There's no place like home

It's been an interesting couple of days, to say the least! We were discharged from the hospital yesterday and I was thrilled to come home. I could have stayed another night and almost did because of the awesome lactation consultant (more on that later) but physically I was feeling fine and anxious to get home and start building a routine with Cameron. Once I got my prescriptions (including one for my ear infection, ugh!) we packed her up and brought her home. My OB was shocked I had an ear infection. He told me he hadn't looked in anybody's ears in more than 10 years. The ear infection actually hurt worse than the incision from my c-section!

Cameron in a cute outfit from Libby and Andrew. She is ready to head home!

My doctor also told me that I shouldn't drive for 2 weeks, pick up anything heavier than the baby and her carrier or exercise for 6 weeks. DH almost laughed out loud at that last one. Exercise is not exactly something I embrace...

Before we left the hospital we did have a bit of a rough patch with Cameron. She fed really well on Tuesday night off of me (4 times in 3 hours) but then didn't want to eat for another 10 hours. I personally wasn't concerned about it and just kept trying to get her to eat. But she ended up losing a pound total from her birth weight so I was asked to supplement her. I am not opposed to supplements but couldn't help feeling that if we had gone home earlier it wouldn't be a problem and I could just power through it with Cameron and get a good feeding routine down. Fortunately my awesome lactation consultant, Kathy, recommended I use donor milk and we got about 12 ounces to bring home with us. How cool is that? It should be just enough to get us through to my milk coming in.

Dad learned how to feed Cameron with her first supplement.

Breastfeeding is definitely a challenge. Cameron is a bit lazy and seems to think that my boob is a warming blanket more than a vessel for her food. I was using a nipple shield but really wanted to wean myself off of it before leaving the hospital. Kathy show me how to find the best hold (cradle position for me even though it is not a "recommended" position because of my chest size) and work to get Cameron to latch on. The biggest "ah hah!" moment for me was realizing it can and will take as much as 15 minutes to get her to latch on. And she will cry during the process. I think that has been the hardest for DH. We loved Kathy because she was so encouraging and so soothing. Unfortunately she is the on floor consultant so I couldn't make a follow up appointment with her. I will still probably make one with her boss for sometime next week.

My new routine is to try to feed her off me first, supplement with one ounce (either from me via pumping or with the donor milk) and then pump. I might change things up a little and try to get her to feed after pumping for a bit or eating from the supplement. Either way despite a lot of "oh my god what have I gotten myself into?" moments I'm starting to feel like we will get through this. But how the hell did Mommy, Esq. do this with twins?!?

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to check on her weight and DH just ran to Babies R Us for a few things. Amazing how I thought we were all set and there still seems to be a few things we forgot! In fact I have to go call him now for a few other things I forgot...

Not too shabby considering I only got about 2 hours of sleep...I have a feeling sweats will be the main staple of my wardrobe for a while!

We're off to see the center...

Well, OK, it doesn't quite work like "We're off to see the wizard," but DH and I are heading out to the hospital tonight to check out the maternity center. I'm not sure what they are going to do for an hour tour but I'm excited to see the set up. Apparently every labor room has a big tub, shower and plenty of space for hanging out. We will also stop by the nursery I'm sure so we can ooh and ahh over how tiny the babies are and how it's it now less than 7 weeks away for us!!!

The brochure also told us that we can only have a max of 4 other people in the room during delivery (including the significant other). Um, that kind of creeps me out. I was watching a Baby Story last night and some girl had her mother and grandmother with her! "Hi, Grandma, check me out giving birth!" Crazy... Relatives can come in after I'm all cleaned up and feeling a little more like myself. Not that we will have anyone with us unless I go 2+ weeks late and my mom is here. No offense, Mom, but if that's the case, I will have to kill someone.

Any particular questions I should come in asking? I'm more than happy to be that annoying person who asks all the questions and gets weird looks from other expectant parents.

I will try to get the American Idol recap up first thing Wednesday but if we get back late I may have to defer for a day. It's the Chair week, people! I love the Chair. And the elevator. And Simon saying, "I totally disagreed but I was outvoted, so you are in." But first up are more auditions to cut us down from 75 contestants to a manageable number for the Chair.