Weeks 2 and 3 Postpartum

Well, we've managed to get this far! Honestly, I have to say, things are going much better than I anticipated. Overall, Grayson is a great baby. I had the expectation that we'd both end up in a heap on the floor crying and of endless, sleepless nights. Thankfully I haven't had any tears or postpartum baby blues to date and although segmented, I am getting some sleep.

A few notes about my second and third week postpartum experience...

Recovery
I'm happy to say my recovery has been pretty smooth. The first few days home I tried to take it easy and limit my movement, which helped. I also wore a belly band (similar to this) for about a week. Having the extra applied pressure on my stomach and incision helped with pain during movement, laughing or coughing.

Following the procedure, I didn't take any narcotics and stuck with Motrin/ibuprofen. I was able to stop taking this completely around 13 days postpartum.

After my two week check up, I was cleared for light exercise and driving, so I've been trying to get in my daily two mile walk, similar to the last weeks of pregnancy. I'm going to wait until my six week appointment to attempt running. My doctor also recommended I stop wearing the belly band and start focusing on trying to strengthen my stomach and abdominal muscles again.

I've been applying Earth Mama Angel Baby C-Salve to my incision daily.

After my two week appointment we stopped in the hospital to bring baked goods as a thank you to the nurses who helped us from Labor & Delivery, NICU, and Family Care (recovery). The only nurse we were able to see was Cynthia from L&D. I bawled when I saw her. It's the only time I can remember crying since leaving the hospital. She had such an impact on my success for unmedicated labor. When I started laboring she put her hand on my sternum and had me mimmick the deep low sounds she was making. She showed Ben how to do this and it was one of the primary breathing and pain doing techniques I used during labor. She is amazing!

During labor she warned me she was going to leave at 11am for an hour,  Because labor happened so quickly, when she came back she had no idea where we were (at this point we'd gone into the OR). She said she couldn't believe how quickly things happened and commended me for being such a trooper and fighter. I'll always remember her!

Weight
Overall with my pregnancy, I gained about 40 pounds. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and put on medication.  I'm still taking the medication and will checked to see if I can go off of it. Three weeks postpartum, I'm down about 17 pounds (Grayson was 6lb 8oz). The  majority of this was baby and due to breastfeeding. As I increase my exercise, we'll see how the weight loss journey goes.

Breastfeeding
I've been blessed so far that things are going so smoothly in this department. Grayson has a great latch and my body is producing to keep up with his needs. I do use Mother Love nipple cream sporadically but haven't endured much pain besides initial latch (which I've heard is normal). My true goal is to nurse for a year, but it may be a little lofty, so I'm starting with a six month goal.

I haven't had any issues nursing him in public. I have a cover and wear nursing friendly clothes when I know there's a chance he may get hungry. Ben was a little weirded out the first time, but honestly, in general breastfeeding has been quite empowering for me; to know that I can give him everything he needs to grow!

Sleep
Honestly, it's hit or miss. Grayson does latch easily and feeds well, so our nursing sessions vary between ten and twenty minutes. But some nights he's on a 45 minute nursing cycle, which means I get 20-30 minute breaks and sometimes he'll go three hours. Because he was in the NICU and feed so much initially (to raise his blood sugar levels), he never dropped below his birth weight so we don't have to monitor his time in between feeding.

We've been trying to keep him more engaged and awake during the day, especially after 7pm, or as much as possible and this seems to help us get some longer two-and-a-half/three hour stints between feeding. Last night we had a four hour gap, which was amazing!

Help
Ben went back to work two weeks after Grayson was born. We've had my parents here helping since he was 10 days old and they'll leave this week, but it has been a blessing to have help with grocery shopping, meal prep, dishes and having someone to hand Grayson off to when we need a break or take Oscar for a walk.  We even went out our first "date" Sunday (somehow Ben convinced me to see the movie IT).

Overall
We could not be more smitten with Grayson and every little thing he does. We've been able to make outings like our annual fall colors drive and brewery visits work with him as our sidekick. Yep, we are feeling pretty lucky with this little guy.