Home again, Home again . . .

Monday, June 12
After a greatly needed and much deserved full night of sleep, Jordan and I woke late in the morning to welcome a visitor bearing gifts for, not the baby, but the new mom and dad. With our visitor entered a Lactation Consultant who was appalled to learn that our child had not eaten since close to midnight. Despite my unfavorable opinion of Lactation Consultants that was formed and solidified with the birth of the first Johnsen child, I conceded to have Isaac fetched from the nursery where he had presumably slept soundly all night like his parents. My distaste for this particular specialist was lessened greatly by the fact that she did not insist on hovering over mom and baby offering unsolicited advice and completely bursting my personal comfort zone, but rather left us to do our thing only to return if summoned. With the exception of Jordan’s brief departure to take an exam, the remainder of Monday was spent with mom, dad, and newborn son enjoying the company of various well-wishers, each other and several intermittent naps.

Tuesday, June 13
With discharge orders in hand, a wheelchair was summoned and a kind volunteer arrived to escort, or rather, awkwardly push me from the hospital. As kind and well intentioned as she was, I spent the entire duration of my wheelchair departure hoping that she wouldn’t run my feet into a wall. To further my discomfort, she left the room while Jordan was taking a trip to the car. As a result, we were in the elevator headed down as Jordan was in the stairwell headed up and I was forced to sit in the lobby with said volunteer acting as if we had something to talk about while Jordan reached my room to discover me and Isaac gone and then promptly turned around to come back downstairs and pull the car around. Once Jordan pulled up with the car, I was pushed to the passenger side door and expected to settle in to the front seat despite the fact that I still had an infant in my arms. In general, I would say that this well-intentioned volunteer is not accustomed to the procedure of assisting new mothers in their departure.

Wednesday, June 14
After having his blood drawn to check his bilirubin levels, it was decided that Isaac was jaundiced enough to warrant phototherapy. Happily, the levels were not high enough to require hospitalization, but instead Dr. Nye, the Pediatrician, ordered bili lights to be delivered to our home for Isaac’s treatment. Praxair arrived late in the afternoon to drop off the lights and instruct us in their set-up/use. They come neatly gigantic brief case which is securely propped open at about a 60 degree angle. Despite the sturdy nature of the design, the case looks as though it is going to momentarily come crashing down like jaws of death. Needless to say, I was hesitant to put our infant son inside such a space, but was eventually convinced of the lights’ safety.

Thursday, June 15
As breakfast time approached this morning, I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of my husband delivering a fresh omelet to my bedside. While I ate, we discussed the day’s to-do list which consisted of an appointment with the Pediatrician and little else. Upon arriving at our appointment, we were graced with the tell-tale sounds of a dirty diaper and soon found that the carefully packed diaper bag was left next to the door of our apartment. Luckily for junior’s bottom, we were at a Pediatrician’s office that keeps a stock of diapers and not anywhere else that does not. Also, due to our lack of preparation, we were introduced to the White Cloud brand of diapers (the off-brand exclusive to the “evil empire”). After using that one diaper, we were sold on their reliability and, let’s face it, coming from Wal-Mart they are cheap. Having previously been almost exclusive Luvs users, it was nice to discover another inexpensive diaper that doesn’t leak (at least for our child). So, there you have it . . . the plug for cheap diapers.

*And as long as I’m endorsing products, Pampers Sensitive baby wipes are amazing! We’ve always bought cheap baby wipes because they’re cheap and they get the job done. However, we got a little travel size sample of the Pampers wipes from the hospital and I’ve been astounded at how well they work. They are very soft and cloth-like, have helped clear up Isaac’s diaper rash with only one day of use, and--here’s the kicker--I can use one wipe and completely clean Isaac’s bottom, including the left over Desitin that is so hard to get rid of. Now, I’m still thrifty and might not justify spending the extra money to habitually buy these premium wipes, but for those of you with more flexible spending than I enjoy, splurge and buy Pampers Sensitive.*

Friday, June 16
Being the ever thoughtful husband that he is, Jordan spoiled me this morning by leaving me asleep in bed as he took Isaac to the hospital for his bilirubin draw. I stayed in bed most of the day, and in time was able to achieve some degree of comfort in my postpartum state. Jordan took on the task of keeping Isaac under the bili lights as much as the day would allow, which turned out to be all but the time it took to feed him. Feeling uncomfortable napping while our son was sleeping in the death trap, Jordan and I spent much of the day reading Eldest and watching episodes of the first season of Lost (which was the gift given to us by our aforementioned visitor). I wasn’t such a fan of the first half of the pilot, but subsequent episodes have revealed the series to be quite an interesting character show.

Saturday, June 17
Late in the morning we ventured to our Johnsen parents’ house to prepare for the upcoming USA-Italy World Cup game. Armed with all the laundry I could stand to wash in one day (which, pitifully, was only our whites and our baby stuff) and a fully packed diaper bag (that made it into the car this time) we arrived to watch the game. The USA team played well and ran hard, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie [although, to be fair, the referee deserves to be strung up by his belt loops and slapped repeatedly with a carp - J]. As Jordan watched the game with Emily and Aaron, my sister and brother-in-law, Isaac and I enjoyed some quality time catching up on the week’s email as well as some “z’s.”

Sunday, June 18
The week ended in a relaxed holiday Sunday to celebrate my fantastic husband. Despite Jordan’s opinion, which very well may be true, that Father’s Day exists in order to be politically correct, I just wanted to take a moment and honor him and express my appreciation for all he does for our family. To avoid upsetting the non-mushy sensibilities of some of our readers, I will refrain from a lengthy dissertation of my love for my dear husband and instead say only that I do love him dearly and appreciate the sacrifices he makes for our family. Happy Father’s Day Jordan.