The shaking. Oh my dear lord, the shaking. It's a side effect of anesthesia and sometimes just the physical shock of having your entire abdomen wide open to the fresh air. Or, perhaps just the shame of laying naked on a small, (oh so very small) table with many people around you poking you and sticking things like catheters into your bodily openings. It took about an hour to go away and finally I was able to hold Noah.
My family came in to visit and I was transferred to the room where I would stay for the next three days.
The rest of the hospital stay is rather uneventful. I woke up midmorning in the midst of the worst hot flash EVER. I was sweating and nauseated and so unbearably hot I made them bring me a fan! They took out my catheter and I was now responsible for peeing on my own, a nice skill to regain. I ate horrible food and struggled to get out of bed and walk around. I was surprised at how insanely puffy I still looked and felt, but it faded quickly.
Breastfeeding was established with little excitement. I did get an unsolicited visit from Hilda the German Boob Squeezer, er, uh, the lactation consultant. She grabbed my boob with one hand and my baby's head with the other and smashed them together the way you might imagine cracking walnuts. We both recovered in time.
Noah had a little bit of jaundice, his bilirubin levels stayed low, nothing to get worried about but I think the medical field intervenes too soon these days for fear of litigation. He spent a day on a bili-blanket, a UV-light that was strapped to his body. It really just made him warm and sleepy and he didn't want to nurse. For all future children I bear, I will nurse much more aggressively to help ward off any possible jaundice.
We came home on December 24th and started our life at home, together, as a family. A tired family. With a lot of poop (Noah) and unbuttoned shirts (Me).
Noah's jaundice never amounted to much because my milk came in the day we got home and ever since he has been attached to my boobs every two hours. He eats well and is growing like a weed.
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