If I'm being honest, this was not my best hospital experience. From the time Clara was born on Wednesday night until Friday morning when we left I think I had gotten about three or four hours of sleep total. I don't know what my problem was, I just couldn't get a wink of sleep in that darn room and that uncomfortable bed. So by the time Friday rolled around I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was kind of the opposite of my last baby - I loved being in the hospital with just Marty and my baby and ordering food and having all the nurses help with the baby. Ah well.
Other than being so exhausted, I was feeling good.
After all of Baby Girl's screaming right after the delivery, that was the end of it. She slept like a rock and there was absolutely nothing I could do to wake her up. I mean it's always been tricky to try and get newborns to wake up to eat, but with persistence I've usually managed. But this girl was so, so stubborn. Marty put some classical music on my phone for me the night before we went to the hospital and Brahms seemed to do the trick. I guess she's a keeper. ;) She has been, by FAR, my quietest newborn. Like, scary quiet. I kept wanting to poke her just to be sure. And she has been a quiet and calm baby ever since.
We had been reminding the kids about how the baby will hold their finger and Gabe couldn't wait to try it out. He giggled, it was so sweet.
Camille was so hilarious about the whole thing. We really thought her feelings toward the new baby could go either way. The first time she came to the hospital she totally kept her distance and said no to every invitation to look at, touch, or hold the baby. The last time we asked if she wanted to touch the baby she turned her body away from Clara and said, "I don't want it!" I'm honestly so happy we caught that exchange on camera, we will definitely be teasing her about it someday.
The next time she came she was a totally different toddler and oohed and ahed and couldn't wait to touch her. I guess she just need some time to take it all in?
It was about half way through our hospital stay that we FINALLY settled on a name. In the final running we had Clara, Meg, and Kelsey. I kept calling her by each of the names and I kept settling on Clara. I was worried because that was my fave and Meg was Marty's. But without having told him what I thought her name was supposed to be it seems like he came to the same conclusion. That's just her name. A beautiful name for a beautiful, peaceful, serene spirit that she had in that hospital room. Serene Clara Jean.
The second night there we took another stroll out to the garden area that they have for the maternity section. We discovered it with Camille's birth and it was so beautiful. The palo verde blossoms were so abundant on the trees that year that it was like walking into big billowy yellow clouds. When we found out the due date was for two days before Camille's birthday, one of the first things I thought about was that the "Camille flowers" would be in bloom again and I was so excited. Unfortunately our spring heated up so fast that all the flowers had already bloomed and gone and the trees were bare. I was really disappointed at first but then we had the whole place to ourselves and the trees, fountains, music, and environment were all so beautiful. I had one of my top ten marriage moments sitting out there on the benches with Marty staring at our perfect angel and passing her back and forth. Ahhhh.
The next morning (after my second night of almost zero sleep), I got up and immediately got myself packed and ready to get back home. The pediatrician, a doctor I love and totally trust, came in and told us he was a bit worried about her jaundice levels. He said he initially thought he might try to talk us into staying a bit longer so we could check her one more time before leaving, but after hearing this was our fifth baby and that we just really wanted to get out of there, he said he thought it was best just to send us home where I could nurse her in peace. I was a little worried about her because of how very sleepy she had been in the hospital, but I was also really confident and felt like I knew what signs to watch for and that she would be fine. So we changed her diaper and came home. We picked up BandB from school and they were SO happy to see her there in the car and be able to welcome her home! We got settled in and I was feeling pretty good. My parents came over that night and brought stuff for tacos. But Marty and I were starting to get really worried because she hadn't had a wet or poopy diaper since early that morning. We called the after hours peds number and they told us that because it had been 10ish hours at that point that we'd better take her to the ER (it was a Friday night).
This was new territory for me and I was a total emotional disaster. Not because of worries over nursing or jaundice, but because I am obsessive compulsive about germs. I was way more worried about the baby or Marty or I picking up some kind of nasty illness from the ER. We sat in the waiting room and I watched everybody hack and cough and nearly pass out and I just started to cry. Eventually they found a room that we could wait in alone. I'm not going to get into all the details of the night right now, but I will just say this. It was so inefficient and many doctors and hours later, we were finally on our way back home, for the second time that day, having been told that she was totally fine. Definitely not how I wanted us to spend our first night at home. We got to bed late that night but I will say that I FINALLY got some sleep! My mom stayed over and was on baby duty except for every few hours when she would bring her in to nurse. Seriously, as usual, it was Mom to the rescue.
And now on to Clara at home....
