With all the preparations the day before and me needing to take a shower before all the activities and with the moel coming in at 7:15 a.m. I only had 2 hours of sleep the night before Brit. I have no clue how I functioned, but I was so hyped up that I didn't feel the lack of sleep until the very end.
So on Thursday, March 22, 2012, DH & I were both up very early, after a feeding I took a shower and DH stayed with the little one by 6:15 a.m. DH was out the door as he needed to pick up coffee and bagels/pastries for the celebration and be back home by 7:15 a.m. I was reading instructions that moel sent us and it said that we needed to put a special cream on our little one's pee pee an hour before brit (which would make it by 6:45 a.m.). I did read the insert that came with that cream and was scared to do anything with it, but I had to, and with shaking hands I was applying the cream on my baby and then putting cello wrap on top to make sure the cream stays on the pee pee and is not absorbed by his diaper. It was a challenge for me - to tell you the truth, but I did it and was proud of myself.
By 7:15 a.m. the door bell rang and it was actually my boss and clerk (the only two people from the office that I invited), then more people were coming in, and the moel didn't come in until 7:30 a.m. which was still fine. I had some time to chat with the guests and show them our little one (usually on all the brits that I've been you don't see the little one until the actual ceremony, so I was pleased that our friends could see the baby since it did take an effort for them to get up and get to our house at such an early hour). The moel took us upstairs away from the crowed and we went through the details of the ceremony. We needed to pick a childless couple to bring the baby into the room, and we had two couples like that - our friends and my cousin. We picked my cousin, provided she would get to our house in time. She did and while the moel was telling guests a little about the ceremony, me, the baby, my cousin and her husband were hanging out at another room. The ceremony started exactly at 7:45 a.m. We had a little wrinkle though - the moel said that the ceremony would start 7:45 a.m. sharp notwithstanding if any of the people were missing. The missing person was my BIL (DH's brother) as he was supposed to pick up coffee at Star.bucks that DH ordered and already paid for, but the "nice" people there forgot to make it. DH was very upset so we told BIL just to get to the ceremony and that we would pick up the coffee later. He made it just after it started, so I was relieved.
My plan was to hang out in a different room to not see my child being hurt. But the moel said that I should be next to my DH who was standing at the table where the "procedure" was taking place. We picked my dad to hold the baby. The good thing with this moel was that my dad was not actually holding the baby on his lap, but the baby was on a table and he was just holding the feet. Even though I was standing very close to the whole "operation", I wasn't looking. I turned and put my face on DH's chest so I wouldn't see anything. Apparently, it wasn't that bad. Our little one barely cried. DH was giving him whine and he was sucking it very vigorously so DH had to replenish it a few times as the moel said it is ok for him to drink it. DH told me that when the moel opened our son's diaper, he got a nice surprise as the little one had an open-air accident (i.e. peed on the moel). The ceremony itself and the "procedure" was very quick - the moel had just enough mix of prayers, tradition and some humour. When everything was done, the moel turned to DH and told him "DH, nice penis" to which my a bit embarrassed DH replied "thank you". He was commenting on the little one's, as after the job was done it was perfect. After everything was done, the guests were mingling and having breakfast, while the moel was showing us exactly how to change the gauze and diaper for the little one in the next few days. He also gave DH a gauze with the skin that he cut off and told him to bury it outside (which is what one is supposed to do), then he added that we should water it every day. That led to a funny conversation on what is going to grow out of it (and I'll leave it up to your imagination). The watering part was a joke though. DH and I were first thinking whether we should bury it in our backyard or at his dad's grave (as we will eventually move, but the grave will stay). After doing some research, I found out that the custom of burying the skin is to get rid of the negative energy that it carries/represents, so it is not a good thing (as DH & I were thinking that it still has part of our little one's soul). So since it was a negative thing, we did bury it in our backyard.
After that conversation the moel left, and I went upstairs to feed the little one. He quickly fell asleep (still being drunk from the ceremony) and I joined the guests downstairs. As there were many people who I haven't talked to since before the birth, I had to tell the birth story a few times that day. At the end we had a few couples left (who didn't need to go to work) and they stayed at our house until close to noon. I actually bid everyone farewell much earlier and went upstairs to try to sleep. I was exhausted and in a lot of pain (headache and the incision) from all the preparations and the day's events, but I couldn't sleep, so was just laying in bed until I heard that everyone left.
The whole experience was much better than what I was expecting so I was very happy about that, as I was very anxious about Brit when I was still pregnant with the little one. We did end up with a lot of food - too much!!! As some people who said the were coming didn't come. Oh well... We gave some left overs to my parents and then to my sister who was having people over that afternoon as it was my niece's birthday.
After Brit, DH was changing diapers himself and would not let me touch it. He was in charge of putting the gauze on as well. The moel did an amazing job. He explained to us exactly what to expect. However, after the first change that he did himself showing us, there was no more blood, and everything healed just perfect!
I got a call after the Brit that we are getting a big delivery. The girl who called, said that it will be delivered in the afternoon. I asked for when exactly, and she said she didn't know. I told her that the weather is nice and we are going for a walk so if I am not home, just leave it at the door and we try not to be gone for long. I waited for it the whole day and at around 6 p.m. I left a message for that girl saying that it hasn't been delivered and that the next day, we are not waiting for it, so she should call me back and tell me the exact time of deliver. Of course, an hour later (around 7 p.m.) we got the basket. The boss of that company actually hand delivered it as she lives in the neighbourhood. It was a huge basket - actually it was a wagon filled with lots of goodies. I made tons of pictures and sent a thank you email to my boss. We still didn't unpack it as I want to make a picture with the little one in front of it so we can see the size difference, and I still didn't get to it.
In the evening on the 22nd was my niece's birthday. A few days earlier we were with my sis and BIL, and when my sis asked if we were coming, my BIL said that we should not as with the little one being after his brit and in pain it was not a good idea. Thank G-d! As I was trying to think of an excuse myself. Not that I don't love my niece to pieces, but the whole experience of sitting at the table with the little one is a bit overwhelming. But on the day of the birthday, my sis was insisting that we would come. So we decided just to go for a walk and stop by. We didn't have a present (as I wasn't planning on going) and then I saw a Minnie mouse toy that somebody brought for our little one (even though he is a boy), so I took it and told my niece that it was a little something from the little one. Apparently she loved it, go figure... The little one was very fussy, so we didn't even came in, just stayed in the backyard for a bit and when he was getting too overwhelmed just continued with our walk.
During the rest of the week, as the weather was great, we tried to spend a lot of time outside, and went for many walks with DH. I have been getting into a better shape, lost 15 kg in a week, as when I first weight myself when I got home from the hospital, the weight was the same as when I left to the hospital. I was so disappointed. But during the week the weight just started to melt off very quickly. Now I weigh about 5-6 kg less than I did pre-pregnancy. The goal would be to keep that weight and lose more once I am clear to exercise.
On Friday (March 23) we had another appointment with the pediatrician. She weighted the little one and he gained almost 300 grams, which was great. She had no further concerns about his well being and we scheduled an appointment for the following week with his real pediatrician. The funny thing happened is that the little one had a very poopy diaper, the doctor opened it to take a look at his "thing" after brit and ended up actually changing him herself, which was kind of strange, but we didn't mind.
My incision was oozing in one spot and I was figuring out what to do about it over the weekend, so on Monday (March 26), I called the follow up clinic and asked if one of the nurses can take a look at my incision. They said that I should talk to my OB, so I called the OB office and left a message. The nurse called me back and told me to remove the sterile strips that were holding the incision together as it has been over a week since the surgery and gently rub the incision with alcohol to keep it dry. I told DH and he said that he would take them off for me. I was standing next to him and he was slowly peeling them off. It didn't hurt and I couldn't see anything, just the strips that he already peeled off. The next thing I know, I felt like somebody put a bag over my head. My ears were popping and I could barely see - everything was in a fog. I was getting cold sweat and couldn't stand. I didn't know what was happening as I have never felt this way in my life- the thought of me dying did cross my mind. DH helped me down to a chair, slapped my face a few times, brought me water to drink and a cold wet towel for my face. It took a good 10 minutes for me to feel normal again. DH said that my face turned white and my lips turned blue. So I guess I almost fainted (I've never fainted in my life). The funny thing I have no clue what caused it, as I didn't see anything, and even if I did, I've seen some bad things done to me before, so not sure.
Then the little one was very fussy, and we couldn't figure out what was causing it. He finally felt asleep on my chest - skin-to-skin and after about an hour passed a lot of gas and kind of felt better, so we decided that he had gas and that's why he wasn't feeding properly as well. Once he woke up he was fussy again and I opened my baby book and tried different techniques to get rid of gas, but it wasn't helping. We looked at his belly button and his cord was hanging on a little thread, so DH decided to cut of the big dry piece and leave the smaller piece to fall out on its own, when it's time. Otherwise the big piece was tugging on clothing and was making him uncomfortable. I had to hold the little one and the big piece while DH was trying to make the cut through the big piece that was already dry, at which point I broke down and almost fainted for the second time that day. For some reason I became hysterical and DH had to calm both myself and the little one down. I did get a hold of myself and we did cut the big part out (the little part actually fell out the next day). At some point I saw my cell phone and decided to check when was the last time he ate. It turned out the little one was just very hungry and that's what all the fuss was about.
On Monday night we also gave the little one his bath again. We had to wait until his "thing" is healed, and it healed nicely. The pediatrician on Friday also commented on how nicely his "thing" was healing.
The nights are getting better little by little. DH and I still watch TV until around 11 p.m. before going to bed, and the little one wakes up about 2-3 times per night. The good thing is that he has stretches of up to 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is amazing. Although, one of the feedings at night takes forever (almost an hour with all the stopping and going).
We also gave in and bought some pacifiers when our little one was 10 days old. I was so against them, but they made our life so much easier. The baby book that I was reading recommended pacifiers until the age of 3-4 months, so we will see how it will go.
No comments:
Post a Comment