We arrived home on Sunday after four days at the hospital. I could have burst I was so happy to bring my little girl home to my big girl. Our new family is finally under one roof! Here are some highlights of Marin's birth.
We were late for her delivery. I screwed up the time of my surgery! Since September I've been telling everyone that at 9:40 on March 24th Deuce Perusse would arrive. People who know me might be surprised by this. I'm rarely late and detail oriented. Ultimately, I did find one notation in pencil on some paperwork sent to me in September. When we arrived at 8:15 as directed by the 3 people I met during my pre-op appointment - hello? not one of them caught it even though I said 9:40 a bunch of times- a flock of nurses greeted me asking if I was stuck in traffic. Ah what? My smiley response of "No I was told to be here at 8:15, an hour and 15 minutes before my surgery." The very kind nurse said "You're scheduled for 8:40." Needless to say they were anxious to get me on schedule and not screw up the whole day of scheduled surgeries.
The delivery itself seemed quick. I was walking into the operating room a short half hour after I arrived. I jumped up on the operating table (literally), had a quick spinal and they got to work. Dr. Metcalf, my doctor, was there along with Dr. Aron who assisted her. Dr. M told me she had to reassure Dr. A that I was normal because of the whole who-is-late-to-deliver-their-baby situation. The difference between my first section and this one was that I was well rested and showered. Also, everyone was very chatty talking about vacations, current events, etc. It put me at ease since being awake while they open you up is a little creepy . Add that to the fact that this was one of the biggest days of my life, I appreciated the distraction. Marin Jane Perusse arrived soon after they started! The celebration could begin! Since she wasn't expecting us that day and was happily resting in my womb, she was a little surprised and had to be stimulated. I think this was the first clue about her personality. She likes to sleep and relax. We have to wake her up to eat...often.
The rest of the day was spent in recovery and in our room. Our first visitor was Marin's big sister Katie, who was joined by Grammie and Auntie Sheila. Katie was all smiles looking at her new sister. Chad and I couldn't have been prouder. Katie has always been a well adjusted kid and she seemed virtually unphased by the whole experience of meeting her new sister and being away from us for 4 days (thankfully).
The low point occurred the next morning. After having a difficult time with nursing when I had Katie, I decided to give it another shot with Marin. I was hoping that the outcome would be different. After nursing for 24 hours and having the doctor already write a prescription, I made the difficult decision to stop nursing. Marin was a text-book nurser and thing were going so well. I had to finally admit that my body was not made for nursing. I figured that I might as well move forward with bottle feeding. Marin lost about a pound in the hospital most of that weight in the first 24 hours and left at 6lbs 2oz. She is beginning to rebound but is still our little peanut.
I spent the next few nights recovering and enjoying visits with family that came to the hospital to see the newest addition. My recovery seems to be accelerated by the fact that Marin could spend the night in the nursery with her buddies...at least that is what I would tell myself as I cried when I sent her down there each night in order to get some sleep.
We came home on Sunday morning and were happily greeted by Katie. She seemed really excited to see us and we were thrilled to see her. We spend our first day home relaxing and gearing up for the lack of sleep we knew was before us. Chad and I are a little more equipped this time around. We didn't know what we were doing the first time (sorry Katie!) but with Marin we each took a shift during the night and survived our first night at home. Marin is eating every two hours and then will easily go back to snoozing. I'm not sure if this will last but we'll definitely take advantage of having a sleepy baby.
Katie is adjusting well. We are trying to keep her in her routine. She isn't waking up when the baby cries at night. I don't know how that is possible. Marin can get fired up when she wants to eat. She also is not to pleased when she has her diaper changed. If Katie is waking up, she hasn't made it known to us. I wouldn't be surprised if she was up there "reading" since she loves to read her books in bed (light or no light).
So far, we have a happy and content baby. We've had a big week and can happily report that we are all doing well!
Marin is one month old now! She seems really excited about it if you can tell from this picture.
We went to doctor's on Friday and she is weighs 8lbs. 6oz. which is 2lb. and 4ozs. more than she weighed when we left the hospital. I could definitely believe it since I hold her alot (getting heavier) and feed her alot (getting hungrier). She's becoming more alert and aware of her surroundings. I know she has smiled at me a few times. She's becoming stronger and likes to look around to see what is going on. Her looks are starting to change from a newborn to an infant as she grows.
The only hiccup is that the doctor recommended we make an appointment with a pediatric opthamologist because she has a hemangioma near her eye, which looks like a red tear drop. When I asked the doctor for a translation (and a spelling), she said it's a cluster of blood vessels, similar to a birthmark, that can appear after birth. The doctor's said that it commonly follows the growth pattern of the baby so it could get bigger but typically goes away after a year or so. It's mainly cosmetic but because of the location near the eye, we agreed it would be a good idea to see an opthamologist in the event that it gets bigger and impedes her vision.
Overall, she is doing great!
