First, a reminder: Baby pictures. Lots of 'em (34, 31 of which feature the actual baby). http://picasaweb.google.com/trackrick/EllaBellSFirstWeek
So, let's see. Where did I leave off in the previous summary?
Ah, yes. We finished up M's post-birth stuff in the delivery room and then got transferred to the staying over room. I believe I mentioned before, when talking about the tour, that they were renovating a wing to upgrade some of those rooms, and hopefully they'd be done in time for our stay. The good news: they were done and ready to be used. The bad news: too many other moms were using them, so we had to settle for one of the unrenovated rooms. I guess the fact that we were put in an overflow delivery room (albeit one equipped just as well as the other ones) should have been our first warning. We were not impressed with the stay-over accommodations, especially considering how large and DVD-equipped the delivery room had been, but we made do.
Once we got settled in, they brought PrettyGirl into our room and we were one big happy family again. PG got a little fussy, so I took her out of her casserole dish looking thing and sang to her. The song of choice: "Looking Out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It seemed to work, indicating that my daughter has good taste.
The rest of our stay was largely uneventful, except for the pediatrician thing. Y'see, we had gotten a recommendation for a good pediatrician's office, but they didn't take M's (and, by extension, PG's) insurance. No problem, said pretty much everybody we talked to. We could just not pick a pediatrician, have the house pediatrician look at PG in the hospital, and switch out insurance in the two weeks between PG's birth and her initial 2-week-old doctor visit, and then go with the pediatrician we had our heart set on (they have a waiting room for sick kids and a different waiting room for check-up kids!!!!!!). Then we find out, after a whole day and a half of being in the hospital, mind you, that the hospital wouldn't let us take PG home without having a pediatrician. Also, because PG is breast-fed, we had to take her to her pediatrician at four days old, not two weeks. To top it all off, it was a weekend, and no pediatrician's office was open to call and set up a new patient appointment. We were freaking out a little.
Luckily, the house pediatrician finally came to check on PG, and she told us that she'd give us the necessary paperwork that would normally be sent directly from the hospital to the doctor, and we could just set up an appointment on Monday. Which is exactly what we did, and all is well! PG had her appointment on Tuesday, and checked out A-OK! Oddly, she also measured an inch and a half shorter at the doctor's office than she did in the nursery at the hospital. Such is the way with kicky babies.
So far PG has been mostly a quiet sleepy little girl. The first few days were delightful, in fact. Since then, it's been a bit noisier. From what I gather, this is hardly unusual and something we can look forward to for another three months or so. I suspect the noise will go on for longer, but at least we'll be getting rewarded for our troubles with smiles from our pretty baby.
We found a way to cut down on the fussing, actually. M was given a videotape entitled The Happiest Baby On The Block, wherein they show how to trigger the baby's calming reflex using the Five S's. S #1 is Swaddling, which makes the baby think they're still confined in the womb. S #2 is Shushing, during which you go "Shhhhhhhhhhhh" right into the baby's ear, providing a simulation of the steady blood flow the baby used to hear in the womb. S #3 is Swing, in which you jiggle the baby while holding her on her side. You can then put her in a swing to continue the job for you once she's calmed down, thus the name, I guess. They couldn't really use "Shake" for this one, because jiggling is not shaking, and shaking is very bad for babies. That point was made especially clear in the video. The fourth S is Sucking, which involves sticking something in the baby's mouth, such as your fingers or a pacifier. We really didn't want to have to resort to a pacifier, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I can't remember the fifth S, but I think it's actually Side, like putting them on their side when you jiggle them.
The method actually works, most of the time, unless PG is fussing because she's hungry, which is often the case.
I'm back at work now, for this week, anyway. M's aunt is in town helping M out this week, but we'll be on our own next week. Hopefully, M will be ready to go solo during the day (and evenings, when I have class) by then. If not, I have plenty of vacation time left!
I think that's about it! Well, I'm sure there's more, but it's not coming to me.
Coming soon (probably), a timeline of the events of April 13!
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