Chapter Two: Long hospital days and even longer nights!

So to finish the birthing story...

So following the birth of our baby girl everything seemed good. I obviously wasn't looking at my best but thought I was doing alright. That was until suddenly, and quite quickly, the world started to go blurry, everyone sounded muffled and I thought I was going to be sick there and then.
The midwife whipped my head back and legs up, started putting fluids into a drip and seemed to invite everyone she could find in to have a look, including a doctor who was handed what can only be described as a kitchen implement.
Luckily I was so confused I couldn't even think of what he was going to do with said implement nor be particularly worried about all the commotion. Turns out my blood pressure dropped pretty low - something the midwife told me afterwards she had been concerned about due to the level of blood loss (twice as much as normal apparently, I did wonder!)

So home time was delayed and I was unable to get to the toilet alone for the next 48 hours. Luckily labour pretty much destroys your dignity since someone holding you up on the toilet isn't pleasant. Mabel was a great baby and made it very easy by gulping down 3 feeds in the first couple of hours.

We were then moved to a ward and as G Kisby went to leave at 8pm, after setting me up with everything I needed, I did struggle to hold back tears. However, the first night wasn't nearly as bad as I'd imagined and the midwives were lovely bringing me hot toast with far too much butter and offering to help with my feeding at every opportunity. Again Mabel was just gorgeous, sleeping for good chunks of time with no tantrums, despite being woken by every other baby on the ward at regular intervals throughout the night - argh!!!!

We had a fantastic midwife Laura who looked after us throughout. Really caring and supportive. The following day since I still couldn't stand alone and the results of my blood tests showed low iron levels, the doctor advised a blood transfusion. I really wanted to go home but realistically knew that I would struggle to get to the car and needed to feel well enough to look after Mabel upon getting home. Actually who am I kidding, I didn't know this, I wanted to go home, but I was pretty much told so by G Kisby and a slightly crazy lady doctor.

Blood = brilliant. So strange, even after my first bag I felt better. So eventually, on Thursday afternoon, armed with some anti inflammatories, anti biotics and painkillers for my stitches, and further iron tablets, we were discharged (notably the midwife stressed that any alcohol with the antibiotics would make me very sick - you have to be kidding me, it has been 9 months!)

G Kisby collected the car seat, hugs for our lovely midwife, one last rancid hospital meal and we were off. It felt really weird, not really remembering coming in to the hospital, like a total dream.

How long did it take me to cry - first set of lights! Overwhelming happy emotions.

And then we were home. When we left, middle of the night and truly excited, we had no idea just what was about to happen, it was just the two of us. Then there were three, we were home with a teeny tiny bundle changing our lives forever.

The first 3 nights have not been too horrendous, though we are well aware that things can change in an instant. Mabel, though prone to having a little bit of a temper, is such a lovely baby.

She is now 5 days old and we can't stop staring at her:

We also had our first visitors yesterday, which I think, so long as they are the right visitors (i.e people you don't mind seeing you struggle to breastfeed and who know when to leave!) is a good thing. We realised on Friday that Mabel was tag teaming us, which is fine since she is still so new and is getting used to life in the outside world. But I can see how you can begin to plan your entire life around her movements when really that is not necessary. Visitors made us get dressed, I put on some makeup and for an hour or so regain some sort of normality.

Her new cousins were thrilled to meet her:

And we received some gorgeous gifts, including these blocks from Chipper Nelly (naturally) for her room and the blanket that Mum and I have knitted together for her. The colours look brighter on this photo than they are - they are going to be the colours of her room. We absolutely love it and will keep it forever!