Monday, January 25, 2010

The Book of Eli: Part 1

My heart is fillled to bursting...I never imagined I could feel so much love for someone...and along came Elijah Graham.

Chapter 1

Birth.

January 18, 2010 8:15 am
Eli is born.
Immediately, I fell in love with his lips...for the daughter, it was his ears.

The daughter's surgery went well, and I was honored (and somewhat stunned) to be right there with her as her support person. Never in my life have I seen such sights...the insision, the blood, the not so gentle pulling and tugging, her insides, a patch of the boy's black hair...and then there was Eli in my arms (after a brief bit of screaming in another room...a temporary clean up, suctioning, and then into Grammy's arms!)



Chapter 2

Recovery.
The daughter was in recovery for awhile before she could officially meet her son. In the meantime, the OR staff whisked me away to watch him get weighed ( 6 pounds, 10 ounces), measured (19 1/2 inches long), bathed, and dressed by the nurses in the baby nursery. Finally, the moment came when the daughter could meet Eli. She was so tired and still hooked up to an IV which made it difficult for her to use both arms. She also had 24 hours worth of something called a magnesium drip for patients who have had pre-eclampsia so they will not have seizures. Nice. No worries at all. It made her feel groggy and, for lack of a better description, heavy-limbed. Eli spent the entire night with us, and I was all to happy to take care of him. The daughter is breastfeeding, and obviously she needed help at this point.


Chapter 3


The real room!

After her 24 hour medicine drip and monitoring, they finally moved the daughter to a regular birthing room- very nice "suite" with lots of hard wood floors, pretty decor, and not so comfy furniture. So much happened in Room 340...bonding, feeding, snuggling, hugging, kissing, and gushing over all of the perfect baby parts that Eli has, taking photos, continuing recovery for the daughter, and visiting with the 3 visitors that were allowed to visit (the hospital has very strict visitation rules since November 2009 for pregnant patients, new moms and newborn babies...only 2 support people and the grandparents are allowed- that's it! Apparently, great-grandparents don't need to be on that list, much to my father's dismay!) We were in Room 340 for the rest of the hospital visit- from Tuesday through Thursday,and then it was FINALLY time to go home! (By the way, I didn't have time to realize that I looked like hell...LOL...almost no sleep, THE most uncomfortable couch / bed, and a sort of primitive shower set up...too happy to care really!)

Chapter 4

Home.

Dorothy wasn't kidding when she said, "There's no place like home." January 21, 2010. It was a cloudy, dreary day, but we were so ready to leave that place. The husband was awfully cute as he scurried about getting things ready to help take the grandson and the daughter home...putting in the infant carseat, packing the enormous volume of items that had gathered in her two weeks in the hospital prior to the c-section, and just being so happy not to be home alone...We were so ready to leave. I must interject here that the daughter could not have had better care; she had some awesome nurses that were extremely helpful and informative. I asked specifically for six comment cards to write personal thanks to each one of them!

Home...home was on the horizon!



(So very tired. Doctor's appointment tomorrow early...so to be continued...)




1 comment:

Arizaphale said...

Oh my my my my my.......what a journey you are on together! This brings back so many memories as my mum was with me at the birth of the BA and my dad brought us home from hospital, all serious and driving slowly.....:-)
A looks so peaceful and happy with her little bundle. I hope she is healing well and will get that blood pressure back to normal in no time.
Can't wait to hear more of your stories....