First off, HAPPY ONE WEEK OLD to our little Benjamin!! I can’t believe it. As always, time goes by way too fast. That day I had him was just amazing and I just keep retelling it over in my mind.

Back to continue my story in the hospital. Brad had to leave… =( I wanted him to be able to stay but my Aunt couldn’t watch Katie overnight so he left to go take Katie home for bed. I spent the rest of the night just staring at our little guy and the usual. He had his first poopie diaper at 6pm! lol. He had at least 3-4 of the tarry meconium poops and then had the biggest one sometime overnight and it was a big ole sticky mess. The nurse helped me so we could get him some other clothes. It was like 4:30AM when I cleaned him up and the nurse noticed he was a little jittery and was afraid it was low blood sugar and noted that his breathing seemed heavy so she took him to the nursery to have him looked at, just incase. Well, she came back a bit later without him and said that his blood sugar was fine, but that his breathing was a bit erratic so they were keeping him to see how it went. Well, long story short- that’s where he stayed. =( The nurses took EXCELLENT care of me and I would always ask for more water/ice when they came in. Everything was fine for me, as far as just having a baby. Vitals were always great but my only problem was my feet/ankles were still swollen but the nurse said that could last for up to 2 weeks. Oh, and really sore hips of course. I couldn’t really sleep into that morning after Benjamin went down to the nursery so I just snacked, fiddled online, and watched my YouTube videos. I eventually got a little sleep. The hospital food was beyond AH-MAZING! They did bring me gluten free everything. One morning I had 2 giant pieces of gluten free french toast, 2 sausage patties, and eggs. I ate every bite lol. Brad came back the next day but it was closer to noon. We could go see Benjamin any time, so we did and they would call my room when they saw that he acted like he wanted to eat and I’d go down and try to nurse him.

We continued to do this Wednesday and Thursday but I was being discharged Thursday. I went down to visit Benjamin and heard the Doc talking to another and because of Ben’s levels with the blood culture for the group b infection they wanted to keep him another night and wait on results. Nooooo. I could have “nested” in a room after being discharged but that’s only IF a room was available. So, with a sad heart, I had to leave my bitty boy overnight so he could continue to be watched in the NICU for his breathing, potential off levels for the group b infection, and they had found a “shadow” on his lung but come to find out- it was only from his airway on that side not completely opening up but they did something to “rattle” that and then the x-ray showed it was clear, thank goodness. Brad and I packed our bags and got ready to leave. They gave us a lot of stuff to take home, which was so awesome. My hospital experience was the best it could be, really. Everyone was super nice. One tech even loved my birth stories (from Ben and Katie) so much that when she was getting ready to go home at 7AM one morning she brought her nurse friend into my room with her so she could meet me lol. I will admit that I cried a bit after we left and were driving in the car. I just didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t have to leave Katie like that but then I realized it would be nice to go home, take a nice bath, and get excited to go back the next day to finally bring him home! We were 100% bringing him home Friday, even if he had something with the group b infection then he’d be sent home with antibiotics (but he didn’t! yay!). I didn’t sleep that much even at home, just too excited and missing my little boy. Also, because Benjamin was being discharged from the NICU- Brad and I had to pass a CPR class before we could take him home. So, we got up Friday morning and I took Katie to the bus stop and we left the house later around 10AM to go back to the hospital. We stopped at RaceTrac and I got this amazing self-serve yogurt… strawberry! I put a few cherries on it and they were SO delicious. Off we went!!! Get there and go visit our little man! YEEEE- was so happy to see him again. The nurse had called me earlier that morning to say he was deffo ready to go home. He had been moved up another floor to another NICU cubby hole type room. We stayed there until we had to go for the 2 hour CPR class. It went great but my hips were really starting to hurt, I was starving, and tired. We finished and got our certificate-woot-then I was about to pee my pants so I used the restroom and we went to sit down in the lobby so we could eat! I was beyond starving. It was about… 2:45pm and we went up to get ready to FINALLY TAKE HIM HOME!!! The nurse went over various things with us. Oh, and he was circumcised so we were given the directions to ensure that was healing properly. Finally- we got the wires off of him and I got to dress him in the cute outfit that has been sitting in his diaper bag for about a month! Very exciting. I signed some papers and they brought the wheelchair, since I had to be sitting in it holding my baby on the way out for the “proper discharge protocol” I guess. We took a family picture right before we loaded him into his car seat for the first time! Next, we wanted to stop by my OB office to pick up my electric breast pump, since I needed it but Brad got sooooo upset about traffic. We made it just as the OB office people were getting ready to go home and they got to awe over little man. I LOVE MY LITTLE ELECTRIC BREAST PUMP! It is awesome. It’s the Ameda brand and I love how compact it is. We drove back through more traffic to come back so Mom could meet Benjamin. We made it and let Mom hold him just for a little before it was time to COME HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME and get something to eat for dinner.

Since he’s been home- of course it’s been rough sleep wise but he’s a great baby! He gets fussy with gas at night but the other night Brad rushed out to get gas drops that really seem to help. I’m expressing great amount of milk and even had to freeze my first bag of it today!!!! I get about 2oz per side and I pump every few hours. He is starting to sleep longer and last night was the first night that I was able to get a “little” more sleep and it was HEAVENLY. I’m so glad Brad got to take a little more time off work but went back Monday and is loving his new job still, which makes me really happy.

I am totally loving life right now. I’m going to cherish every moment. Oh- back up- Katie did get to come to the hospital the day he was born and so big sister got to meet little brother and she lit up like a Christmas tree the first time she saw him. Since we’ve been home she has gotten to help with a few diff things with him as well. I love my little family. I’m so blessed to have them.

Welp, little man is starting to wiggle and I have to get up soon to start dinner. So thankful, grateful, and blessed for everything Heavenly Father has given me! =)