Baby Moon

Now this might cause some disagreement with my home birthing friends, but I have to say, I love giving birth at the hospital.

We can agree to disagree, right?  Variety is the spice of life and all that.

Perhaps I have just been fortunate enough to have really wonderful experiences every time.

For example, I have had wonderful nurses, every single time.

I have had dr.s who always supported my choices for natural labor, even when it meant pushing for 2.5 hours to get out my gigantic first baby.  

My dr. never said, "I don't think it's going to happen.  Time for a c-section."

Instead, she looked me right in the eyes and said, "Greta, you have to get this baby out.  NOW.  Let's do it."  And we did.

I have been allowed a room full of people to cheer me on and pray with me.

I have never had to share a room as I recovered.

My husband has stayed with me each and every time.

My babies stay with me the whole time and spend almost all their time in my arms.

But the best part about staying in the hospital is that, for a few short days, the rest of the world is cut off, and baby, Daddy and I are in a sort of cocoon.

We just rest and revel in one another while the rest of the world races on outside our window.

Inside, it is calm and peaceful and we relish every minute of our time there together.

Because, like my sister in law so aptly put it, when you get home, there are going to be dishes to wash.

That's just the way it is.

I think this time was even more special than usual.

The days leading up to the birth Davy had been so busy and chaotic, I was even more exhausted than usual.  I needed to rest.

And knowing I was coming home to a house busy with 3 other kids, I wanted the most time I could have to spend with just my newborn baby boy.

I won't have lots of quiet moments with him.

I won't have hours to let him lay on my chest and sleep.

Time for those things will be harder to come by,

It doesn't mean our life won't be full of other wonderful moments.

They'll just be that, moments of a different kind.

So I wanted to make these moments I had with just Davy boy last as long as I could.

I know now how fleeting they are.

Plus, the view outside my hospital window wasn't too bad to look at for a few days.

Aaron's first day and a half after Davy was born was a bit more chaotic than mine.
While the grandparents minded the kids, he came back and forth to the hospital several times.
Friday and Saturday he was there with me and Davy between dr. visits for the boys,  James' last baseball game and cleaning up the house after the kids all went down to Fallbrook to spend the night at my parents.  He stayed with us Friday night but was off to the ball game Saturday morning.


Davy and I just spent a lot of time doing this. 

We both slept a lot.  We got to know each other better.

It was just what I needed.

But everything was so much better when Aaron arrived Saturday afternoon and didn't have to leave again.  We were so happy to see him.
We ate dinner together.  Our hospital offers a special celebration dinner for new parents.  
Steak and sparkling cider.
We watched the lights come on in the harbor.
We rented a movie and watched together from the hospital bed.
It felt like we were on vacation.
It was great.
I'm not kidding.
We had a really great time.
Because, you can have fun almost anywhere if you really want to.

The next morning Aaron brought me coffee (because hospital coffee stinks.  and it's decaf.  what's the point?) and we enjoyed a relaxing morning together.
Hospitality services brought us breakfast--no cooking, no dishes.
I told you, I don't mind the hospital.

When it was time to go, I could not help getting emotional.
I was saying goodbye to labor and delivery, the recovery floor, to this part of my life.
It made me weepy.
The nurses all smiled at me and said, "We'll see you next time!" but I think 4 sounds good right now.
But it is still hard to say goodbye.

As we drove away from the hospital, Aaron said, "are you hungry?"
"Yes, I am.  What do you want to do for lunch?"
"Let's go out."
"Can we take a 2 and a half day old baby out to eat?"
"Sure we can!  This is our 4th kid.  We can do it."
So we did.

We went to one of my favorites, Starling Diner.
Davy slept the whole time.
Our other kids were at the grandparents--we were living it up.
The we came home.
The house was sparkling, there were flowers and a card for me on the table.
The next day was our anniversary--our 13th.
He didn't forget.


Aaron unloaded our bags, my sister in law brought us dinner and we settled down for our fist night home with Davy boy.  

The next day we took him in for his first check up, a blood draw to check his jaundice levels and then went out to lunch again.

It was our anniversary.  We celebrated.

We got coffee and walked around our favorite vintage shop and I nursed Davy in the car.

The whole time we were out we could not help laughing at how easy it all seems now.

With James those first few days, weeks, months even seemed so overwhelming and stressful.

A trip to the dr. required enough luggage for a week away.

There was worry about almost everything.

But now.....it's a piece of cake.

Doing anything with just 1 kid, only a few days old who just sleeps, eats and poops, is completely relaxing.

We enjoyed every minute of it.

The rest of the kids got home late that afternoon and the relaxation, our baby moon, was over.  

It was fun to introduce them to their new brother. (they didn't meet him at the hospital because of the strep that the boys had)

But there was definitely more chaos and disorder and none of those quiet, calm moments we enjoyed together when it was just us 3.

I am so grateful to our parents who stepped in and took our kids, stayed with them, entertained them and shuttled them back and forth to Fallbrook so Aaron and I could have time together with just the baby. 

I didn't worry about them for a minute and was able to fully enjoy my new boy and my man.  How lucky am I?

It was a wonderful couple of days.

I won't forget it.

We'll never have that time again and I cherished it all.

Thank you guys.

Love from,

Greta