Part Two: Hospitals, Home, and the Holidays

After what felt like an eternity, we were allowed to transition to our "recovery" room, where we left the baby in the capable hands of the nurses and got about an hour of sleep before morning arrived. I woke up with a start, my first thought being "WHERE'S MY BABY?", which struck me as odd, considering a few hours ago, I had no baby to worry about! Within minutes, the nurses brought in Hamilton to feed. I could not believe that I was holding my son, that it had finally happened, that he was HERE. At that time, they told me there had been "an issue" while we slept peacefully. After Hamilton's first bath, he was unable to get his temperature back up to normal, and he gave them quite a scare with how low it crept. They kept him under the warmer though, and promised me that he was looking much better and they would continue to watch him.

We stayed in the hospital for several days (5 nights for Seth and I total) due to a few tests that came back abnormal for Hamilton. All the problems in and of themselves would have been no big deal, but the combination of all of the issues caused concern. There was Hamilton's rapid breathing right after birth, his inability to keep his temperature up after his bath, low blood supply (anemia - perhaps due to the "trauma" of such a lengthy birth, or a tear in the umbilical cord), and a few other low (or high?) numbers of other things I can't remember. The doctors continued to reassure us that he looked amazing, he acted healthy, and they really weren't concerned, they just wanted to error on the side of caution rather than reckless abandon - which was fine by me!

In the midst of all this, we were interviewed by no less than two news stations AND the local newspaper! Apparently, 12-12-12 was a slow news day in B-town. We were the first couple to have a baby born on this once-in-a-lifetime date, and apparently the world wanted to know about it! Never one to shy away from the camera, I asked if I could shower first, and then readily agreed to an interview. I couldn't believe they even convinced Seth to talk! It was very fun, and I hope it will be a keepsake for Hamilton when he's old enough to love the limelight.

On 12/12/12, 16 babies in Billings

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/St-Vincents-First-Baby-Born-on-121212-183266511.html#commentform

St. V's first 12-12-12 baby | KTVQ.com | Q2 | Billings, Montana

While the hospital staff was amazing, and they treated us like celebrities, we were quite ready to leave by Saturday. Another one of Hamilton's "issues" came up in the wee early morning hours of day 4 in the hospital. By now I should have felt my milk coming in, but I hadn't, and was quite worried that, due to a reduction surgery in college, I may not be able to produce milk. I spent two hours feeding Hamilton, only to have him continue to wail. I finally called the nurse and told her about what had been happening. "Well," she said, "he has lost more than 10% of his body weight, which is more than we'd like to see. We'll see what we can do in the nursery." She left and I sobbed because I'd obviously been starving my child. As opposed as I was to formula feeding (at the risk of sabotaging my breast feeding chances) I couldn't bear the thought of my poor boy starving, so I asked Seth to tell them to give him a little formula if they thought he needed it. I gotta tell you, that was devastating for some reason. Even though I knew that this was a possibility, it's been the most difficult part of motherhood to adjust to - feeling like a failure and wondering if I can provide the best for my baby as nature intended. We're now supplementing with formula. After dropping a full pound, he's finally beginning to gain and has reached his birth weight again. With the help and encouragement of doctors, friends, family and lactation consultants, we're making it work with what we've got.

Little H came home Saturday and gave us a helluva first night, not sleeping AT ALL, instead crying like... well... like a baby! He kind of terrified us that first night, having us worried that if it was going to be like that, then quite frankly we'd just pass thank you very much. Since then, he's been a champ. Going to sleep around 10 or 11 and only waking at 3 and 6. Thank you Jesus! But man that first night was terrible.

Soon thereafter, we celebrated Christmas! We bounced from Seth's family to mine and back again. Hamilton was of course, a dream! The only issue was that although I spent 5 hours at my parent's house on Christmas, I was in the back room nursing and pumping for probably 4 of those. It was very overwhelming and disappointing. Since then, I've reduced to pumping twice a day. The day after Christmas, I turned my phone to silent and spent the entire day in my robe cuddling my baby with no visitors. After such a long, busy start to his life, it was just what I needed to gain a little perspective and sanity.

Since that first week, Hamilton has adjusted quite nicely to life at home. He sleeps very well at night (although we are still sleeping him in his swing - he doesn't like the pack n' play - advice?), and is becoming more alert and social during the day. He smiles, gurgles, holds his head up, and squeals like a pig. Everyone who meets him loves him, and we are completely head over heels. Every night at our "bedtime" feeding, I thank God over and over for a healthy, happy baby. We truly seem to have it all!