Regardless, for all my whining and complaining about how I was over being pregnant at the end, I've come to realize that the extra week he hung out inside of me was really for the best. The nurses and the pediatrician commented on how strong his neck muscles were right away. We even got clearance to start tummy time immediately. He did (and still does) have a lot of dry skin from being in the "bath" for so long, but that will clear up on its own very soon.
He just seems more settled than most newborns. He doesn't fuss much at all, he sleeps for four to five hours at a time at night. He's fairly easily soothed with a pacifier or some rocking and bouncing. We like to say he's "advanced." ;) And for how long he was cooking inside of me, it makes sense that he is!
I had a couple of minor complications immediately after he was born. Apparently I was losing a lot of blood, enough to concern Anita and the nurses. They kept shoving on my stomach to try to get all the fluid out of me, and it was not pleasant. After 14 hours of labor, I just wanted everyone to leave me alone and stop causing me pain! But they were trying to lower my risk of infection, I suppose, so I didn't complain.
The first time I got up to use the restroom was an experience. First of all, my left leg was still numb (and would continue to be at least partially numb until the next night), so when I tried to stand up, it completely buckled under me. Luckily, a nurse was right there and was able to catch me and help me walk. But then I started getting a familiar hot feeling combined with a ringing in my ears that I've learned over the years means my blood pressure has dropped and I'm moments away from passing out. The nurses had to almost carry me back to the bed, where I laid and waited for my blood pressure to come back up. I have pretty low blood pressure to begin with, which was a real asset to me during my pregnancy. But it can also mean feeling faint like this once in a while when everything aligns in just the right way.
They had to hook me back up to an IV (and I had been SO glad to be rid of that thing just a few minutes before) and fill me up with a ton of fluid, which incidentally left me more swollen in the days after labor than I had been while I was pregnant. I also hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. I had ordered dinner from the hospital cafeteria just before I got the epidural, but once you get an epidural, you're not allowed to eat anything except ice chips, so the food was sent back down to the cafeteria. Normally, this would kill me, as I'm the type of person who needs to eat small meals all throughout the day to keep my blood sugar up or I become very cranky. But the thought of food during and right after labor was repulsive to me. They forced me to eat a few saltines, and even that was a chore. But the IV and the food seemed to help and my blood pressure came back up and I started to feel like myself again.
I got to hold Ryan then for a little while and feed him. I didn't want to ever let him go, but I was anxious to give Mike a chance to hold him.
Seeing my husband hold my son for the first time was nothing short of amazing. It suddenly felt like everything was complete. It was obvious that Mike was as in love as I was, and I just kept thinking, "those are my guys."
I always knew Mike would be a wonderful father, but actually seeing how good he is with Ryan goes beyond the high expectations I already had. And I always knew I would enjoy being a mom... but it's so much better than I could have imagined. It just feels right. It feels like our lives are so much more full.
Everything we enjoyed doing before, as a couple, seems even more exciting now. I would have had kids just to experience Halloween with them. Halloween is, by far, my favorite holiday, and I can't wait for years of costumes and trick-or-treating. We've always loved our Christmas traditions -- walking around the luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden, seeing the light displays in Sedona... and now we get to share that with our little Rhino! Plus, we can start new traditions, like going to see the zoo lights and getting up bright and early on Christmas morning to tear through presents from Santa. And then there's spring training... and weekend trips around Arizona... and swimming at night during the summer after the sun goes down.
We have so much to look forward to. But we're also enjoying each day, each hour as it comes. We're soaking up every last cuddle, every cute new expression, and every happy moment with our precious new son. We're just enjoying being a family.
You guys are like the cutest family ever. I luff yew all! :)
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