After Vann's birth, we were moved to the Mother Baby wing around 7:30 am. I was so hungry. All I could think about was a Wendy's hamburger and fries. I don't even know when the last time I had one of their burgers was, but goodness I was craving it. I definitely did not give into that absurd craving, but I did get hospital breakfast. A nice plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a biscuit did the trick!

We were so exhausted, but flying on cloud 9 so there was no sleep to be had!

It is such a humbling, learning experience to have a baby. I mean, we are trained for our job, but you have a sweet baby and they just send you off. Thank God for the nurses and doctors at the hospital. Sure, there were definitely moments when we wished we didn't have someone knocking on our door, coming in and poking our little man, and bringing in gourmet hospital food.  But in the midst of those moments, we learned how to swaddle, how to nurse, and a plethora of other things to care for Vann. 

We had lots of visitors on Monday evening to see Vann! He was so good the whole time and just slept in family and friends' arms. 

  

{CLICK ON THE PIC TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM THE HOSPITAL!}

When our last visitor left, I was able to take my first shower of the day. Ahhhmazing! I crawled in bed after loving on Vann and Ryan with my heart as full as ever. We slept from 12-4:20. I guess we were all exhausted. 

Tuesday morning, the nurse walked in and checked me over, checked Vann and his Jaundice again (hate watching him get his foot pricked), and then the rotating door began again. It was the pediatrician, my OB, the food service lady with breakfast, the custodian, and so many more. Even with all of those people coming in Ryan and Vann could still sleep. This mama could not! The great thing about all of them was their heart to serve. It was amazing. Everyone was so kind and asked if they could get anything for us. I was blown away by their willingness to go above and beyond. 

I had the Lactation Consultant, Teresa, visit again because Vann and I were having trouble jiving. It was my fault because I think I was just being too gentle with him and not really allowing him to latch. Thank heavens for Teresa and her knowledge. 

Vann's Bilirubin levels were still being monitored, but they weren't overly concerned with them. My dad kept commenting on how beautiful his skin tone was. I laugh now because his nice tan was because of the Jaundice. 

That day, more visitors stopped by. We enjoyed getting our minds off of being stuck in a hospital room. I was so jealous when Ryan would leave the room to go grab food around the hospital or something from the car. I wanted to see the outside world. Ryan's parents brought us the hamburger I had been craving since laboring on Sunday evening. Yonah Burger does it right and it hit the spot way better than hospital lasagna or Wendy's ever could. 

Around 5 pm, Vann went with Dr. Cox and had his boy surgery! I felt like the worst mama ever sending him out of the room. When they wheeled him back all we could hear was crying that kept getting louder and louder. It was him, but once he was in our arms he stopped and calmed down! He didn't even realize what happened. He just missed his mama and daddy. 

After company went home, we got settled in for bed...well almost. Vann was not a happy camper, so we stayed up taking turns holding him. Four hours of sleep in 72 hours was not a good situation. I was so happy when the sun came up and we were told we could head home as soon as we got our official word. We got ready and watched Kelly and Michael while we were waiting. Darlene came in and shared all of the necessary info we needed to head home. She was from the North and was so much fun!

Then, we piled all of our stuff onto a cart, put Vann in his car seat, learned how to properly buckle, and got wheeled away with the car seat on my lap. Ryan pulled the car around and we loaded everything in and got Vann situated! We were on the way home. What an exciting yet scary time it was to drive home. Ryan did an excellent job of course, but with a lack of sleep and a life we were now responsible for it was stressful to say the least. It felt like each car we passed was going to t-bone or side-swipe us!

When we walked in the door, Lyla greeted us and sniffed her new brother. She was so gentle. I really didn't expect anything less, but you never know. Mom and Erin were there and helped get us settled in. We ate lunch, gave Vann a bath, I nursed him, handed him to his Gran and Auntie E, and Ryan and I fell into bed. Sleep is such an under appreciated luxury until it's non-existent. Mom made a celebration dinner of pork loin, squash, zucchini, green beans, and Erin made her tomato pie. I'm pretty sure it was the best meal I have ever eaten!

Our boy was home. What a great night and he slept like a doll!
Welcome home baby Vann, welcome home!