If you are pregnant with your first child, you may be wondering what it’s like to meet your new baby for the first time at the hospital. Of course, since every child and every birth is different, there is no “standard procedure” by which new parents get acquainted with their newborns. The births of my two sons were different, so I met each of them in a slightly different way.
Dylan was born at around seven in the evening. He was born in a local hospital, and my labor had been induced because of preeclampsia. The delivery was fairly uneventful, and as soon as he was born the midwives placed him on a warming table in our room and checked him out while cleaning him up a little bit. Within minutes, my husband was able to hold our sweet little Dylan for the very first time. I, on the other hand, needed a few minutes to reorient myself after what had just happened. After I was resting comfortably in my bed, my husband brought Dylan over to me so that I could hold him and nurse him. It was love at first sight, and I just wanted to hold him all night long. The hospital had a policy that permitted “rooming in” and we were grateful for that. Rooming in is when the baby is able to stay in your room, in a wheeled bassinet, instead of being whisked away to a nursery. You get to begin learning how to care for your baby right away – feeding, changing diapers, and all of that great stuff. More importantly, you begin creating a bond with your newborn that will last a lifetime. If you find that baby is cranky, or you need help figuring out what to do, or you simply need a break, just press your call button and a nurse will come to assist you.
Our experience with Blake was different in that he was born via c – section. My husband was able to hold him right away, but I had to wait for what seemed like an eternity to hold him. The anesthesia had rendered me completely numb from the chin down, so I had to wait for it to wear off before I could hold him. My husband sat by the bed and held him close to me, and I found that yes, I could certainly love my second son as much as my first. Blake roomed in with me during my whole hospital stay, and I was grateful for the constant company because my husband was at home, an hour away, taking care of Dylan. When Blake and I were released from the hospital, they came to get us. Once the four of us were together again, I felt whole and complete and ready to begin our new adventure.