[Groan] A quote keeps going through my head today. Who was that pithy bastard who said “Today is the first day of the rest of your life?” Well, if the morning was any indication, the rest of my life will be filled with pain.
Why must these well-intentioned nurses abuse we new mothers so?
I tried to follow the advice of the books, the nurses, my intuition regarding nursing. But I don’t remember giving the invitation for these women to grab my nipple and cram it into my child’s face. Repeat this scene throughout the day and night, and that was my first day as a mom. Of course, that’s the cynical part.
The beautiful part of the day began with timid knocks on the door as Kelsey’s first guests arrived to check out the baby and, probably, commit my appearance to memory for future jokes.
Grandpa and Grandma Holt hung out for awhile, taking turns holding Kelsey and promising her wonderful presents. I think I even heard Grandma Margie promise her a pool to swim in during her visits to their house. Calls to Grammy Bethany throughout the day and to Grandma Pat brought more well wishes and requests for pictures (they’ll be sent out soon, moms!). Other visitors included Michelle and Jay, who are expecting Jackson’s arrival in about a month; Beth and Chip, who are contemplating the parent question as we speak; Amy and Walter, parents of Kelsey’s future friends Kyra (age 3) and Mia (age 3 months); and Jessica and Brian, parents of Connor (age 4) and Brandon (age 3 months).
When the guests left, we did our usual sit-around-and-stare-at-baby thing, staggered with a few scattered minutes of blessed napping here and there in between nurses’ monitoring visits and trying to feed Kelsey. I had forgotten about my own pain, so that evening I begged Candee–the best nurse in the universe–for some relief. She brought me little blue magic pills *sigh of relief*
Just as we were preparing to relax a bit, one of the nurses told us she had reported an irregular heartbeat, and they wanted the pediatric pulmonary specialist to check Kelsey on the EKG. After our own heartbeats settled down a bit, we brought Kelsey to the nursery and stood by, panicking, as the doctor poked and prodded our fussy newborn. Kelsey checked out fine. Her parents will need some therapy, though.
My best friend, Nurse Candee, took the baby for a few hours in between feedings so we could get a little rest. I contemplated renaming the baby in her honor. I got 3 hours of interrupted sleep. Life is sweet. Another dawn breaks into my window and steals away the quiet of night…oh, who am I kidding. Screw the poetic crap. Bring me more blue pills!
posted by terry on 17-Mar-2002 05:07 PM
EDIT: This is my VERY FIRST blog entry! Mommy milestone!