Part Two: The Hospital

Grandpa with Eva

Our family had such a wonderful hospital experience at Baylor Grapevine. After my original visit last Sunday with a pre-labor pains and infection I was a little worried because that day wasn't as positive, but my fears about actually staying in the hospital were put to rest when we arrived. Since most of my laboring took place from 7am until 7pm (when I was transferred to the Mother/Baby unit) I was lucky to have Nurse Patti with me the whole time. She was so helping and comforting at a time when I was not so sure about what was happening. She did everything she could to work along side my doctor to help avoid the c-section and answered all of my immediate questions as soon as I woke up from the surgery.

We were also blessed to have 2 other amazing nurses, Nurse Tatum and Nurse Lizzie, who just both happened to work several back to back shifts with each other the days I was in recovery. Since they switched out for each other they would keep each other well informed and I always felt like they knew what was going on. Not only were they professional, they were caring and friendly. Nurse Lizzie even said we were her favorite couple in the unit because we spent a lot of time watching Saved By the Bell on dvd and she would always make jokes about the show when she came in. If you are reading this and you are a wonderful nurse, or studying to be a nurse, know that your love and attitude can make such a huge difference at a difficult time. Based on the things that they had to do it was so obvious to me that nursing is not glamorous and many of the situations can be gross or awkward, but our nurses were so helpful. We nominated both Tatum and Lizzie for "gold star" hospital awards.

Mamy with Eva

When we had Eva we asked that it would only be our parents in the waiting room so that we didn't feel pressured to visit with everybody right away. We knew that they would want to hold and see Eva as soon as possible, plus there were a few times when I really just wanted to see my mom and have her tell me that everything would be okay. Ryan and I are thankful for great parents who are already loving grandparents. We are also thankful for all of the lunches and dinners they made sure to provide for us while we were there :)

Papa and Nana with Eva

On Friday we were ready for just a few more visitors. Our parents came again, along with some more of Ryan's family, and my best friend Erica. Saturday was our big day when we were really ready to see some more familiar faces. I felt like we had the perfect amount of company! If you got to come see us, know that we appreciated the time you took to see our precious baby, and if you didn't that is also very okay with us. We know that everybody has busy lives and by the end of Saturday we were worn out.

Eva meets her best friend and cousin!
Ryan's sister Amanda and her 3 month old baby Mallory.

After our first night in the hospital, we were so exhausted by the whole go through labor, try to recover, and take care of your brand new baby experience that happens within the first 24 hours. For the 2nd night we decided to send Eva back and forth to the nursery a few times, with her only coming in to nurse. That gave us a little bit of sleep so we would be more recovered the next morning. At first we felt so guilty but Nurse Tatum assured us that it was really a wise choice and that she would not be the only baby in the nursery. Don't judge us, and if you ever wanted my opinion, I would recommend the same thing because it was so helpful to rest especially because the pain of my c-section has been worse at night than in the day.

The 3rd night we also sent her to the nursery but this time it was harder. After sending her I started feeling much worse as far as recovery and had to get some extra meds and help from the nurse. A while after that the nurse came back and told us that while in the nursery they were assessing Eva and realized that she had dropped down to 6 lbs. It is normal for babies to loose some birth weight right away but they were getting concerned and recommended that she stay in the nursery and get a few formula feedings that night. This made me so sad! I am not against parents using formula, but its not what I wanted to do for me and Eva. They said that it was my choice, but that if she lost any more weight it would be likely that the pediatrician would require her to stay another day or so after I was released. I did NOT want that. Ryan was so supportive and in the moment reminded me that I already felt really sick so I probably wouldn't nurse well that night and that it would be best for Eva and that a few bottle feedings didn't mean giving up on nursing. It was an emotional decision, but I think it went well and helped us all get to go home together. I'm still nursing now but have to continue to supplement with a tiny bit of formula using a dropper at each feeding.

Eva meets one of mommy's best friends! "Aunt Erica" is always so much fun!

Throughout the hospital stay, my husband was so incredible. I think he knew that he'd need to help out, but I don't think either of us realized how important his role would be. It was really difficult for me to do even simple tasks like getting out of bed or changing Eva's diaper so he pretty much had to take on completely caring for both of us. He was just as tired as I was (minus the surgery part) but was so encouraging and didn't complain about how hard it was to do everything. He is the best diaper changer and blanket swaddler I've ever seen! He loves on Eva and does a great job of soothing her. He was always so kind and didn't make fun of all the awkward parts that go along with taking care of a wife post c-section. When I was hurting or on meds he did the best he could to communicate to the nurses what I needed or to remember what they were telling me when I couldn't keep my eyes open. If someone asked me what to look for in a potential husband, I would say to keep in mind that one day you might completely need that man to take care of you and your child, so pick someone who is humble enough to serve you and strong enough to take on the pressures that go along with that.

Great Grandmother Dede (My grandma)

The rest of this posting is mostly just pictures of people holding a baby. (The same adorable baby...) I know it may not be interesting to everybody, but I want to remember how loved we were while we were in the hospital. Plus maybe you'll get to see yourself on the blog which is always fun, right?

Great Grandfather Papa (My grandfather)

Great Aunt Sherry and Uncle Mark (Ryan's Aunt and Uncle)

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Craig (My mom's best cousin)

Pastor Scott and Koni with their kids

Great Aunt Terri and Uncle Peter (My aunt and uncle)

Uncle Greg and Aunt Melody and our neices Kiersi and Kayden (Ryan's brother and family)
It seems like they were just babies!

Great Grandpa (my Grandpa)

This looks like an ordinary picture of breakfast, but it represents much more than that. On Saturday morning, I woke up a little before Ryan because I knew they were about to bring Eva back to me after her nursery/pediatrician assessment. I also knew that breakfast was soon to be arriving on a tray. As I lay in the stillness of the room I thought to myself, "It's Saturday. I sure would love a special pancake breakfast." Wow. I was all smiles when the hospitality woman arrived with this tray. I told her that it was exactly what I was hoping for and that I was so excited to eat it! Plus it was actually very tasty.

Leaving the hospital! Apparently no matter how much they care for you, eventually they make you go home and learn to do this whole parenting thing on your own.