We are home

We left the hospital at about 5:30 pm yesterday (Wednesday). We were home by 6. We were welcome to stay another night at the hospital, but decided we would be more likely to get rest as needed if we were home without all the vital sign checks and visiting from various health care professionals. I'm so glad to be home! Don't get me wrong, I really appreciated all the support we got at the hospital. We got the perfect amount of help, and were ready to leave. Since Mom (me) and Baby were passing all the tests with flying colors (I was told that I was healing quickly), they had no problem with getting us ready to go home. Juni was examined by Dr. John Liou, who we'd met at the hospital tour when he gave a talk about newborn care. We like him and it was nice to see a familiar face. I asked him about the "stork bite" on Juni's forehead. He told me that it is called a nevus flamus and it will most likely go away once Juni's skin grows thick enough to cover it up. He gave us the okay to take her home and said to take her to see our pediatrician on Monday. A nurse lactation consultant visited us and spent a good amount of time teaching breastfeeding tips. She guided me through a trial run of three positions for feeding: the cradle hold, the football hold, and the side lying position. Her help was great and it was good to practice the holds because I've used them all and more throughout Juni's young life. (I didn't sleep much last night as she is nearly constantly rooting for food, but the side lying position allows me to rest a bit and feed her at the same time.) The lactation consultant told us that the second night with a newborn is much harder than the first night because the baby gets very hungry since her reserves are running low and yet the mom's milk hasn't come in yet, just small amounts of colostrum. She was right! Last night was a challenge. But I LOVE it. Juni has been unable to sleep on her own ever since we got home. She's been sleeping on my lap as I type this but now she's awake again...