hospital time

After my C-section, I stayed in the hospital for four days. I could have left after three, but it was just easier to be within walking distance of Ada. If I could have, I would have stayed at the hospital the whole time she was in the NICU.

Russ stayed with me the whole time. You would think that we would have been bored, but we never even had time to open a book or turn on the TV! I guess we just spent a lot of time visiting our girl and a bit of time sleeping. We also had quite a few visitors!

We had my parents, my sister Rachel and her family, my brother Brandon and his family, Russ's parents, Russ's sister Lacey, Russ's brother Lance and his family, and my cousin Kristalyn and her husband Luis.

Sadly, Timpanogos Hospital doesn't allow endless visitors to the NICU. You can choose four people to allow to see your baby, and only two people can be in with the baby at a time. We chose both sets of grandparents, but it was kind of lame that we couldn't even all be in there together at the same time. We shuffled around and made it work, though. For the guests who couldn't go see Ada, Russ and/or I would go to the NICU and FaceTime with them. That was kind of cool, but obviously not as cool as it would have been to have them be able to see her in person and hold her.

There was no question that we would choose my parents as two of our four NICU guests, but I'm extra grateful my mom was allowed to go. She made special efforts to get to the NICU almost every single day that Ada was in there. She respected mine and Russ's time with Ada by asking when we were planning to go, and then she'd go at a different time to do another of Ada's feedings. She really showed her love for us and for Ada by making such an effort to get there.

Also of note, Rachel and Mom (mine) came to visit me in the hospital on the Saturday night we were there so that we could watch the General Women's Broadcast together. Unfortunately, we didn't get that channel, so we just listened to the broadcast on Rachel's phone. It was nice to have them make that effort :)

When Talyn and Luis came, they brought us a GIANT bag of popcorn! Like literally, a garbage bag full. I didn't even remember to ask them where it came from, but it was funny and nice of them, and it was also a great conversation point for every new nurse I got! Haha :)

My days in the hospital were definitely days of healing. On the first day I was definitely in bed most of the time, other than when someone wheeled me to go see Ada, which didn't happen too often that first day. Russ went as often as he could to her, though, which I thought was so sweet :) The second day, my catheter was removed, so I had to stand up more often to use the restroom. This was really hard! But by the third day I was doing a lot better, and somewhere in the process I learned that I just had to say yes every time they offered me pain meds -- as long as I stayed on top of pain medication, the pain was bearable. This was true for the week following my hospital stay, as well.

I mentioned this when I wrote about Russ's paternity leave, but Russ was just incredibly good to me while I was healing. He was quick to grab me anything I needed, and he was always willing to help me out of bed or back into bed. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. That was actually one of my favorite parts about having a baby -- needing Russ for everything, and him being willing to do everything for me.

All in all, I enjoyed my hospital stay -- like I said, I wish I could have stayed longer!

**ashleynicole