Hospital Stay

This birth was a lot different then Anna's in that Anna was born at 11:45 in the morning and Ashley was born at 11:55 at night. Meaning that the bath and all the fun stuff that happens in the first 4 hours of her life took place during our sleeping time. With Daddy by her side while the nurses were doing routine care and the doctor was finishing up with mommy, Ashley was a champ! Daddy got to hold Ashley within minute of being born and got her to mommy as quickly as possible to try nursing- she is a barracuda just like Anna was!!! Extremely efficient too! Then Daddy got to give her her first head to toe sponge bath and they loved every minute of it!!

Those experiences are amazing no matter what time of the day they occur but it  meant that we didn't get much sleep that first night and if you know us you know we need our sleep!!! Ashley stayed with us in the room for the rest of the night since we knew that we wouldn't get much sleep even without her there.

The next morning, Ashley was able to meet Anna. Anna took to her sister pretty quickly (she calls her "bebe") and didn't really mind seeing mommy in a hospital bed and seeing mommy hold the baby (this gave me much relief!). But she wasn't too fond of daddy holding the baby- she is quite the daddy's girl! When her cousin Henry and Kate came to the hospital that changed everything! Anna turned wild and was running around the room and loved jumping on daddy's mattress that was on the floor. She was quite entertaining and she had so much fun that she left with a semi-black eye from falling while running around and playing on the mattress! All the kids were amazed at Ashley's small feet and hands- it was really fun to see! We were able to squeeze an afternoon nap in that day and enjoyed a BBQ dinner with my family that night. Ashley weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces on her second day.

Since our insurance covers 2 days in the hospital and since Ashley was born on Tuesday at 11:55 pm it meant that we would be discharged on Thursday..... not even 36 hours after birth! CRAZY! So we went to bed Wednesday night in hopes of getting a restful night sleep with Ashley in the nursery. Ashley did great- coming in about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to feed but mommy did not. I could not for the life of me fall asleep. Whenever I would lie down I would feel as if I was falling through the bed, I was hallucinating that I was a snake and that things were jumping out at me and I felt like I had zero control over my thoughts. These feelings lasted all night until I realized that I had slight effects with Anna. So I call the nurse in around 2 am and again around 5 am realizing the second time that I was having adverse effects to the narcotic pain killer they were giving me..... adverse effects that took every minute away from me sleeping.... I was totally ticked off at this medicine and was totally exhausted when morning came.

When the day nurse and my OB did the morning rounds I shared my story and they got me on a different pain medicine. Unsure of how I would react to that medicine, the hospital got in touch with my insurance and they granted me another night in the hospital. WHAT A RELIEF!

Once I changed meds and was able to get some sleep, I was feeling much better. Ashley did a wonderful job the second night in the nursery and we all woke up Friday feeling rested and ready to go. Ashley had her last weigh in at the hospital, weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces.

I said it when I delivered Anna and I'll say it again..... those nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center really do ROCK!

Much Love,
Jenny