Day #2 (Tue., Jan. 5, 2010) – Katie’s First Full Day
The nurse brought Katie back from the “newborn baby nursery” just after midnight. Hard to believe that just one day ago she made her entry into the world. My wife was having a hard time feeding her at 9pm last night so the nurses said that they would wake her and see about a feeding after midnight. I just got back from having a late (or early) dinner at the cafe downstairs.
Katie was not being very cooperative and we found out that this was because she needed a diaper change. Looks like I’m the head diaper changer, at least for now. So, diaper change #2 for daddy…here we go. I’m still having a hard time getting the hang of knowing if the diaper is snug or not…but as long as it stays in place and doesn’t fall off I consider it “mission accomplished”. We’ll finish the fashion look and accessorize it when Katie gets a bit older… 🙂
12:30am – I finished cleaning up diaper #2, and gave Katie back to my wife. A few minutes later there was a little “pop”, so…time for diaper change #3. I’m getting loads of practice at this. I did notice that Katie likes to have her temples rubbed…that seems to calm her down for some reason.
Katie back to my wife again. After feeding it was time to put her back in her basket. I snuggled her in with a blanket around the mattress, not like swaddling in previous times. Not sure if this is better. Her little night shirt was bundled up behind her, that’s why she was fussy. I smoothed it out and she was fine.
Little Katie had some hiccups. Whoops, I forgot to burp her. Up into my arms again. I tried, but the hiccups didn’t go away. Back to my wife for a bit more feeding and by 1am the hiccups were gone.
It’s 4:00am and my wife woke me up after a couple of hours sleep. She had just finished feeding the baby and wanted me to burp her and put her to bed. I was so tired that I didn’t even hear the nurse bring the baby into our room. I guess Katie was crying quite a bit looking for her next meal, and I slept all the way through it.
I don’t seem to have the hang of this “burping” thing just yet. I might have to get the nurse to show me. My wife would normally be able to help me, but she is sore and can barely move, let alone do anything more physical. Guess this is good training for “first time” daddy.
I’m scared about burping Katie for two reasons. I’m afraid that she is going to fall over my back and onto the floor. I’m also afraid that I will hit her too hard. Guess I’ll get the hang of it given practice and time.
4:30am and Katie is still moving and fussing. The nurse came and told me that I might try swaddling her. I guess that babies like the tight fit of a “swaddle”. Swaddling is the one thing that I have not been doing lately…I’ve been tucking the blanket under the mattress. The nurse showed me how to swaddle. She had Katie put her hands into the blanket which means that this is one less distraction…sucking on fingers and such. She seemed to really like it and was nodding off pretty quickly.
4:45am – I just helped my wife go to the bathroom and get back into bed. The nurse took Katie to the new born nursery, and my wife and I are ready to get some well deserved sleep.
8:15am – Time for another feeding. My wife had me get little pink mittens out of the luggage to protect Katie’s face. They do not clip baby fingernails here at the hospital, and Katie’s fingernails are scratching her little face.
8:45am – Katie is hiccuping after her feed. Nurses don’t seem to be too worried about it, but it looks very uncomfortable for new parents. I changed her again and there was a lot of pee on the mattress. Hmmm… I think she might have peed while I was changing her. Quite the job to change out the diaper, the blanket, the mattress pad, etc.
9:30am – My wife and I decided to go for a walk around the hallway with the baby. The nurse told her to walk around the hallway three times today. I took my video and camera. Katie was fussing a bit, and when we got back to the room (after 3 loops) she really went for a feed. My wife said that this was the time she “latched on” the most.
10:00am – My wife is feeding the baby so I called up our pediatrician to make an appointment for Thursday. Here at the hospital they want to know we have this appointment before we leave. They would prefer Thursday, but Friday is okay. We got the 1:30pm Thursday time slot. I also got Katie put on my wife’s health insurance plan.
11:30am – My wife is napping, so I went to the cafeteria for lunch. Chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. They dropped a newspaper off at our room, so I read that as I ate.
12:50pm – The baby’s crying got me up from a nap, and I passed her off to my wife for a feeding. Just 10 minutes long and Katie was out for a nap again. She seems to be getting much more food in a shorter time period now.
1:30pm – My wife had the lasagna (+yogurt +cheesecake) tray that they brought for her lunch. I had to go heat the water for her tea up in the microwave.
3:30pm – The nurse was in and asking about poop/feeding. I said to check with my wife when she got out of the shower regarding the times and amounts.
4:00pm – My wife and I went with Katie for another quick spin around the hallway.
4:30pm – Wifey is feeding Katie again.
5:00pm – My wife and I took Katie for another 2 loops around the hallway.
7:15pm – I just got up from a nap…so about 1.5 hours…I needed that. My wife was answering some emails and sending photos…first time she has done so since having her baby.
7:30pm – I had a shower so that I look nice with some photos with the baby. We have a new nurse who seems to be a Type “A” personality…she wants to poke her head into our room every hour. We told her that we would rather have rest, but I don’t think it registered.
8:45pm – I went downstairs to get some dinner. Homemade cream of mushroom soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato.
9:15pm – When I got back to the room my wife was discussing the baby’s weight with a nurse. The nurse felt that she was starving and it was because the nurse got the wrong baby’s weight.
9:30pm – Katie is eating again. This is the first time that she held the breast in her hands…like a bottle.
10:15pm – Katie was put into her bed, then she started to mouth and move, so she’s back feeding again. Just a note. I notice that sometimes when you are burping her she makes little “squeaks”. Guess this is because her lungs are so small.
WHAT I LEARNED TODAY
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1) The importance of swaddling.
2) The baby burping process.
3) Hiccups are okay.