Three Bells - Week 1

This is the longer version of CJ Weekly from Facebook ... just imagine I'm posting this on the 20th of August!

♥ Our Miss Charlotte is now 1 week old! ♥ 

After we'd finished up in the delivery suite & I'd had a shower, we made our way down to our hospital room.  Charlotte looked so tiny in her little plastic cot!  Trish told me I was in charge of pushing the cot down to the room.  I was instantly filled with a sense of fear ~ oh boy, this was it.  I was really responsible for this tiny, perfect little girl.  Me.  And Matthew.  Parents.  We walked down to our room, me pushing the cot, Matthew carting the ridiculous amount of gear we had brought (I just followed the suggested lists!).  I was rapt to discover that thanks to the wonderful Trish we'd been given a private room ~ it was actually another birthing suite (there were two that they used as rooms), so it was huge!  A double bed, ensuite, couch.  It also meant that Matthew could stay in with us for the two nights that we would be staying.  It was a huge relief.  I desperately wanted Matthew to be able to be there for our first night, as he was every bit as much a part of the experience as I was.  We were now a family of three, and it would have been awful for him to have to leave his girls.  

We had two lots of visitors that night, and then later on we set up the webcam & did a video chat with Nanna Bell & Karmen (we tried with Nanna Upton, but she was already on a plane to come visit!).  It was a wonderful feeling to be able to begin to share our little girl with our family & friends, after having them support us & cheer us on throughout our journey.

Charlotte slept most of the first night.  She had quite a lot of mucous, which the midwives told me would lead to her feeling full, so not inclined to eat much.  In order to get everything going with supply, one of the midwives came in to express some colostrum into a syringe ~ and as it turned out, I had no supply issues at all.  She told me they would be lining the bambinos up outside my hospital room!  We syringe fed Charlotte early in the morning just to ensure she was getting something, as she was too full & drowsy to pay much attention to the breast.  After this, being a first time Mum, the first few breastfeeds I called the midwives in to check on our attachment, but soon enough I felt confident enough to do it on my own.  Even though Charlotte slept well, I didn't get much sleep at all.  I was on the hugest high of my life.  I couldn't stop staring at her, I just couldn't believe she was finally here.  I had some wonderful midnight chats with Karen & Melly as well ~ ♥ you girls!

The midwives came and checked me out on Friday morning to see how I was recovering ~ less than 24 hours after giving birth my uterus had already returned to normal, and everything else was looking good.  I do promise to limit discussion of my body parts in future, I am just keeping this for my own reference!

Mum was on the hospital doorstep as soon as visiting hours started on Friday afternoon.  Naturally, she was one very excited & proud Nanna!  We had more visitors on the Friday afternoon ~ it was fantastic to see them all. 

A woman from the Pakenham Gazette came in to take our picture for the paper ~ so our little girl is going to be in the paper already.  What a star!

Friday night saw even more visitors, and by now Charlotte had her own little florist shop going on, and was already completely spoilt.  She was very happy to be getting so many cuddles!  It already seems like she's quite a people person ~ she doesn't seem to mind who is holding her, she just loves a snuggle.

Her second night was vastly different to her first.  She'd managed to get rid of most of her mucous and was very unsettled (though we were told by the midwives that this was quite normal for the second night).  She fed frequently, and wouldn't settle at all in her cot.  Matthew was a dream, and took her for a few walks around the ward so I could catch an hour sleep here & there.

Saturday morning was time for Charlotte to have a head to toe check, and all was fine, apart from one of her feet turning in slightly.  This is apparently quite normal ~ we just need to have some physio to learn how to massage her little foot to get it to turn out.  Trish came in to check on me, and how we were both going, and discharged us.  The time had come ~ we were heading home.  Matthew made three or four trips to the car to take all of the flowers, gifts & other stuff down, and then made the most important trip ~ to take our girl down.  Miss Charlotte was not very impressed at being strapped into the car seat (much wailing was heard), but as soon as we started moving she was silent.  

As we were nearing home, I thought back to how I felt throughout my pregnancy about bringing our baby home.  I'd never had any fears about the labour ~ my fears were always about bringing the baby home, and having to know what to do.  How could they let me go home with this helpless little baby?  Didn't they realise I was hopelessly incompetent?  But when the time came, and we were rounding the corner into our street, I felt completely different.  It felt so right ~ I was so ready to come home & start life as a mother, no training wheels, no call button for the midwives.  We were out on our own, me, Matthew, Charlotte ~ and I felt on top of the world.

We had a quick stop off at home to empty the car, and then had to go into town to collect Mum so she could spend the afternoon with us before flying home to Brisbane.  Even though I felt great, I was desperate for a shower and the lack of sleep from the night before was starting to hit me ~ I could feel myself zoning out from time to time.  When we got home, we had our first feed at home, and then I managed to squeeze a nap in.

Our first night at home went quite well.  Charlotte still refused to settle in her bassinette (the same as in the cot in the hospital) but slept well in our arms.  We started sleeping in shifts so we would both get some rest ~ and for each feed, Matthew would set me up with water, snacks, pillows, remote controls etc.

Trish came to the house on Sunday morning to check up on us both & do to Charlotte's heel prick test.  Our clever little girl had only lost 80g of her birth weight ~ Trish had been expecting 200-300g, especially as Charlotte is a teeny weeny pooping machine (usually two or three times a day).  So obviously my boobs are doing the job ~ hooray!

After a couple of days, Charlotte began sleeping on occasion in her bassinette.  It is still hit & miss, sometimes she will settle, sometimes she won't, but for us, the most important thing is for her to feel secure & safe.  We will not leave her in there screaming ~ if she needs comfort from our arms, so be it.  We have been reassured by the midwives that you cannot "spoil" our newborn daughter by giving her comfort, or set up bad sleeping habits this early on.  By the end of the week, she was much more secure & settled, and was sleeping most of her sleeps in the bassinette ~ only one sleep (usually the one around 3am to 6am) we are unable to get her settled on her own. 

We even managed a couple of outings!  We soon discovered that I needed a docking station for breastfeeding, to rest all of my "stuff" on ~ water, snacks, magazines, remotes etc. so headed off to the Salvos at Beaconsfield to see if we could find something cheap.  All of the women there just went gaga over our little angel (well, she was only 4 days old, and bloody cute!).  Thursday we took a trip to Pumpkin Patch (they had a big one day only sale) ~ and I had a ball getting some sweet girly clothes.  It was So. Much. Fun. to buy for our daughter.  Buying for Baby Bell, the unknown quantity was a different kind of fun ~ an unknown, a possibility, a dream ... this was buying for a little person, a little girl, who was already showing us little bits of her personality.

So it has been the most amazing week of my life.  I am absolutely adoring motherhood.  I am so surprised at how natural it feels.  I feel so confident in what I'm doing, and our girl is feeding like a champion, sleeping well (even though sometimes it is still in our arms!) and getting more & more settled each day. 

So far, Charlotte loves:

Feeding

Cuddles

Her hands

The car

So far, Charlotte doesn't love:

Being in the nuddy

The bath (I think this is due to the nuddy factor)

She has such an expressive little face and is quite the wind bag (just like her Dad, right?) and is really alert & *really* strong. Not that I'm surprised, given how she used to pummel me in utero! She already has quirkly little habits ~ she does a funky little rapid head shake, and a really weird ET crossed with Stevie Wonder head strain. We really have to try & catch it on video. She's also just started snorting like a little piglet, which cracks me up. 

♥ my girl. 

Our gorgeous girl, one day old

Poor Daddy, looking a bit sleep deprived

Heading home from the hospital!

Miss Charlotte, not happy at all about being put in the car

Having a sleep with Daddy