After having the most beautiful baby on earth and having an interesting hospital experience as I mentioned in my previous post, can you believe the nurses and doctors actually said we were all set to go home? We have been parents for 2 days, I barely changed a diaper without gagging, the boob situation is still a struggle, and my wife and I still have not slept more than 1 hour a night. You really think it’s a good idea to let us leave?
That was my thought, not sure if my wife was thinking the same. She definitely didn’t show it if she did. Clearly, you can see the strong one in this relationship. Anyway, aside from the initial freak out (seems like a common theme here with me), both of our minds went straight to the obvious; WHAT CAN WE TAKE WITH US!!
They have diapers, baby hats, lady pads, lady lotions, pacifiers, gauze, and so much more! Lucky for us our nurses put together a very helpful care package, that we of course filled with more goodies we found in the basinet. I mean, my insurance is basically paying for a college tuition rate to have us stay on a brick couch bed thing in the hospital, might as well get our moneys worth!
After we were done raiding the room, it was time to put the baby in the car seat for the first time. Granted we have the “Rolls Royce of car seats” (this is a direct quote from the Buy Buy Baby sales person), but I never thought it would be so difficult to get a 7 pound human strapped into a seat. After fidgeting with all of the straps, cushions, the mini awning, and breaking my fingers trying to clip it all together, it was time to head out.
Again, my driving record is dicey to say the least, so I know my wife was holding her breath the whole ride. To her pleasure, I drove a solid 30 mph the whole way home. It may have added an extra 10-15 minutes to the drive, but hey, my baby’s safety comes first.
We pull up to the house with our house decorated with welcome home signs, shout out to my mother-in-law and my parents! After introducing her to our dogs for the first time (which went amazingly well), you would think we would have a minute to relax and start figuring out our new life with a baby, right? WRONG! We had not 1, not 2, not 3, not even 4, but 5 visitors day one. The parade continued for the next 2 weeks, but honestly, I loved it. I loved showing my baby off and having all of her loving family and friends come to see her.
The first few days home seemed kind of like a blur. Our first night I don’t think we slept out of the pure fear of anything and everything that could possibly happen to her. She slept like, well, a baby! That is the one thing that my wife and I are very grateful for is that our daughter slept through the night for several weeks, but don’t worry, that did change eventually. I will get more into that at another time. Literally, she is awake right now fussing as I am trying to write this.
As the weeks went on I got the hang of everything, including becoming a diaper changing ninja, bath master, and soothing guru. Even though that includes getting poop all over my hands, getting splashed in the face and kicked, and hopping around like a bad Beyonce music video, it is all worth it to have her happy and relaxed. Maybe one day I will put out a tutorial on the dance moves that get her to sleep. Stay tuned.
1st Time Dad Probs 