasn't a newborn we brought her home, she was 9 mo. I remember very clearly standing in the hallway of a hotel in China at 6pm on June 25, 2000 and being handed this sobbing baby. I held her and then DH held her and then DH went off to complete some paperwork and I was left alone with DD. She tried to climb out of my arms and I just held her tight and keep whispering that everything was going to be ok. When we put her to bed that 1st night I laid my hand on the mattress of her crib and she put her hand on top of mine and fell asleep. At that moment I knew I had become her mom.

Of course after this magical moment came the exhaustion and constant worrying that every new mother goes through.

 

[Alice28]

With DS#1 I remember being very tired, but I had both of my parents here helping out and as soon as they left, my in laws came for a few days to help out too. I also remembered feeling pretty glad and shocked at how easy he was- he had one night (I think it was the 2nd or 3rd night we were home) where I couldn't get him to stop crying, but other than that, as long as he was clean and nursed, he was Mr. Content.

DS#2 however, was another story. We had to stay in the hospital an extra night cause he wasn't ready to go home- he was 11 pounds 2 1/2 ounces at birth, so his blood sugars were ALL out of whack (no, I wasn't diabetic, shocking as it was since he was SO big and I only had gained just under 25 pounds) and then he started to get jaundiced. I had to take him to the hospital almost every day the first week he was home (they let me take a break for July 4th), I was SO tired and he ALWAYS wanted to EAT EAT EAT! And yet he was slow to gain weight so that was ANOTHER reason I had to keep bringing him in like every other day. It was frustrating. He was hard to console as he ALWAYS wanted to nurse. I even supplemented with formula. And only Mama could comfort him...no way Jose on gramma's, Daddy....Big Brother was stinking ECSTATIC to have little brother home- I had never seen my kid so hyper and happy! Still to this day he's an A+ big brother (most of the time). And to this day, DS#2 (who is now 2 1/2) is still a stinker a lot of the time!

 

[Sonya]

RitaZ- LOL! I remember thinking the same thing! And then I would think of the open-24-hour supermarket nearby and say to myself, at least someone else is awake!
I remember talking to a friend who had twin boys 2 days after Sam was born and we figured out we were on the same sched. so when I would wake to feed Sam I would then think of her awake at the same time and thank my lucky stars I had to only feed one!


CEDmom , that is so sweet. Her little hand on yours!


mickeyboat, Sam spent a week in the NICU and I would wake at all hours to listen for him breathing too, I was so scared!


Kimickey, hang in there! lynetteSC, it's not so bad, at least now that it is over!

 

[DD2Disney]

awww there is nothing I like talking about more. Although the first two weeks were pretty bad. The baby had jaundice (sp?) so when he came home he had that little glow suit (our little glow worm). Luckily he only had to wear it one day after we were released. But the really bad thing was they had nicked my spine with the epidural. OUCH that is the worst pain I have ever had in my life. They say lay flat on your back...lol how are you supposed to do that with a newborn??? They tried to do a bloodpatch to fix it, but it didn't work...all they did was injur my back from repoking me a million times. So once that didn't work they said it would repair itself in 7-9 days. That was a HORRIBLE week. And I kind of feel cheated. Then when the baby was 9 days old it happened to be Sept 11 2001. So our world changed again. To be honest I have my beautiful baby boy here and thats all that matters, but it was a pretty horrid time.

 

[luvmydogs]

DS8 was born at 28 weeks, and spent a month in NICU before we brought him home, and I had no idea how difficult it would be. I was grateful I had healed from my c-section by that time, and also off some nasty anti-seizure meds. or I would've been dealing with that too. DS had reflux, and some feeding problems--he had to be fed an ounce at a time in a span of 15 minutes, then propped upright for 30 minutes so he didn't aspirate. This had to be done every hour, and it went on for nearly 10 months. I was averaging an hour or two of sleep a day, was exhausted, cried all the time, and often thought of jumping on a plane to nowhere just to get away from it all. Once the feeding issue resolved itself, things got much better. Believe me, I was grateful he was healthy (we witnessed some poor children in the NICU who weren't as lucky ), but it was not a happy time for us--it really put a strain on our marriage at the time. Looking back, I know I had post-partum depression, and definitely should've told my doctor--I needed help, but was too ashamed to ask for it (ridiculous!).

 

[Denine]

Interesting thread!

Ah, those first weeks. DD is adopted. We brought her home when she was 1 month old. I came down with bronchitis and a sinus infection that very day. She cried all night long. We were up every 1/2 hour. She then proceeded to scream all hours of the day, no naps, unless I held her. We were told that babies cry. Finally, MIL heard her on the phone and said that's how she sounds? DH said yes, and we were told "that's not norma!" We were so happy that we weren't freaks! I took Kaleigh to the doctor because I got her sick, she was put on ATB's and we talked about a formula change. She then ended up in the hospital because of a mucus plug, but, since she was 6 weeks old, they had to put her through a battery of tests to rule out any other cause. I finally changed the formula and my sweet daughter finally emerged.

She just truned 16 months and is a joy.

 

[my3kids]

Brought my first born home and my husband's secretary came right over to see the baby. I was changing his diaper and DS peed all over the secretary!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Two weeks after my 3rd child was born we had to move out of our house for 7 weeks. Due to water damage we had to totally gut 2 bathrooms.

You know I don't think my baby even noticed that he wasn't at home! Babies can adapt to anything. We moved in with my mother. She pampered us all. We didn't want to move back home (yes, even my husband). We did buy her a new TV for letting us live with her.

Lori

 

[swea_pea1]

Ahhhhh....those first two weeks. I have a friend that calls it that "Santa syndrome" because everybody knows the truth about it but nobody talks about it

With my DD, the first couple of days were nothing but crying. Not her, ME! I was trying so hard to breast-feed and she just wouldn't latch on. So every feeding was a two hour affair...first I'd pump for a while, then I'd try to cup feed her since the lactation specialist had told me putting the breast milk in a bottle was a "no-no". My breasts hurt, I was getting no sleep, and DD wasn't taking to this whole thing at all. I finally broke down one day and cried uncontrollably. DH looked sternly in my face and told me that I had to stop putting myself through all the pain and guilt. He said "there are millions of women who would die to have a baby, any baby, and feed her any way they could. So, let's get over this and buy the formula." So that's what we did and things got much easier (please no flaming from the breast-feeders!). I still wish I would have breast-fed her, but my motto is that the absolute best thing for my baby is a sane mother.

When DS came along, I was much more relaxed and we got along just fine. We still had the late nights, but no excessive crying for either one of us.