Connor's Birth Story Part II

One little nugget I forgot to mention in Part I that I don't want to forget is how hot I was during labor.  I guess because of the hormones?  But the room was at 55 degrees and I was still hot.  Poor Dallin and my mom were freezing.  All the nurses and docs came in in sweaters.  It was kind of funny how hot I was in a meat locker.

Anyway, up in the nursery, the nurses started calling Connor Mr. Toupee.  They told me that a dad came into the nursery and had hair jealousy.  He told the nurses, "WOW!  I thought my kid had a lot of hair but it is nothing compared to him!"  My uncle, who used to be a hairstylist in New York for celebrities, died on August 11 (in 2012), which is the day my induction started.  I actually felt my uncle kind of close during labor (which was strange because I wasn't very close to him) but we kid that Uncle Jim did Connor's hair before sending him down because not only was his hair incredible, but it had natural blonde highlights and tips!  The nurses commented on how they'd never seen anything like that color before.  He was famous on the floor because of his hair!

My stay at IMC was much more enjoyable than the U.  The nurses were nice enough to hold off bringing Connor to me for as long as humanly possible to allow me to get some sleep and rest.  They never once made me feel bad for sending him to the nursery and even encouraged it.  They didn't make me feel bad for letting him have a binky.  The lactation consultants were kind to help and didn't seem rushed and I never felt like a burden.

I was excited for Zoey to come meet her baby brother.  She walked into the room and yelled, "Where's my baby??"  She gave me hugs and came and held her brother and smothered him in kisses.  She has been nothing but loving to him (to me and Dallin it's been a different story).  She opened a present from Baby Brother (a Bubble Guppies coloring book and Peppa Pig DVD).  Dallin went to pick her up next to the crib and she started screaming, "NO!  Don't put me in there!  I'm not a baby!"  It was so funny.

Since I delivered in the middle of the night, I didn't have to leave until Friday morning.   Zoey had the chance to visit me again in the "sopital" and see "her baby."  I was surprised how good I felt.  My bottom felt pretty good, my tear wasn't painful, I was just a little shaky on my legs for a bit and my back was still quite sore.

When we got home the fun really began!  Zoey has been acting up (which we anticipated) but it's been hard and I've had a lot of guilt as she's not my sole focus anymore.  I've tried to spend time with her but with my milk struggling again, I'm nursing, bottle feeding and pumping.  I'm on Fenugreek and rented a hospital-grade breast pump.  Zoey takes my stuff and pretends to pump too, it's pretty funny. My time is limited right now but I'm doing my best.  My blood pressure is still bouncing around too so I have to keep an eye on it and take it easy.

Connor is such a good baby.  He only cries when he's naked and hungry.  He HATES his bath and getting his diaper changed.  He also seems to like his binky.  He's a great sleeper and I frequently have to wake him up to eat or I get an extended period of sleep. :)  Whereas Zoey was up every 3 hours on the dot and eating 2 oz. on the dot, Connor is a lot more mellow and goes with the flow.  He'll go 2.5-4 hours between feedings (and has already started to stack feedings at night) and eat 1.5-3 oz.  I love how Zoey has started calling him "Condor."  Sometimes she'll say it right but most often it is Condor.

Dallin is heading to Seattle on Sunday for two weeks (he'll be home on the weekends) and we're going to miss him so much, especially as Connor will change a lot too.   My mom has been helping a lot and will be helping a lot while Dallin is gone, but wish me luck as I try my hand as a single mom of two!