Saturday, January 31, 2015

Our Second Day

We woke up the next morning, Saturday, and it was just kind of a laid back day, which was so nice. Of course we got woken up by shift change. When Lyla was born, our pediatrician, Dr Knox, likes to come EARLY to see his babies. Since was the weekend, he was not on call. So thankfully we did not get a 5am wake up call from the ped!! Not Dr Pip! He is also from our practice and saw Logan both days and he came much later to see him, which was so nice! He gave us the advice to start in the hospital putting Logan down awake to go to sleep. He said babies actually do better putting themselves to sleep when you start that in the hospital. I thought that was interesting. We definitely put our babies down awake when they go to sleep because we want them to learn to put themselves to sleep, especially if they wake up in the middle of the night, they are able to self soothe. Even though we would LOVE to rock our babies to sleep and even have them sleep on us, we know in the long run it is better for everyone to put them down awake. And guess what?? We have GREAT sleepers!!

Adam went down and got some breakfast and our day shift nurse came in, who was also super! She gave me my meds, which I only like taking the motrin after delivery, and she also gave me my prenatal vitamin. Now anyone who knows me, knows I cannot swallow a pill to save my life. Like seriously. I think it is some real thing where people just cannot swallow pills. My mom still doesn't believe me. So you know if I cannot swallow a pill, I for sure cannot swallow one of those prenatal vitamins. With Lyla I took Flinstone vitamins all the way through and with Logan I took those gummy prenatals. So I kinda lied and told her that I could only take it after I had eaten, Adam had just gotten back with breakfast, and that I would take it. Well you know I hid that junk in the trashcan each time they gave them to me. There was just NO WAY I could get those suckers down....Hahaha.

While Adam went to get breakfast, Logan was in the nursery getting checked out, so I was able to jump in the shower, which ALWAYS feels good!! Getting clean and in your own jammies. The BEST feeling after delivery!

Honey and PawPaw came up to the hospital with Lyla once she woke up and they got moving. She thankfully slept in a bit since she had been up so late. My parents also came to the hospital once they got up and moving. 

Queen Elsa has arrived and LOVED holding her baby brother the entire time she was there. As soon as someone would take him away from her she would immediately ask to hold him again. 


Lots of kisses for baby brother.




Totally in LOVE. 



Seriously she could have loved on him forever and ever.


Sweet kisses. 


Such a proud big sister. 


She literally stroked his face all the time. And who could blame her? I mean those sweet cheeks are perfect!



Baby yawn.


Aunt Allison and Uncle Dan were able to come to the hospital to visit which was so special. They are the only siblings we have in Atlanta and it meant so much to have them come meet Logan!


Aunt Allison is in love!




Uncle Dan getting a look!


Checking out Uncle Dan! Haha! He is in for a treat once he gets older because Uncle Dan is SO much fun! Lyla LOVES her Uncle Dan. And I know Logan will have a blast with him as he gets older too.



Uncle Dan is a natural. PS look at all that dark hair!!



Nana also got to come to the hospital to visit her second great-grandchild. We are so lucky to be so close to her. I am so thankful for what a huge part of our lives as well as our kids lives she is.



Daddy getting some loving time in. Because you know, poor dads, they just don't get quite as much time. I am praying that since Lyla is such a momma's girl, Logan will love his daddy more than life! I cannot wait for them to be little buddies, working in the garage, kicking the ball, going to The Home Depot, teaching him how to throw a ball and catch it....I think a father-son relationship is so so special and I know Adam will be the best at it!


My mom started the tradition when Lyla was born to bring a cake to the hospital and sing Happy Birthday. I mean it is their birthday after all and really is there a better reason to eat cake?? I think this is SUCH a SWEET tradition and I loved doing it for Logan as well. With Lyla, we ate it on her actual birthday, so yes, people were eating cake at like midnight!! For Logan we saved it until the next day when we could really enjoy it. 


Happy Birthday Buddy!


I think he slept through the whole thing, hahaha!



Ahhh, Lyla is just the sweetest big sister. I cannot get over it. And she loved "helping" him blow out the candles. 



Melt my heart.



He might look like his daddy....


Family of four!



His daddy's favorite.....chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Lyla got the same exact thing.


For the most part it was a super laid back day, which was so nice. Honey and Pawpaw took Lyla home because she was exhausted. And then came back to bring us dinner. It was nice to all eat dinner together before Lyla had to go home and go to bed. I am so impressed with how well she did being at the hospital for the majority of the day. Everyone loved her and got a kick out of seeing Queen Elsa when they walked in the room.

We had some sweet visitors later in the evening. Nicole came to get some baby love and I am so thankful that she got to come meet Logan. Tripp (her son) and Lyla have grown up together and she is an amazing boy mom. I know I will be getting advice all the time from her as I have no clue what I am doing with a boy.


Kelly also came to visit. It was so sweet having her there as well. Unfortunately she did not even get to hold Logan as they came to take him for his circumcision. Poor boy. And poor Kelly. I mean you come to the hospital to get some baby snuggles, right?? She is eight weeks behind me with twin girls.  So she will be getting LOTS of baby snuggles here very soon! I am so thankful to have her and to go through this with her. I am so excited to meet her girls and for Logan to have playmates already!

His circ went great and he was actually asleep when they brought him back to the room. I am so glad they were able to do this the day before going home rather than on the day we went home. He really did not complain until he wet his diaper. Then he let us know about it! He got tylenol while we were in the hospital, but once he went home he did not need anything. He only wanted his diaper changed immediately after going, so we went through a LOT of diaper that first week. We also noticed that they did not send us home with enough gauze and vaseline. So we were running around trying to grab that once we went home. Wish we had known to stock up on that before he was born!

My mom came back by with two of her good friends Carol and Charlotte to meet Logan. I am so glad that they got to come by and snuggle with him for a bit. They are such sweet ladies and I am so thankful my mom has such great friends. 

We FaceTimed with Sarah so she could have some time with Logan as well. I cannot wait for her to get here to meet him. She is coming for a whole week once Adam goes back to work, which will be SO nice!

Our same night shift nurse was back which was nice and I was glad for the consistency. We knew what she wanted and she knew what we wanted. We were much more tired, so we were able to get to sleep a little earlier than the night before. I think Ada, was out way before me. I ended up watching an episode or two of Friends. Logan still ate great. He did have some fussy time in the middle of his second night, which was a kick in reality! Haha. Oh well. Adam took him for a bit which was nice and he got some of that sweet baby snuggle. We were for sure ready to go home the next day. I know some second, third or even fourth time moms like the vacation of the hospital, but I really like being at my house! I love my bed, I wanted to be home with Lyla and I just like being in the comfort of my own home.


Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Rest of Our First Night

After Lyla had had some quality time with her new baby, we were ready to have the grandparents join us!

Mimi getting her first look!


In love already!


Honey holding Logan for the first time.



Honey and PawPaw.


Sweet boy! All clean, full belly and tired from his first evening!


I mean seriously perfect!


PawPaw getting some love!


Think he is a little excited?!



And Gramps. What can I say? He has such a special relationship with my kids. It brings tears to my eyes as I think about it. He loves them so so so well. He is so silly and so goofy....those are two words that I would have never used to describe him when we were growing up. I guess having a house full of girls and being the dad, it is just a little bit different. But when you are the Gramps?? Well, all the pressure is off!! Haha. He is the best. And just to prove it...instead of wanting us to take a picture of him with Logan...he is teaching Logan how to take a selfie....is he culturally relevant or what? 



And I know these pictures are blurry, but I had to add them to remember the moment. It was time for us to move to our postpartum room and Lyla was beyond exhausted and needed to go home to bed. We wanted the transition to be as easy as possible while we were away, as Adam was staying at the hospital with Logan and I. So we gave her the option to go back with Mimi and Gramps to their house to spend the night or she could go back to our house with Honey and PawPaw. She said she wanted to be in her own bed.

She, however, did not want to leave me. She was so sad and I was so sad that she had to go. She started crying and said she wanted to see our new room so she could know where we would be. And she did not want to walk but instead wanted to ride in the wheelchair with me. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it was such a sweet moment to ride with my first baby in the wheelchair with me, feeling like there is NO WAY it has already been three and a half years since I delivered her right in this very hospital. It seems like just yesterday I was riding in the wheelchair up to the postpartum floor after having delivered her.


Me and my sweet firstborn who is now the best big sister in the world!



We got up to our new room and she gave her little brother his gift. A little blue elephant that vibrates and sings sweet lullabies for him to sleep with. She had had this picked out for ages. She never wavered, never had to think twice about it. She saw this and she knew her little Logan would love it. And she was right! He has not slept without it since!


She helped us get him all tucked in and then it was time to say goodbye so we all could get some sleep. It was well after 10pm by this point. Maybe even close to 11?? Definitely the latest she has ever stayed up. Her sweet little eyes welled up with tears, which just broke my heart. I knew it would happen. She is a momma's girl. A momma's girl. She always has been and I hope she always will be. I love our special bond. It is hard to be separated from her. I hated that I physically could not do anything to help her, so Adam carried her out to the car and that seemed to help her be ok. We promised she could come back first thing in the morning and hold her brother as much and as long as she wanted to ;)


After everyone left and it was quiet our nurse came in. Can I just say, she was the most amazing thing ever?? I did not get great care the first time around. I am not sure if they saw NICU RN and thought I knew what I was doing? Ummm, hello, never birthed a baby before!! So recovery was REALLY hard with Lyla, not to mention the Postpartum Depression I think I ended up with on top of it. It was just a hard transition all the way around. 

This time however the nurses were AMAZING! Seriously. They actually took care of me. And it was great! We had the same night nurse both nights and the same day nurse both days which made it super easy! Our night nurse got us settled in the first night, sat down with us and went through EVERYTHING with us. Seriously amazing. You might think it's the second time around. You know the routine. But I did not get all of this the first time. So getting it this time made it so much easier postpartum. She wanted to help me with everything, which was so great to know how attentive she was. She got us all settled in and then let us go to bed. Lyla was born so late (11:23pm) that we did not get into our room until well into the middle of the night. With Logan coming much earlier in the evening it was like we got a full night. I of course did not sleep very well. I just get so wired after delivery. And I just don't sleep well when I am not in my own bed. I remembered from last time that the healing process did not go very well, so this time I asked immediately for a doughnut to sit on and sleep on. I did not get off that thing the entire time I was in the hospital. And y'all, that thing WORKED! And no, they did not offer me one the first time around, surprise surprise. I also kept a cold ice pack on for days (even after I went home). And I used that epi foam every single time. A little nursing teaching goes a long way. Seriously. It literally did wonders and I could have skipped out of the hospital I felt so good.

I was so glad for a full night of rest. Both Logan and Adam slept well which was great. I fed Logan several times through out the night. I noticed that he only liked to eat on one side at a time. I think my milk came in really fast, like was in by the next day and one side seemed to satisfy him because he was getting so much. I guess your body just knows what to do since it has done it before. I also might have had lots of snuggle time with him throughout the night. Shhhh. Don't tell the nurses. I just realize the second time around how much quicker it goes and I wanted as much newborn snuggle as I could get! That new baby goodness. It was worth every minute!