Birth Recovery - A Queen Bed!

For those who have followed this blog, are on my Facebook, or know me, you're quite aware of my struggle with our family's move from North Carolina to Ohio this year. In fact, my Colorado family says I complain too much. So, here's a change.

I left off my last post with sharing how Faith was handed Timothy, still attached to the umbilical chord and dirty. In the previous three pregnancies, I cut the umbilical chord, the nurses took the baby to clean, and then we held the new child. This new procedure was a bit weird, but we went with it. No joke, Faith held Timothy like that for about ten minutes. After the first couple of minutes, the midwife came in and said it was her first missed delivery. She then continued to talk to Faith, remember that Timothy is still attached to the chord and dirty, and talked about the placenta, and how people like to keep it. I joked how much I'd love to have a placenta smoothie. I'm pretty sure the midwife was someone who would do that, but oh well. Finally, I cut the chord, without blood splattering on me as it did for our previous child, and life was good. 

Then, I asked the question..could we move to the special room with a queen-sized bed. Yes, I was thinking about myself. I wasn't sleeping and spending the next two days on an uncomfortable rolling chair. To my relief, the request was granted. We moved to the new room, and our mini vacation began as the three kids were at the grandparents. 

Here's where the change takes place. This didn't happen in North Carolina. I did have my own fold out couch to sleep on, which was nice, but I put it up when visitors came. In Ohio, the bed stayed down, and the few visitors who actually came to see us (North Carolina one-upped Ohio in that category), had chairs to sit in. I literally was "in bed" for two days. On top of that, when Faith ordered her meals, she was always able to order extra so I actually had food too. Usually, the man is left to fend for himself!

For anyone reading this with children still to come, here's advice for after birth:

1)First and foremost, make sure you give your baby to the nurses at night so you can sleep. For those who say you can't let him/her go, you will regret it in the next few weeks when you don't have help.

2)For first-time moms, let a consultant help you with breast-feeding. Don't do it on your own if it's not working!

3)Make sure ahead of time with your friends that they are or are not welcome to visit. If you just want the time to yourselves, just say that. I will tell you that if you do spend the normal two days there, you may get tired of looking at each other. Remember, the baby will be sleeping most of the time. 

4)Let go of all the work and home distractions and enjoy your time together with you new child.

Man Advice:

Check ahead of time about your sleeping situation. If you are relegated to a small, uncomfortable "reclining" chair, see if they can bring in a cot...make sure there's no charge with that!

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