Erin and Jonah were released from Salem Memorial Hospital yesterday at 4 PM. After a short little drive, we pulled up to our house, opened the garage door, and Jonah was home.
I have nothing but superlatives for the doctors and nurses of Salem Memorial Hospital. The competence, care, and compassion we received during every interaction was remarkable. They’re all just terrific professionals and terrific people. Further, I need to acknowledge the incredible support Erin received during the birth from Mary Gregory, RN. Mary stayed with us through the entirety of the birth—literally beyond the call of duty since her shift ended some 4+ hours before Jonah was born—and her help was invaluable. We feel so blessed to have had her assistance in delivering Jonah into the world.
The birthing process was a little rougher on Erin than we originally thought. For Erin, that’s because the epidural made it impossible for her to feel anything. For me, it was probably that I was so captivated by Jonah and Erin that I didn’t notice. (I didn’t see the placenta get delivered either, but obviously it was.) Erin’s been literally sitting on ice and taking pain meds and anti-inflammatories as she heals and makes her way back to normal. So this isn’t an easy time, but she’s slowly on the mend. We are very eager to introduce Jonah to everybody, but we appreciate your understanding if this takes longer than either you or we would like.
We had the Mother-Baby follow-up visit at Kaiser this morning. Missed the appointment time by 30 minutes even after allotting 2 hours to get ready for it. That does not bode well for our punctuality to future events! Nonetheless, we did get to Kaiser eventually and the nurse checked Jonah over and pronounced him in good shape. Erin got a couple breast feeding pointers as well, but on the whole that’s been a non-issue. Jonah latches on really well, and Erin’s milk has come in
We let Jonah sleep in bed with us last night, and we’ll probably continue do it that way in the short-term. He also naps nicely in the car seat, so I don’t think he end up snooty about where he’s placed for a nap. The bed is just very convenient for Erin and Jonah since both can doze after a feeding. Initially I was a little uncertain about this arrangement, but upon reflection, I decided that having the infant sleep next to Mom (or Dad) would likely be normative for the species. That sounds high fallutin’ and I don’t mean it to. All I’m saying is that, like breast feeding itself, infants sleeping with parents seems like the most natural approach to it, and that’s a strong criterion for me in judging the merits of any particular parenting practice. Before too long we’ll be moving Jonah into a bassinet then a crib then a bed. We’ll enjoy this for now.