Madelyn Bree's Birth Story (Part 3)

Disclaimer: This is a birth story. There are details. Read at your own risk. I am also dividing Miss M's birth story into 3 parts (pre-labor, labor, and post-labor) so that the blog doesn't go on for forever. Below is post-labor.

Madelyn was finally in our arms. We had waited what felt like an eternity, went through a really hard pregnancy plus a really rough year, and in a matter of 2 hours it was over.

One of the cool things about having rough pregnancies is that the minute they are over you feel instantly like a new person. I really think this is why I recover so quickly. Nothing is as bad as the pregnancy itself. I can walk without feeling nauseated. I wake up without having to run to the restroom immediately. I can eat. Oh, can I eat!! I think I drank 5 glasses of juice or water each hour after my delivery and ate a meal for three each time food was offered. It was such a great feeling!

Since Madelyn was born at 4:16 a.m.... wait, did I give the stats for her?? You are going to laugh. Here's how the story goes. After the delivery, Madelyn and I do the skin-to-skin thing for a while and I feed her. Then, her and Jeremy are taken away to get all clean, get her shots, and her stats. At that time the nurse came in and started having me sign all the papers that I should have signed before delivery and asked me all the pre-labor questions. It was quite fun. "Do you want drugs?" "Yes... wait... it's too late isn't it??" Ha! I always like talking to the nurses. They are truly great people to do what they do.

When we got done and I was released to go to the recovery wing, the nurse wheeled me over to where Jeremy was watching Madelyn. This is how our convo went:

Me: Hey, how's she doing?

Jeremy: She's fine now. She really hates being messed with.

Me: Yup. She was that way in the womb too.

Jeremy: Guess how big she was?

Me: I don't know. 8 lbs?

Jeremy (laughing): No, she was 9 lbs 5.6 oz.

Me: NO! You are lying. She was not that big.

Jeremy (still laughing): Yes, she was. You should see her next to these tiny babies.

Me: There's no way! That's soo embarrassing...

Jeremy: Why is that embarrassing?

Me: Because I birthed a month old baby!!

Jeremy: You should be proud. You even did it naturally!

Me: That's what makes it even more embarrassing. I had no clue. I don't want anyone to know.

Jeremy: You are being silly.

Me: I'm just so embarrassed.

So here's the thing. I don't know how Madelyn came out so big. I barely ate the entire pregnancy!! Plus, I didn't measure big during the weekly measurements. It just doesn't make sense. But she's here. And she looks like she's a month old.

And now that Madelyn's out of my belly homegirl likes to eat! Is this a trait of bigger babies?? I really feel like a drink fountain right now. In fact, at her first doctor visit, 5 days after she was born, she actually had GAINED 6 oz. Our pediatrician, who is truly amazing, even laughed because at the hospital he told me that larger babies tend to lose a lot more weight in that first week. Oh, no. Not my girl. She went from a newborn diaper to a size 1 in the span of an hour AT the hospital.

We are thankful that Madelyn is a great baby. She sleeps well, obviously eats well, and has a pretty good temperament. She definitely has a temper, but it usually means that we aren't moving fast enough for her liking. These babies of mine are very demanding.

The hardest part of post-labor was the week after and all the guilt I felt of not being able to give all my attention to Bradley or do things for him that I normally would. He would want to snuggle while I was feeding or want to play while I was trying to get Miss M settled and with every no tears would just stream down my face. Jeremy took him to school for me that first week and I cried because I couldn't take him myself or pick him up. It was a horrible feeling, but as I talked to more women and realized that they, too, had felt this with their second, it healed me knowing that I was completely normal in my messy hormonal ways.

Plus, Bradley really likes "baby". Whenever she cries, he says, "Baby, okay?" or "Mama. check baby!" He gives her kisses and even played doctor with her yesterday. I, also, had to remind myself that this is all temporary. In about 4 months, Miss M will be on a good schedule and we'll be functioning way better as a family. What's 4 months?? Heck, while I was pregnant, we spent 4 months in my bed watching cartoons! We'll be just fine.