Thank God for Grandma's

Wow! The first week at home was definitely a humbling experience. Daniel and I had so much company at the hospital and I was very overwhelmed with nursing and didn't feel very confident in what I was doing, therefore we made the dumbest decision we have ever made--- to not have someone stay with us our first night home.


With that being said, we got released from the hospital on Friday around noon. When we got home everything was going pretty smoothly, we had a few visitors and Daniel's mom cooked us a fabulous dinner (meatloaf, green beans, and my favorite--- mac & cheese). After everyone left; Daniel and I thought that things would be easy. We would just lay Caleb down and he would sleep until he cries to eat---- WRONG!!! We were up nearly all night with a very FUSSY baby.

Before my milk came in, Caleb had the strangest sounding cry- it sounded like a yelling SCREECH, not a pleasant sound at all. We would lay him down and he would SCREECH very loudly. In desperation, Daniel put him on his chest face down and that was the only way that he would sleep. I cried and cried because I was very passionate that Caleb was not going to sleep in bed with us, and here we were the first night home and where was he? In bed with us! The first night was just about survival--- haha we joke about how we are thankful Caleb will never remember any of the events that took place.

Needless to say as soon as the sun came up, I looked at Daniel in desperation and said "will you please call your mom and see if she will come babysit for a while so we can get some rest?" Mind you I was still very sore and getting up and down was quite difficult after my 3rd degree epistemology. Daveline, Daniel's momma, quickly came over and immediately took over. She watched Caleb while I napped and she cooked a gourmet breakfast for us. I was so relieved to know that I had such great help. Caleb is one blessed guy to have such a special Granny D. She stayed with us most of the day and made sure that we were getting rest. I could not have survived the first 2 days at home without her. Needless to say, I called my mom and told her that I needed her to come back that evening (Saturday), which she was planning all along.

Granny D ( Daniel's Mom), Caleb, and Daniel

When my mom got here she had BAGS of food from Sam's. She filled up my freezer and made sure that we had 3 hearty meals a day. She was AMAZING. She would clean up the house, do the laundry, and at night she would sleep with Caleb in the living room and bring him to me to nurse. She stayed with us until Wednesday and I was extremely sad to see her go. Experiences like this deepen your relationship with the people that help you the most. Daniel and I were so thankful to have our momma's love and support during this extremely emotional time.

Mimi (my mom) and Caleb

I know that I sound like I did not enjoy being a mom, and that is not true at all. I was so in love with Caleb, I just did not know what the heck I was doing. The first few days at home were tough because my milk had not come in and Caleb was not at all satisfied by my colostrum.

For all you first time momma's out there or people that plan on nursing in the future here are some of my favorite  "nursing supplies":

1. Lansinoh Lanolin Cream- use this a few months before the baby is ever born, will help with cracking and bleeding.
 
2.  Nursing pads- I used the disposable ones for the first 2 weeks, due to leaking. I just got the Lilly padz silicone ones and they are FABULOUS, worth the investment and you can wash them off and keep using them! 
 
3. A great rocking chair or glider

4. Medela Nipple Shield- Caleb had trouble latching on and this thing has been a God send!

 
5. A good stopwatch or you can use the clock on your phone- I just start the stop watch when I start nursing and then keep it going after feeding. When Caleb wakes up again or acts hungry I just hit the stop watch on my phone to see how long it has been since I nursed him last- much easier to me than trying to keep track of the time I last feed him.