The first night at home was very interesting. The little one has been feeding every hour and I was having difficulty breast feeding from one breast, so was breast feeding from the other breast most of the night which made the nipple on that breast very sore. The breast from which I was unable to feed was getting very hard, so I pumped it and DH actually spoon fed some of my milk to our little one when I was unable to get out of bed.
At around 4 a.m. the little one was very fussy but it was too early to feed him, so we decided that he needed a diaper change. DH did change his diaper (just from pee) and I took the little one to comfort him. As soon as I did take him in my arms, we heard a loud sound, then a burp and a diaper full of poo. The look on DH's face was just priceless. He did change him the second time. :)
I have been leaking like crazy from both breasts and found a cotton sports bra which is more like a tank top with elastic at the bottom, so I've been sleeping in it with breast pads. I've also been having night sweats, and woke up with the sheet, blanket and pillow all soaking wet (I couldn't figure out if it was from my sweat or from my milk). At 4:40 a.m. feeding I decided that I am going to get up when the little one next wakes up, which I was thinking would be around 6 a.m. so that I can start preparing for the day out including taking a long shower. The next time I opened my eyes it was 6:40 a.m. with the little one still sleeping. This was a nice surprise after short bursts of sleep in the hospital. DH & I had to wake the little one up after 8 a.m. as he needed to be fed and dressed for doctors appointment.
First thing in the morning we had the little one's pediatrician appointment. Unfortunately his pediatrician was not in so there was a substitute doctor. She did all routine measurements and then looked at the discharge papers from the hospital and was telling us that the numbers are high regarding jaundice and that if they are not in the acceptable range we will be readmitted to the hospital. Both DH & I were a bit upset after that appointment. She also gave us forms to do the blood work on Tuesday as well and asked to let her office know what the hospital follow up clinic would tell us.
The next stop was at the follow up clinic from the hospital to do jaundice blood work for the little one and also get some assistance for me with breast feeding issues that I've been having. The nurse and lactation consultant was very nice and experienced. She first did all the measurements and took all vitals of the little one and then took his blood (quickly and professionally), and then we proceeded to another room to figure out what was going on with the breastfeeding. It turned out I was doing everything wrong! With her guidance for the first time I had a very pleasant experience with breastfeeding my little one - pain and frustration free!
Once we were done, we were told that we needed to wait for the results and we should come back to the clinic after lunch. Since my parent's house is close to that clinic, we decided to go there for lunch (I was hungry!), and my parents loved to have us over. When we got back to the clinic we were told that the results were within norm - yei!!! So I called the pediatrician's office and left them a message that everything is fine and asked them to call me to let me know what was the next step.
On the way home, DH had to stop by his office to attend to some quick urgent matters, so we stopped there and I breast fed in a spare office. It was nice to realize that I can give my little one his food wherever we are without any special attributes (like bottles, hot water, formula) needed.
Well, when we got home the breastfeeding was not as successful as it was at the clinic (I was back at that troublesome breast), but have been persisting and it seems like it paid off.
Once we got home, I listened to the messages on the home phone and it turned out that the pediatrician did talk to the hospital follow up clinic, but she still wanted to see as on Tuesday morning. So, I guess we are going there tomorrow again.
In the evening, after a quick trip to the store to get more items, we decided to stop by my sis as she hasn't seen the baby at all. We carried the car seat in the hallway, and my sis started crying (happy tears). She was still getting over her cold so she was just sitting next to the car seat and telling us how she just wants to eat him, how happy she is and that she cannot believe that it finally happened and that this baby actually came out of me. We were supposed to just stop by there, but stayed for close to an hour, as my sis just wouldn't let us go. Our little one is so loved by everyone, it makes my heart melt.
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