We had a vaginal delivery. I had originally wanted the delivery to all natural, but after over 20 hours in labor and allowing myself to become angry with others around me, I gave in and got the epidural. I had lost control of my own pain management. No biggie.
My husband "caught" our son, and the doctor had him set our son on my belly right after he had come out. I immediately stripped down my top half and pulled him to my chest. They barely had time to wipe him down. They then took him to a side table with a heat lamp and wiped him down, gave him a little bath, etc. Meanwhile, my husband was removing his shirt so that he could hold our son to his chest for a few mintutes and give him back to me.
I immediately went into breast feeding encouragement and Josiah latched on almost instantly. When they moved us to another room, he nursed the whole trip, even in the elevator.
The few times that they took my son away to the nursery for checks, either my husband, or my husband and I followed. We were the only parents there, though.
I would hold him as much as possible, but not when I was sleeping. The hospital bed had a poor design. Honestly, they should be prepared for co-sleeping. At those times, either my husband would hold him or he would sleep in the crib right next to my bed. Oftentimes, one of us would drape our hand over the side and place it on his chest or stroke his hair.
We stayed in the hospital for 3 days. That was hospital policy. I live in Alabama, US. I would have preferred a home birth, but midwives are still illegal in Alabama. So ridiculous.
When we got home, he would often sleep on our chests. We tried putting him in a cradle, but even then he would fall asleep on us first. And over time, we just let him stay in our bed all night
. He still wonders into our bedroom at around 3 o' clock in the morning.
I just leave the bedroom doors open after he's fallen asleep.
That way i don't have to get up. I figure, if he thinks it's worth walking all the way across the house, then it must be worth it.
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