Alexandra was born Feb 12th and that day was filled with so much chaos! Firstly she was born vaginally without medical intervention. No drugs people. No drugs. And it was the best. I’ll have to talk about that in another post.
I had to stay in the hospital for two nights because of complications. Without getting into too much detail, my blood was clotting – on the inside – so my blood pressure was dropping. Anyway, you really don’t want to know how they fixed that.
I finally went home with my new baby. My in laws were visiting and I was so grateful to have the extra help. They helped with keeping my two year old occupied and fed. My MIL cooked for us and helped as best she could. This I will forever appreciate.
A few days after being home with my new baby, my mom invited us over to her place for dinner. My husband had gone in to work and so he was going to meet us there. A few hours before we were meant to leave my MIL informed me that her and my FIL were going to go out and meet us at my mom’s.
WHAT?! Were they leaving me at home ALONE with my new baby and my toddler?! WHY? Why would they do this to me!?
Those were my thoughts, but rather than telling them I was not ok with this just yet, I just assured them that this was ok and that I’d see them later.
That day, after they left, I really broke down. I couldn’t believe that I was alone with both of my babies. They were both in diapers. How was this going to pan out? What would I do? How could they do this to me?
The truth is, after the initial shock and my blubbering on my own, my darling newborn slept for most of that afternoon. When it was time to go to my mom’s, I was ok. I made it. I did it! I was able to take care of both of my babies without any help. I felt good. That day was a great one and it gave me the confidence that I needed to make it with two little ones on my own.
When my in laws went back to the UK shortly after that, I was ok. Sure we had some really busy, crazy and loud days! There were back to back diaper changes. There was crying — sometimes all three of us simultaneously. But I knew that I would survive. Fast forward to today: Good news — we’re ok!
How did you feel about being at home alone with your new baby? Did you panic the first time like I did?
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I panicked the first time we were alone in the hospital together. The gravity of the situation finally hit me. A baby and me. We would be alone 90% of the time for the rest of our lives…. crazy town.
Oh my! Reminds me of my first time home alone with my first born. We came back from the hospital (which I also couldn’t believe trusted me to take a newborn home…didn’t they know it was my first time???), my husband had to go to a meeting and I was left home alone with a 2 day old baby. To say the least, I freaked out A LOT! But I survived. Each new thing was first me panicking and then me surviving… until I finally got the hang of things. With my second one now, I was lucky to have a lot of help for the first 3 weeks, so I never did anything FIRST alone, which helped! Sounds like you’re in the swing of things now. Congrats!!
I tried the home birth route the first time, but baby wouldn’t come… I had a c-section instead. And then I just opted for one the second time around, too. But yes, it’s amazing what bodies can do, right?
My kids are 4 years apart, so I didn’t have TWO babies at once, but I didn’t have much help, either. My mother told me to just go it alone from the start, and I’d be fine. I think it helped me not to panic at all. Some days felt kinda lonely though… winter babies. Le sigh.
Good post, Sandy!
I’ll see your “no drugs” and raise you two “home births” 😉 It is amazing what we are capable of. The crazy thing is? This was a piece of cake compared to the actual taking-care-of-a-baby part. Being at home alone with my first when he was a newborn was terrifying!