Monday, March 18, 2013

That First Night

Many new parents are always talking about that first night home with a new baby. It is terrifying. You're on your own, there's no nurse to help you. Your husband is even more clueless, in most cases. And if even the slightest thing is off you begin to panic. And with a wife on a hormonal roller coaster the poor husband is in the dog house no matter what.
 

Doctors would ask "how are things going? Are you getting enough rest?" etc and I knew what they were trying to get the feel of. Yes, they were concerned about me, but they also wanted to make sure Kelli was safe. I even had a doctor ask "have you had the thought or urge to shake her?" and I smiled and said "No. But ask me if I want to kill my husband." She laughed, (she's known me since I was five.)


With the jaundice making her so sleepy I had to wake her up. Which is unusual, to say the least. So I set the alarm for every 2 hours.  And I would be up for 1 of those 2 hours. I would have to make her stay awake to eat, which was a constant battle. So I was even more grouchy.

 

Troy had taken 3 days off, I would yell for him to help me and nothing he did was "right." He was too slow, doing something in the wrong order, etc. So then he would get hot, and then we'd stare at each other, knowing we were mad at the other person, but we knew that we needed each other.
 


I tried to have Kelli in her crib the first night. While pregnant, I didn't think it would be a big deal. It is. That first month the baby needs to be in the room, to save your sanity. Or else you'll drive your self mad getting up at every sound to make sure everything is ok.


So after 10 hours of forcing myself out of bed every 2 hours and arguing with Troy. I woke up again and just said to myself:

We made it.

After that, it just seemed to get easier. You get to know your babies sounds pretty quickly and once you do, life seems to be much easier.

For the soon to be new parents out there. You will survive!


No comments:

Post a Comment