(To follow the whole story, begin here: Tuesday, November 19, Wednesday, November 20, Thursday, November 21, Friday, November 22)
My family was around for a while on Saturday morning - kept me company while Matt went home to take a shower and grab a few odds and ends from home that we hadn't managed to get into our hospital bag.
My favorite overnight nurse had been called in on Saturday because there were lots of deliveries and they were short-handed, so it was really great to see her again! All of my nurses were pretty great, but she was the one who took care of me during Wednesday night's induction, and every night after that. I felt a special bond with her.
My family left late morning to head back to Chicago - Steph needed to get back to work and my parents needed to be at church on Sunday. Matt and I hung out in the afternoon, and Chad came over to meet the baby for the first time. I remember that I felt really groggy during his visit, which was frustrating because I'd been feeling more alert during the day, even though I was still pretty weak.
After he left, I had the nurses help me up for some teeth-brushing, hair-washing, and a bathroom run, still feeling so helpless and tired. Afterwards, I decided to be a good girl and sit up in the chair for a while. I was hoping for a few minutes. But I sat there for a couple hours! Felt more energized as I sat. I think that this was a turning point for me.
Later in the evening, Chad brought Cheryl and the boys over to meet the baby (they were jealous that he got to meet Samuel and they didn't!). And then after that, Dr. Locke came in to see us. He pulled up a chair and stayed around for about half an hour, talking through, well, everything.
He talked again about how surprised he was that my preeclampsia had escalated so quickly, and confirmed that I really was on the mend, and that rest rest rest was the way to finish recovering. He talked about how he'd really rather not do a transfusion if at all possible, and that my hemoglobin had stabilized at 6.4, so he wasn't too worried. We talked through my recovery, and even about future things like birth control and our initial thoughts on future pregnancies. He was genuinely interested in how to be helpful if we try to conceive again. That felt really good. It's nice to be supported. He decided that, while I was on the mend, it would be best for me to stay in the hospital one more day/night, and to go home Monday, which I was totally fine with.
When he left, Amy and Erin, our nurses, floated in and out. It was one rare quiet night, and so they spent a lot of time with us. Erin helped me walk up and down the hall, and they both helped us improve our breastfeeding skills. Samuel's Saturday night weigh-in was low...6lbs 7oz from his birth weight of 7lbs 11oz, so we spent some time talking about formula supplementation and working on that. (The combination of c-section, preeclampsia, and low hemoglobin meant that my milk was going to be slow coming in, so nobody was overly surprised by the weight drop, but we definitely needed to take a few steps to make sure that he stayed healthy.)
We roomed in Saturday night, just to see what that was like, and they helped Matt a ton with that. I was still hooked up to the inflatable bed-booties, so I couldn't get out of bed to help when Samuel fussed. Matt was a trooper and tended to him, and brought him to me when it was time to feed. It wasn't the most restful night, but we survived.
My family was around for a while on Saturday morning - kept me company while Matt went home to take a shower and grab a few odds and ends from home that we hadn't managed to get into our hospital bag.
My favorite overnight nurse had been called in on Saturday because there were lots of deliveries and they were short-handed, so it was really great to see her again! All of my nurses were pretty great, but she was the one who took care of me during Wednesday night's induction, and every night after that. I felt a special bond with her.
My family left late morning to head back to Chicago - Steph needed to get back to work and my parents needed to be at church on Sunday. Matt and I hung out in the afternoon, and Chad came over to meet the baby for the first time. I remember that I felt really groggy during his visit, which was frustrating because I'd been feeling more alert during the day, even though I was still pretty weak.
After he left, I had the nurses help me up for some teeth-brushing, hair-washing, and a bathroom run, still feeling so helpless and tired. Afterwards, I decided to be a good girl and sit up in the chair for a while. I was hoping for a few minutes. But I sat there for a couple hours! Felt more energized as I sat. I think that this was a turning point for me.
Later in the evening, Chad brought Cheryl and the boys over to meet the baby (they were jealous that he got to meet Samuel and they didn't!). And then after that, Dr. Locke came in to see us. He pulled up a chair and stayed around for about half an hour, talking through, well, everything.
He talked again about how surprised he was that my preeclampsia had escalated so quickly, and confirmed that I really was on the mend, and that rest rest rest was the way to finish recovering. He talked about how he'd really rather not do a transfusion if at all possible, and that my hemoglobin had stabilized at 6.4, so he wasn't too worried. We talked through my recovery, and even about future things like birth control and our initial thoughts on future pregnancies. He was genuinely interested in how to be helpful if we try to conceive again. That felt really good. It's nice to be supported. He decided that, while I was on the mend, it would be best for me to stay in the hospital one more day/night, and to go home Monday, which I was totally fine with.
When he left, Amy and Erin, our nurses, floated in and out. It was one rare quiet night, and so they spent a lot of time with us. Erin helped me walk up and down the hall, and they both helped us improve our breastfeeding skills. Samuel's Saturday night weigh-in was low...6lbs 7oz from his birth weight of 7lbs 11oz, so we spent some time talking about formula supplementation and working on that. (The combination of c-section, preeclampsia, and low hemoglobin meant that my milk was going to be slow coming in, so nobody was overly surprised by the weight drop, but we definitely needed to take a few steps to make sure that he stayed healthy.)
We roomed in Saturday night, just to see what that was like, and they helped Matt a ton with that. I was still hooked up to the inflatable bed-booties, so I couldn't get out of bed to help when Samuel fussed. Matt was a trooper and tended to him, and brought him to me when it was time to feed. It wasn't the most restful night, but we survived.
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