In January, I posted my birth story in a series of three posts. In case you haven’t had a chance to read it, I’ll include the links at the bottom of this post. At the end of part three, I was in a wheelchair on my way to the room where we would be for the remainder of our hospital stay. By that point, Little Buddy was two hours old, and I had been in the hospital for over 24 hours.
I spent the rest of that day (day two of our hospital stay) taking short naps, while Mr. Handsome slept on the couch and Little Buddy slept in his bassinet. From the get-go, our baby had a difficult time nursing. The hospital had wonderful lactation consultants available around the clock, which was a huge help. When Little Buddy was too fussy to breastfeed, they helped me pump and feed him with a plastic syringe. I was shocked to learn that when babies are born, they can only drink a few milliliters of milk, but their stomach capacity grows each day.
My mother-in-law was around for the five days and four nights that we were in the hospital. She spent the nights on my brother-in-law’s couch and the days with us. I was exhausted, but I didn’t really know it because I was on such an adrenaline high. The maternity ward nurses were all so kind and down-to-Earth, and they all wore hot pink scrubs, which made the whole experience of having a baby feel even more “feminine” than it already was.
The hospital cafeteriaa had an extensive menu, and the food was delivered right to my room. I felt like a queen, being able to order anything I wanted, and surprisingly, it was quite good. Granted, the vegetarian lasagna looked and tasted more like noodles covered in mozzarella cheese, but it was still very tasty. We had a good laugh because everything they brought had a fancy cover over it, like you see in upscale restaurants. Even the chicken broth that I ate while I was in labor, which was in a cheap, Styrofoam bowl with a plastic lid, was under a fancy cover.
The day after Baby was born (day three of our hospital experience), I was feeling good enough to go outside for a walk. The weather was warm, so Mr. Handsome stayed with Little Buddy while my mother-in-law and I took a stroll around the block. It felt great to get some fresh air, but after about 10 minutes, I was tired and sore and eager to get back to my baby.
We would have been discharged on day four (when Little Buddy was 48 hours old), but the routine testing determined that he had jaundice. The nurses brought a big blue light into our room and set it up over his bassinet, and he had to lay under it for 24 hours. He was only able to wear a diaper, so we cranked up the heat, which made sleeping quite uncomfortable. We could only take him out from under the light for 30 minutes at a time, to eat and be changed.
Little Buddy was fussy and required someone to be holding his hands for pretty much the entire time, which was difficult but incredibly adorable. That night, Mr. Handsome and I got some much needed sleep while our mothers took turns holding his hands (while wearing sunglasses to protect their eyes). It was quite a sight to behold.
The next morning, the nurse took Little Buddy to the nursery to wait for the pediatrician to arrive. Mr. Handsome and I accompanied him, and we were glad that we did because there were several babies in there alone, and they looked so lonely and helpless. We held our breath as the doctor arrived, praying that he would sign our discharge papers. He did, under one condition: We had to take Little Buddy to our family doctor for a checkup the following day.
Leaving the hospital was a wonderful feeling. By the time we filled out all the paperwork, had the nurse check our car seat for safety, payed our bill (gasp), and loaded everything into the car, it was about 2:00. We picked up food at Chick-fil-A and then stopped by Walmart for groceries. My mom stayed in the car while Mr. Handsome and I shopped. It was kind of like a mini date. We made sure to load up on hand sanitizer when we returned to the car. We had a relaxing evening at home. Mr. Handsome returned to work the next day, and my mother and I took Little Buddy to the doctor. My mom stayed for five days, which was a huge help.
Anonymous
Wow, that was the longest and most drawn out birth story that I’ve ever read.
J
Why take the time to leave a rude comment Ellie’s blog?
Ellie, it was sweet how Mr. HJ needed his hand held while under the blue light. Thanks for sharing your birth story. My friend had a similar experience where her daughter had to spend extra days in hospital for jaundice. Her daughter looked adorable with her little sunglasses.
darlene
i’m enjoying hearing ellie’s story. brings back sooo many memories that i thought i’d forgotten.
Anonymous
I think people are made more whole through this type of sharing and it makes the world a better place. Thank you for sharing your story in such a way as you have on this blog. I really do appreciate it and want to acknowledge the efforts of you and also those of Mr Handsome (and the lapses in attention your baby has to put up with) I’m happy to read the many interesting experiences that you have freely written up for all the readers of your Nashville Wife blog. A work you do, even while you have multiple important things to consistently attend to there. Honestly, I think most readers eagerly check out your blog just hoping you will have posted another piece from your life !!:-)(-:!!
Marilyn
I agree that this is a rude comment. It’s Ellie’s story let her tell it.
Joan
I noticed that you didn’t sign your name.
Candi
Yep sounds like us…get some food right away out of hospital (unless someone brought us a meal at home right away which happened 3/4’s of the time) and stop at Walmart for groceries. Lol. We even took one of our babies right away to the chiropractor upon leaving the hospital since she was a little fussy. Their little necks usually go out in the birth canal and makes them fussy. This does wonders to calm them down and it makes the fussyness go away. I kept doing this every time they had a period that they were extremely fussy and they and stopped crying and was a happy baby! Anyway, that’s the cutest thing ever about the hand holding! I didn’t realize a newborn would recognize something like that! And put 2 and 2 together and thinking hey, I like that! And that’s wonderful both your moms were there to help! I’m sure that made for some sweet memories for them bonding together over their new little grandson like that!
Emily
Just curious if you chose to do delayed cord clamping. Some studies have shown that if you chose to do this, it may cause your baby to be jaundiced. Also, I can relate to your experience of having friendly labor and delivery nurses and getting to order whatever I wanted from the cafeteria. Along with being offered to have fresh bedding and have your baby watched, it definitely makes you feel like a queen but I’d say any woman that just had a baby deserves to feel that way!
Ellie
Hmm, that’s interesting. Nope, we didn’t, the cord was cut right away. 🙂
Ellie
Actually, my husband just informed me that we did do slightly delayed cord clamping. The nurse midwife waited about 2 minutes to cut. Guess I was so out of it I didn’t know. LOL.
Ellie
A
Why did he need the blue light?
Ellie
The blue light supposedly helps with the jaundice. Natural sunlight helps, too.
Anonymous
I had my first baby at a military hospital, hundreds of miles from home, with no family in sight. The baby was early and also had jaundice. My husband was deployed 3 hours (yes, HOURS) after delivery and didn’t come home again for many months. I was not allowed to drive after delivery so I had to get another military wife to take me home, while I left the baby in the hospital under the lights. Since it was a military hospital, not any kind of specialty maternity hospital, they sent you home after 2 days with or without the baby. Until my mother could arrive days later, it was quite….interesting, trying to cope on my own with a sick baby, a husband overseas, no family, and not able to drive. Oh, and add the usual hormone swing after birth to all those emotions. Your story sounds like a happy party by comparison!
Military wives, you continue to have my utmost respect and heartfelt empathy, because I know first-hand what you have to endure. Nobody else can fully understand the stress involved.
Ellie
That sounds very difficult. So sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for making such great sacrifices so your husband could serve in the military! What branch was he in?
Ellie
Candi
I just wanted to let you know that I felt so very much for you when I read your story! What a difficult and traumatic experience to go through for a first baby experience. My mother always told me after a difficult time, “now you can be compassionate to others in similar situations”. I always resented her telling me that because I was like “but why did I have to go through that out of everyone else?” “Why can’t others go through it too?” I don’t know the answers to all those questions but all I know is that everyone has to face a battle in their lives at some point and people can make it better just by caring. It also did make me a compassionate person for people that are hurting, in pain, or have lost a loved one and in turn I can reach out to them. I certainly hoped you found help, hope, and care back then when you needed it with your baby!
Ellie
I agree, Candi. Everyone has to face battles, but just a little bit of sympathy goes a long way. My husband, the midwife, and the nurses in the hospital were all so amazing.
Candi
That is wonderful Ellie I’m glad to hear that you had compassion in the midst of your pain. I wish exactly that for everyone/every new and seasoned mother out there…we just need more love and caring in this world!
Beverley
Delayed cord clamping is the norm in the UK. Babies get the blood they need from the placenta while the cord is still pulsating. So important for babies . 😊
Anonymous
Agreed! Many of my friends did delayed cord clamping with their babies and none of them had jaundice. I’m very curious as to who published the study saying it causes that? There are actually many benefits to it, but sadly it’s not a routine practice in the US.
darlene
after each of mine, i dont know which i enjoyed more: the first meal or the first sleep. i mean, you have just brought forth a new life ~ that’s no easy task! you work up quite an appetite and it’s exhausting lol. and you deserve those fancy covers!
(the hospital my grandchildren were born in plays a lullaby throughout that floor to announce a birth. it’s so sweet and funny because you never know what family in the waiting room its for and all eyes are on the door to see who’s coming out!)
Ellie
That’s very sweet! I think our hospital might have done something similar, but I wasn’t paying attention. LOL
darlene
lol, i think thats why the dads get to push the button, moms are usually waaaay too preoccupied with getting stitches, etc!
CJOHN
What a full 3-4 days, so glad your families could be there with you.
Anonymous
You might have mentioned before, but is this your parents first grandbaby?
Ellie
It is! 🙂
Alison from Scotland
Thanks Ellie for the lovely ending to your birth story. Will be nice to reminisce in years to come with Mr H and Buddy. I appreciate the hard work you put in on all your blogs. please ignore the ‘haters’ and just take pleasure in pressing the ‘delete’ button on the nasty comments. Best wishes.
Anonymous
That was interesting. You write so well that a person can really enjoy your story. It is wonderful you and the baby were so well cared for and you had moms.
AmyRyb
My oldest had to be in the hospital for a full week after birth. He had some fluid in his lungs which needed antibiotics, and also suffered from a bit of jaundice as well. I was released after three days, but it was the hardest week of my life, between trying to spend most of my time at the hospital, not getting enough rest during the day, dealing with the hormones and the challenges of breastfeeding (oh, the day the milk came in!), and just trying to learn to be a parent. I had one crazy breakdown in the middle of it, at which point I figured out that I needed to cut myself some slack and take a break for some self-care. It was shocking to me when I brought my second home on time how much more relaxing and simple it was to have that first week at home instead.
You will be so happy many years down the road that you documented your story here. I did it with mine as well and it amazes me when I go back to re-read it (almost 11 years now for my oldest) how many little details I had forgotten. Parenthood is funny like that–you think you’re taking in every little detail, but the newborn, sleep-deprived fog really leaves things a bit cloudy a few years later! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ellie
That sounds very difficult, Amy! I was grateful that they discharged me on the fourth day but allowed the baby and me to stay in my room until the next day when he was discharged. Those hormones though. Yikes! They can be so crazy. My brain was a foggy, emotional mess for the first week.
Candi
Oh dear! That was a awful time! Your story reminds me of my “horror” birth story of my youngest. We decided to have a epidural with our youngest. Well, they were having some troubles inserting and when he did he hit a nerve and a lightning bolt of extreme pain traveled to my tailbone and shattered. Well, hence when I pushed the baby out “they said” !! that I cracked my tailbone…hmm…anyway talk about pain after getting over the epidural…I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t lay right. All I could do was pace the floors the entire time I was there. Talk about exhaustion! And it was so hard to try to nurse! Anyway long story short, I couldn’t sleep for a week after I got home because of all the pain till gradually my body succumbed. And I had 2 more children at home under 5 years old! My 5 yr old had to be the “mama” to my middle one with feeding and diapering as I also didn’t have any help during this time. Needless to say I certainly do not wish this tailbone cracking on anybody!!!! Has anyone else had that happen to them? It’s interesting tho reading all the birth stories that come on the blog here.
Stephanie
Really enjoying this series on your blog!
Lauren
Interesting that they kept you both at the hospital for jaundice. Were his numbers very high? My little guy was discharged slightly jaundiced, but we had specific orders to put him in front of the window in only a diaper so he could get sun. Bloodwork was done every 2 days until they were comfortable that they were going down. I appreciated that they let us do that at home because who really wants to be in the hospital for extra days?
Melanie
My first baby had jaundice, too, and that was over 30 years ago and I had never heard of it. We got to bring him home, but we had to have a special lamp delivered to our home and he slept under it for many hours. I will never forget how cared for one feels while at the hospital, but upon arriving at home, hubby and I realized the enormity of the responsibility of everything. Finally, I had a complication that was unexpected and that I did not even understand at first, and suffered for a few days or a week or two until that got cleared up. That made those first weeks even more difficult. Nothing like the special memories of that first child’s birth. Thanks for sharing!
Diana
Beautiful, Ellie. I can relate to a lot of your story. We had an extended hospital stay of 2 weeks for jaundice with our third child. He also needed to be in an incubator due to low body temperature. It was a trying time not being able to touch our newborn outside of feeding and changing. My husband and I would take turns standing with our face plastered to the incubator so we could talk to him and let him know we were there. It was a hard time but a precious time. I was recovering from a C-section and caught the flu while our baby was admitted, so there was stress upon stress, but you get through. You become strong and close as a family.
Ellie
Wow, that would be very tough. Did he go into the incubator immediately after he was born, or did his low body temp come on a little later?
Diana
It was several days after birth. We were brought from the maternity ward upon my discharge to the children’s floor for his admission, and during a basic exam the nurses there noted the low temp. We did skin to skin first but then moved to the incubator so he could also be under the bili lights. There was never any explanation for the low temps.