I’ve spent a lot of time in the lobbies of various medical professionals in the last two weeks. And the common question is “awww, he’s so new, how many days old is he?” It’s always fun to watch reactions when I say “seven weeks.” Some people don’t seem to find that odd, and some look really surprised.
I really want to keep everyone updated. Really. But most days I don’t even sit down at my computer. When Rowan is asleep I either sleep or clean or prepare bottles or pump. And the rest of the time I’m nursing, or pumping, or going to appointments.
I’m exhausted. Not surprising, but it is why I haven’t posted anything about his first days home.
This morning Zach and I headed to the hospital one final time. We got there around 8:45. They did rounds on him first, then brought us paperwork to go over, and then we were on our way! I had to be wheeled down in a wheel chair, since our car seat isn’t an infant bucket seat. The nurses mentioned several times how very ready he was to go home. Maybe they knew how terrifying it is to go from 24/7 monitoring to… nothing. The NP mentioned during rounds that I’m good at pacing him when he eats. I’ve noticed that he is starting to remember to breathe between swallows, rather than gulp gulp gulping and then catching his breath.
Last night I decided I needed to get some sort of present to express my appreciation to the nurses of the Duke Regional SCN. I decided to make some bath salts and some hand cream. Then I bought chocolate. Flavored drink powders. Kiss My Face lotion. And coloring books, crayons, and colored pencils for older siblings visiting. Tomorrow I’m going to go get a whole bunch of Pelican Bucks for Pelican Snoball shaved ice.
The first music Lorelei ever heard was “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. For Rowan, it was “The One Who Knows”, by Dar Williams. I’d actually intended this to be the first song Lorelei heard, as well, but in the midst of pushing a baby out I didn’t think to tell someone to turn it on. Imagine that.