ITS LEGS: Hospital Slumber Party!

When Shulamith's first child was born, she was in the hospital nearly a week. I stayed with her during the day and went home to sleep, while her husband Matt stayed to help with Baby Swen through the night. This time was different. Matt decided it would be best for him to sleep at home with Swen and for me to stay at the hospital with Shulamith and Baby Kennedy. The result...

A THREE-DAY SLUMBER PARTY FOR SHULAMITH, KENNEDY, AND ME!

And what a party it was! But let's start back at the beginning. Shulamith was hoping all along for a successful VBAC delivery, but when she went several days past her due date with zero signs of progress toward labor, her doctor felt it was best to get the baby delivered. Her surgery was scheduled for Saturday morning at 9:00, so at 7:30, she, Matt, and I headed to the hospital. Here we are just before.

Without the emergency situation caused by HELLP Syndrome, everything felt incredibly calm. Almost too calm. Before I knew it, Shulamith and Matt and the medical team were headed back to surgery, and I was alone in the hospital room. Very alone. It was so quiet.

I asked the nurse how long the surgery would take because my anxiety is more easily controlled when I know what to expect; I do not like surprises. The nurse said about an hour, and turns out she was quite accurate. I tried to sit down, but found myself pacing around the hospital room, then out into the hall, then down to the waiting area, then back to the room. It was a l-o-n-g hour. Even though the operating room was literally next door to the room I was in, I felt far away from Shulamith. Isolated. Alone. I didn't like it. This policy that allows only one person to accompany the mom to surgery is really dumb.They need to change it. Candie, can you do something about this? :-)

Of course in the end, all went well, and the baby even came out of the delivery with a name! Naming children is hard for Shulamith and Matt. While they are truly compatible as a couple, when it comes to names, no two people could be further apart. They struggled and struggled. Going into surgery, Shulamith had it narrowed to Kennedy and Adah, but Matt would commit to neither. I wasn't there, but as the story goes, once the baby was born, Shulamith turned to her and asked "Do you want to be Adah?" and Matt shook Baby's little head "No." Then Shulamith asked her "Do you want to be Kennedy?" and Matt nodded her little head "yes." Done. Decided. Finally. Yay! Welcome to the world, Kennedy Webster Monson.

After waiting that long hour, I was beyond relieved to see medical staff pushing Shulamith's bed out of the operating room, Matt by her side, little Kennedy in her arms. Then began our three-day hospital adventure. The first night was a true-to-form slumber party, with very little slumber. Kennedy was agitated, and pretty much unable to sleep alone in her little "bassinet on wheels" for more than five minutes at a time. Shulamith and I were both exhausted (we hadn't slept well the previous night, anxiously anticipating the C-section), so we were afraid to take turns sleeping, fearing the one "awake" holding Kennedy would fall asleep and drop her. It was a long night!

The following two nights were much improved. A nurse suggested that maybe Kennedy was struggling with too much air in her tummy, the result of her voracious nursing. It's true; this baby didn't have to learn to breastfeed. Within 15 minutes of birth, she was latched on perfectly and eating well. Once Shulamith worked on getting her burped between feedings, she slept so much better. Yay! And we might have slept too, had it not been for the dedicated hospital staff dropping by so frequently for various reasons: Shulamth's vitals assessments, Kennedy's vitals assessments, Shulamith's pain meds, Kennedy's PKU/bilirubin checks, and oh so much more. All this stuff is necessary of course, but when we just got Kennedy fed, burped, swaddled, and asleep, well you can imagine just how thrilled we were (not!) to see someone else at the door.

We had other visitors during the three days, family members excited to meet little Kennedy.

And this is perhaps my favorite picture of the whole experience. Eli was on his mission when Swen was born, and he has only vague memories of Seth's birth. He is in awe of Kennedy.

And with good reason. Newborns are special. It's not just that they're so tiny and soft. They were in Heaven just the other day. And we sense that. We sense the divine in them. We are drawn to them in a way that is unique. We want to touch them, smell them, look into their eyes. "What is Heaven like? I know you remember so much better than I do."

That is how I felt when I held little Kennedy just minutes after she was born. And Swen two years ago. And my own five children not so long ago. And other babes I've had the privilege to know. There is nothing better. Nothing.

The three days passed. I spent them assisting Shulamith with diapers, swaddling, burping, and cuddling. I made food runs three times daily. Shulamith is the pickiest eater on the planet; no way she was gonna eat that nasty hospital food. Tuesday morning we were more than ready to come home. Our children missed us. We missed them. My babies were not C-section, so I came home after just one night. Staying three nights away from Swen was hard for Shulamith. The only time I saw her cry during the whole hospital stay was in the evenings when Matt took Swen home. When the doctor released her, she was packed and ready in a matter of minutes.