You Plus Me = Three

So, Harper Elizabeth was born early on a Friday morning.  We decided to go home on Saturday morning.  Scott was up with his bags packed and ready to go by 7:30.  To his disappointment, we were discharged about 11:00.  We packed up our tiny bundle of joy and headed home, to our new home.  It took so long to get home because traffic was backed up because of an air show.  By the time we got home, I was in pain!  I tried not to take any pain meds but I quickly gave up.  When we got home, my 2nd mommy Joyce Wilhelm had left a nice meal of homemade chicken and noodles for us.  Let me tell you... food is the best gift ever for a new family.  I went straight to the shower since I refused to shower in the tiny hospital shower.  Best shower of my life.  For the next several weeks, we had a steady stream of visitors.  I never knew how many people cared about us until Harper was born.  Those first few days home were overwhelming, exhausting, wonderful, and exciting.  I chose to breastfeed so that was a new challenge.  Things went fairly well but we encountered the usual bumps along the road.  We took Harper in to her first dr. appt on Monday.  She had dropped to 6 lbs 6 ounces.  Dr. McDowell wanted us back in for a weight check that Wednesday just to make sure she began to gain weight and for my milk to come in.  By Wednesday, she was up to 6 lbs 9 ounces so she was doing good. 

I was off work for 6 short weeks.  They were the most wonderful weeks of my life.  We enjoyed getting into a routine and Harper began sleeping through the night (although she doesnt anymore but we will get back to that later).  We had lots of visitors and fun!

Biggest surprises for me in those first few weeks:  how so many things came naturally to me, how much longer it took me to completely heal than I expected, how I could actually survive on very little sleep, that I could actually keep a baby alive on breastmilk alone.  What an amazing transition! 

Scott and I were amazed at how we loved her more and more every single day.  Scott was a great help during those first weeks. 

My mom... now I cant say enough about how much my mom helped.  I am 27 years old (I had one week left of being 26 when Harper was born), and when I dont feel good, I still need my momma.  She was absolutely AMAZING during those first weeks.  She was there nearly the entire first week or so, cooking or cleaning and doing laundry. She was never overbearing or in the way.  I dont know how she does it but its like Scott and I say She is MAGIC!  She helped me with Harper or whatever I needed too.  When I would be falling asleep sitting up, she would take the baby for an hour or so and let me sleep.  She even grocery shopped for me once.  Awesome! 

I am thinking my next blog will be just about the first four months or so. Harper is getting bigger and stronger every day and we couldnt be happier!