A bunch of photos from Ember's delivery and our time at the hospital.
In terms of delivery, everything went great. The epi worked wonders. Thank you western medicine. My OB was amazing. The nurses were amazing; especially my labor and delivery nurse Kara. Because of Covid, Ben was the only person allowed in the room. Kara stepped in and helped coach Ben and I through the process and treated us as if she'd known us for ages.
When Ember was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Doc took action quickly and clipped the cord. Ember was blue from head to toe. I was so scared when I didn't hear that initial cry every mom is anxious to hear. But the nurses placed her on my chest and rubbed her vigorously to get Ember going. She finally cried out and it was music to my ears. I wept with joy at that beautiful sound.
Ben got to do the daddy thing and clip the cord. I watched him marvel at Ember while they measured and tested her from head to toe. He looked like such a proud papa. Once she got their seal of approval, Ben brought Ember to me so I could hold her for the first time. There's nothing like those first moments when you finally get to put a face to all those flits and kicks. A face to the little life you've been nurturing for nine months.
The rest of our stay was per usual, but we were SO very ready to get home. Time passes in a weird way when you are in the hospital with a new baby. Everyone tells you to sleep and eat when you can and practice self care but fails to give you time to do any of those things! Ember wanted to eat constantly which kept me busy. And when she wasn't nursing, there was a constant barage of nurses checking in, lactation specialists, cafeteria staff bringing food, sanitation staff cleaning, hospital liasons asking how our stay went, pediatricians checking in. And all for good reason of course. But, come on, let a mama sleep!
The day we were due to leave, the pediatrician came in to let us know that Ember was slightly jaundiced so we had to stay another day. I was beside myself. I bawled like a crazy, hormonal new mom. I was just ready to get Ember home, lay in my bed, shower, and be with my family.
The jaundice process was tough. We couldn't swaddle Ember and she had to be under the light for three-hour, uninterupted increments. She was so exposed that her startle reflex kept kicking in which caused her to wake up and cry. We could hardly keep her under the light without her startling herself awake every few minutes and crying out. It was awful! Thank goodness for the night nurse who came in as soon as her shift started, handed me a bottle of formula, and advised us to top Ember off with the formula after each nursing session. She knew we were having a tough time getting Ember to settle and was determined to help us out. I was ready to do anything to get Ember past this terrible jaundice experience and to get us home. I nursed Ember, fed her that bottle, and as soon as she was done she was fast asleep and resting peacefully under the blue light. There was no more startle and no more cries of frustration from Ember. She was tested 24 hours later, we were discharged shortly after, and ready to head to home.
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