The After Birth

No, I am not talking about the ACTUAL "After Birth". :) Just what happened at the hospital after Lyla made her appearance. The doctor got me all cleaned up and stitched up since I got a 2nd degree tear. Then we all got to fight over who got to hold her. :) I finally got to eat after 21 hours of not eating anything. It tasted SO GOOD! Chicken Fettuccine, salad, ice cream, and about 4 cans of apple juice. :)

 

Chris's sister Sarah arrived in town from Provo at about 7pm, and then Chris got to go give Lyla her first bath! I am glad Sarah got some good pictures so I could see how it went. :) The nurse told them that Chris was so cute with her and so careful, he was so afraid he was going to hurt her. I loved it.

After that everyone went out for dinner, I sent Lyla to the nursery, while I got to take a bath in the Jacuzzi tub and move to my recovery room. Once I got settled they brought Lyla back to me and we got to just snuggle together, just the two of us, till everyone got back. It was the best! We visited with our family for a little bit longer. Chris's cousins Tyson and Laura came to visit us for a little bit and then it was time for bed. I was EXHAUSTED! It had been about 40 hours since I had had sleep so I was definitely ready. We had the nurse take baby to the nursery while we slept, but bring her to me when she was hungry. Nursing was a challenge for a while. Lyla had a difficult time latching on, but 2 weeks later, she is a pro! It just took some time, patience, and meeting with a lactation specialist to finally get it down. :) Between feedings and the nurse coming in to give me pain meds and check my vitals, we were able to get a few hours of sleep. Haha

The next day was pretty relaxing. We got to just hold our little girl and had lots of fun visitors! Our Pediatrician came and checked on Lyla, and Dr. Leavitt came to see how I was doing. Lyla had a little bit of Jaundice they were watching, but it wasn't too bad. He told me to just keep feeding her and it should be okay! Chris's Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Randall stopped by as they were heading back home to New Mexico. Grandma Karma came by for a bit, as well as our friend's Jenn, Melissa, and Dain! What good friends and family we have. It made us feel so loved. :)

 

Also, that night for dinner the hospital gave us a Celebratory Dinner where I had steak and Chris had salmon, and we also had ceasar salad, rolls, a HUGE piece of chocolate cake, and sparkling cider. It sure was Yummy!

During that second night at the hospital, there was one time when I was trying to feed Lyla and she was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs! Chris was sleeping on the little couch next to me and would not even budge. She was screaming, I was yelling his name, and he would not wake up! I finally had to lean over and nudge him a bit to finally get him up. I could not believe how he was sleeping through all that! I just needed a little help with her so I could go to the bathroom. :)

The next day we pretty much just got up and got all packed up to go home. We got all of the paper work done, watched the mandatory CPR and Purple Crying videos, and got on our way! I had a cute little outfit picked out as her "going home" outfit, but things were a little busy that I didn't even get around to putting it on her. I had put on a pink onesie that was meant to go under the outfit, so that's basically what she wore with her socks and swaddling blanket. But we were so excited to head home and start our lives as a family.