40 Weeks- The Real Story- Part 2

Around 4-4:30 in the morning, we were moved to our post partum room where we would finish our stay in the hospital. As I was wheeled out of labor and delivery and Preston pushed Kinley in her crib, I was expecting to see the eager grandparents on the other side of the door. No one was there. They had already been shown to our new room and were waiting on us.

The proud Daddy showing off his little girl

Grandpa O

Grandma Snow

Uncle Jeffrey

Daddy is simply smitten with her. :)

Claire met Miss Kinley but was being shy since she had just woken up from a rest in a waiting area. They told me she stayed awake until 3-3:30 but then just couldn't make it any longer. By 5:30ish, they had retreated to our house so we could get a little bit of rest. If you have ever stayed in a hospital you know the action starts again early in the morning. We probably got a 45 minute cat nap before breakfast came, the nurse came, the nursery nurse came, the baby wanted to eat, etc.

Around 9:30, we wheeled Kinley down to the nursery for her first bath. Before the bath she had her footprints taken.While we were in there, a sweet 'sister' came in and sang a little song to Kinley and prayed over her.

She was getting warm under the warmer before her bath. They must have a certain temperature before they can  have a bath and after before they can go back to their room.

Opal is the nursery aide. Apparently, she is also a super star bather. By the looks of her age, I would have never guessed that. However, Kinley came out smelling clean and had a mohawk.

See?!? Smitten.

They even have matching old people hands

Grandma is back!

Cousin Claire getting her first hold on

Grandpa O with his granddaughters

She's got it down!

Group picture!

Brother and I with our kids

Dad's first (like very first EVER) diaper change

Taylor and LeFlore came to visit!

We tried to take pictures with all of our visitors but I am sure we missed some here and there.

We made it through an entire day! Now if we can make it through the night... Our night time nursery nurse had told us she would be coming to get Kinley a little before 2 a.m. because once she is 24 hours old they do newborn screening on her. Before that we called the the nursery nurse to come down because she seemed inconsolable. She decided she was hungry so she didn't make it to the nursery until around 3. At that point, we said they could keep her until her next feeding so we could try to get some rest. She came back to us around 6 a.m.

After she ate again, I took a shower and got ready for the day. My doctor came by (I think I failed to mention that he did not actually deliver Kinley and was off on Wednesday so his partner came by to see me so Thursday morning was the first I had seen of him) and said he would be sending us home.

Then we were given a discharge check list of all the things we needed to do and people we needed to see. I had to see my doctor and give them a follow-up appointment date, Kinley had to see her doctor (who was out of town so she just saw a hospital pediatrician) and give a follow-up date. We had to see the photo person, the birth certificate lady, lactation nurse, sign the vaccination paper, get home care instructions for Kinley, have the baby's security bracelet taken off,  and call for a wheelchair. All of that took several hours and then we were on our way!

Hospital photographer

Dad preparing Kinley for Tobie's kisses

We made it through our check list and have her strapped in ready to go!

Dad's face as we get closer to home

Per my request, my Dad, Brother and Claire were not at our house when we got home. I asked them to go somewhere for a little while so we could introduce the sisters and have some time with our new little family.

Big Sister Tobie checking Kinley out

Giving her a good sniffing

First time in her crib

When we got home, Brother, Dad and Claire had chalked our driveway and front porch. My family has been chalking driveways for special occasions since the 90's! For this to be done by my brother for us was really special.

Laying Kinley out for a picture

A family shot with our decorated driveway

Claire decorated all of these letters

Sweet girl!

Dad, Brother and Claire left our house and went to a hotel for the night. They had planned on going back to Enid but a storm came through so they went to a hotel. Shortly after they left, we tucked Kinley into her bassinet (which happens to be the one my brother and I used as a baby) by our bed. Tobie was excited to have us home again so she tucked right in by us. Whenever she heard Kinley, she kind of looked around teh room like, "what was that?!" She slept for about an hour and then woke up hungry. My first thought was, "That didn't last long." Tobie walked to the edge of the bed and curiously looked into the bassinet. We all got up for this feeding and then went back to bed. At this point, Miss Kinley takes her sweet time eating so we were up for a little over an hour.

After being back in bed for a while, Kinley woke up again. Preston did not. He was sleeping so sound, I hardly heard Kinley's peep over his deep breathing. You would have though HE gave birth to her and was just so worn out from it. He did not hear any of us get up. Tobie, Kinley and I retreated to her room and the glider for a snack. After that she slept until 5 ish.

This time Preston stirred a little and was amazed that she slept since we all laid her back down. I quickly said, "No, no. we got back up." He felt bad for not hearing us and told me I should have woke him too. I find this all funny because before Kinley was here, Preston was a light sleeper and I could sleep through anything (including 3 alarms in the morning). Convenient how that has changed? :)

We got around for the day. Grandpa O, Uncle Jeffrey and Claire brought lunch and then we headed out the door to go see the doctor. When we checked out, Dr. Fields (the pediatrician Kinley saw in the hospital) informed us that we needed to see someone in our practice on the 20th. He told us when they send babies home so early, they like the doctor to check them out within 24-48 hours. I jokingly asked him if it was to make sure baby and parents made it through the night without the handy nurse button that would send someone in to help if you needed it.

At this appointment, all of the nurses swarmed around the scale to check her out. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces (which it is normal for babies to lose weight but they want to see them back to their birth weight by 2 weeks). The last weight we knew before leaving the hospital was 7 pounds 12 ounces. Other than her weight, Whitney (the physician's assistant) said she looked good and a pretty little girl. She asked us to come back on Monday for another weight check.

As you can see, we made it through the night on our own and are on our way to figuring out these things called parenthood, breastfeeding and operating on small amounts of sleep.