Hospital Stay

Our hospital stay was interesting.  Everyone was very nice, but VERY hyper about the flu.  I was to wear my respirator mask at all times and we were to have very limited visitors.  The respirator mask was so tight on my face that I still have a bruise on my nose two weeks later.  Every nurse that came in wore a plastic gown type thing over their clothes, a mask and gloves.  We could hear them getting all their garb on for 2 minutes before they ever stepped foot in our room.  

I had to call their lactation consultants about a week after I got home to ask them a question.  A very sweet lady from lactation called me back.  At the beginning of the conversation I was telling her that I had delivered there just over a week ago and I was sick at the time.  Before I could even finish that sentence she cut me off and said "Oh, I remember you honey. You were in room 6312 with the flu!" This particular lactation consultant hadn't even been to our room while we were at the hospital, we were only on the mother/baby floor for 24 hours before we left to go home, and this was a week after we had been home and she still not only remembered me but remembered my room number.  At least we were memorable, right?! :)  

When we first got to our room the nurse came in to give Abigail a bath.  Sweet girl was beat red from crying.  She didn't appreciate getting clean, but this was only about 2 hours after her birth and I was enjoying listening to her sweet newborn cry.  

All clean and snuggled up.  

Grandmama and Pawpaw drove up from Jackson on Sunday morning and got to the hospital at about lunch time.  They were SO excited about meeting their newest grandbaby!  

The hospital was a smidge hyper about visitors so they held Abby for a few minutes and then headed over to our house to visit with Abby's big sisters and take them a few gifts.  Emily, Hannah and Claire were super excited about seeing them! 

Our little bundle of love.  

My dad came over on Saturday and spent the first part of the day at the hospital with us while the doctors were deciding what to do with us, then he and my mom left to go to our house early afternoon to keep E, H and C after they decided they wanted me to wait to deliver until early Sunday afternoon. My dad woke up on Sunday morning feeling sick.  He could tell he was catching a bad cough/cold so instead of heading to the hospital with my mom he went back home to Toccoa.  It just about broke his heart to not be there.  He's been at the hospital at every other grandbaby's birth. He knew that we couldn't handle any more sickness and didn't want to expose our big girls or Abby.  We missed having him there, but appreciated him taking care of us.  

Mimi and her newest grandbaby!  

Bert doing a little reading with his baby snuggled up.  

One of the doctors from our girls pediatricians' office came in early Monday morning.  He said he thought it would be best if we went on home that day instead of staying the normal 2 nights.  He didn't agree with some of the strict policies that the hospital had concerning me having the flu and he thought we would be more likely to keep her well if we were at home (able to wash our hands easily, change my shirt if I cough on it, not wear a mask 24/7, but only when I am feeding her).  

My cough had been bad on Friday, literally almost disappeared for Saturday and Sunday, and I started coughing again on Monday.  I believe God held my cough off during my labor and delivery, and I was very thankful for that.  

My OB came in to check on us on Monday too and thought it was a great idea for us to head on out. I know I mentioned before but I love her.  When she came in the room, she was joking with (making fun of) Bert about his strict door closing policy.  The door in my labor and delivery room didn't close well and Bert spent a lot of the day Saturday and Sunday getting up to close the door after one of our nurses would leave the room.  It annoyed him slightly. (Bert's Edit: Stephanie's being too sweet. It annoyed me greatly.) She realized this and was joking with him about "everything being secure" when she stopped by Monday.  Ha!  She also said I won the award for best delivery of the weekend (she was on call Friday noon through Monday at noon), or at least for the fastest one!  Ha!  I love it when doctors are professional but laid back at the same time.  So thankful that Dr. Dubose was on call that weekend.  

We are thankful for our stay and had a good experience, but I doubt anyone cried when we left as we were causing extra work and precautions to be taken, and the feeling was mutual.  We were ready to hit the road after Abby was just over 24 hours old, even though it was the first time we hadn't stayed two nights after a birth. We were looking forward to rest in our home, and were very excited about being home together as a family of six!