Hotel New Hanover Regional Medical Center

Sunday, May 20th
Upon his birth, Danny spent some time cuddling and nursing with mommy before meeting Nana (my mom), Grandpa (my dad), Aunt Ali, Uncle Kevin and Auntie Stef, who were all patiently waiting in the waiting room at this point.

After the initial adrenalin began to wear off, exhaustion set in, so I was happy to have a little nap in our postpartum room before Kevin, Stef and Aunt Kelly (in from Virginia Beach!) stopped by to bring us dinner (Flaming Amy's burritos for record keeping sake) and visit with Danny. We then went to bed early, so I was able to get a combined good night sleep between all the feedings.

Monday, May 21st
Wow, all the days are running together at this point, but I believe the day after went something like this. Kelly stopped by in the morning to see Danny once more on her way back to Virginia Beach. I ate a gross hospital breakfast. Ali brought Jimmy and I PT's burgers and fries for lunch - the whole birthing experience and nursing had me famished and craving junk food. Ali and my mom hung around to cuddle with Danny. We had multiple lactation consultations and Danny's first check-up with his pediatrician, Dr. Horger. In the evening, Mike and Brittany stopped by to visit with us and meet our little guy. For the first little bit of their visit Jimmy was with Danny as he got his circumcision. Before they left though they got to see Jimmy and Danny (still in the nursery recovering). Lastly on Monday we had Kevin and Stef bring us A Taste of Italy pasta for dinner.  I may or may not have fallen asleep while they were still there. Danny's nurses wanted to run some assessment tests on him, so they suggested they keep him in the nursery and bring him to me to nurse every 2 hours. Though the separation was a little strange, it was nice to be able to fully relax and sleep deeply for 2 hour stints.

Tuesday, May 22nd - Coming Home!
By the time we woke up Tuesday, we were ready to go home. All the check-ups from hospital personnel get really annoying - between my nurses, Danny's nurses, the birth certificate people, housekeeping, catering, newborn photographers, etc, it's just too much. Ali brought us Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits for a late breakfast. Katie and Jenny from work came to visit on their lunch break. They concurred with us that Danny is just the cutest little guy in the world (after AJ, Katie's son, said Katie). We were supposed to check out after lunch, but then our nurse told us that Danny needed to clear a 48 hour blood sugar test that would keep us there until 4:45 - Boooooo! Luckily Ali and my mom stopped by again to cuddle with Danny, so Jimmy and I could rest and relax. Finally at around 5pm, Danny and I were wheeled outside where Jimmy was waiting with the car. It was so nice to get some fresh air and finally be heading home. We stopped to get Japanese takeout (man, I really did eat nothing but junk post-delivery) before finally introducing Danny to what will be his childhood home. He was pretty unimpressed, but behaved nicely for us as we ate and unpacked. Thank heavens for the Fisher Price My Little Lamb Cradle and Swing from my Aunt Libby, Uncle Chris and cousins Kyle and Maddie! Though the first full night at home was trying and definitely an adjustment, I think we handled things really well. I managed to get enough asleep to not be too, too tired on our first full day at home on Wednesday, May 23rd - Danny's due date.