Feb 8, 2008 - Life at Fletcher Allen Hospital resort

Hello again folks!

Life at the hospital (which Rebecca calls her 4 day resort vacation) is going very well. The nursing staff is top notch as always, and they cater to pretty much every whim. Not only do they supply the pain meds (not for me unfortunately), but also help us to obtain more important things like a private double room (more on that later). When we arrived on the maternity ward early Thursday morning, the floor had so many deliveries that day that we had to bunk in with another woman. Initially we tried to let her sleep since it was only 1:30am, but in the world of newborns, time is relative. Eventually our neighbor threw open her curtain divider and said hello. She was very nice, but mostly redneck and extremely chatty. All in all though, she made our stay a bit more enjoyable for the 12 hours we were together. She went home mid afternoon on Thursday.

So back to the double private room. As with most maternity wards, you either get a smaller private room yourself, or a larger double room where you constantly take the risk of having a roommate. In the past two deliveries (Lily and Quinten), we were always able to snag a double room with no roommate...which equates to a bed for me! This time we weren't initially as lucky, but after chatty cathy roomie left for home, we put on the Ascoli charm and was able to get them to "silently" block off the room for just us. Not sure how that works, but my guess is that we're sociable, low key, crack jokes whenever possible, and sass the nursing staff in such a way that they enjoy us enough to "bend the rules". That also goes for the surgical staff...rule #1: never piss off your surgeon...they just might flinch with the scalpel, or tatoo their name on your belly with the closing stiches. Anywho...for last night and so far today, even with a lot of new babies arriving on the floor, they have yet to bunk us up with an unknown. God love the powers of persuasion...in whatever form they come in.

Camden is really starting to like the breast (what man doesn't) and he's really coming along with the breast feeding. Initially he had an aversion to the left one, but would latch on immediately to the right. I told Rebecca she should change flavors on the left side to match the right! Hey you never know...if he could talk, it would make the whole process a lot more productive, and a hell of a lot more interesting! But it's amazing how much of breastfeeding is rather instinctual, and mom and baby are both learning to accomodate eachother's little ideosyncracies.

By day, the maternity ward is fairly busy with the flutter of lots of incoming babies and nurse staff to help them all out. By night, the floor is EXTREMELY quiet...and most of the time, it appears that only the Ascoli parental units are brave enough to pace the floor in order to soothe their newborn. Throw in a pedometer and you have yourself a mini "walkathon". Chances are BOTH of us will leave this hospital a little lighter just due to lack of sleep and lots of exercise.

Rebecca is now totally off any "prescription" pain meds and has been up and walking since 6 hours post surgery. That's a record for her, and probably a record for most post c section moms. You can hear the nurse staff whisper to eachother as we walk by..."didn't she just come out of the c section surgery this morning? Wow...now that's recovery!" Even we're amazed at how quickly she's out and about and how little pain she's in. Hang on, I need to knock on something made of wood...

As for sleep deprivation, that's pretty much at a maximum as we take shifts walking the halls. Unfortunately for mom, Camden is quite aware of her presence even after breastfeeding, and won't take "No" for an answer to the question of "More please?" Right now there's no milk to be given (usually takes a few days to come in) so he gets a small dose of cholostrum which doesn't really satisfy his big appetite. He'll just have to deal with it for a bit longer...in the end he'll get what's coming to him and then some :-)

We were able to get a few hours of sleep between us in hourly increments which feels great while you're snoozing...but waking up after anything more than a 10 minute catnap is painfull. Groggy doesn't even begin to describe the feeling, especially after Camden breastfeeds, which in the early stages feels more like chomping than sucking I've been told. The closest I came to that was putting his naked body against my bare chest for warmth and the cuddle factor. Anyone coming through the door would have sworn I was trying my hand at breastfeeding...but I know better than to tempt fate.

Tomorrow is the big day for the ol' circumcision. As with the last child (Quinten), I always attend the amputation ritual. I won't ask my child to go through something like that all alone, if I'm not even willing to witness the event. So I'll keep him company and watch with scientific interest (and a little pain in my lower nether regions) as they perform the minor surgical procedure. If you've never seen it done, it's worth your time...quite fascinating if you can get over the phantom pain that hits below your waist as you watch...

That's all for now but do take a peek at the new pics we've posted. Thanks for reading and as always, please post any and all comments on the blog. We'd love to hear from you!!!