After giving birth to Natalie, I was required to stay in the hospital for 5 more days. This is non-negotiable. Even if you want to go home, they won't let you. It's some sort of Japanese law (not really, but they take it pretty seriously). At first, this was horrible news for me. With Austin and Brooke, I booked it out of the hospital as soon as I could. I only made it 21 hours with Brooke and was out of there. Hospitals are just not comfortable, they're not home, they keep you away from your family...it's just not where I prefer to be.
So, I was sort of dreading this 5 day stay. But then I saw my room, which was more of a hotel suite, and knew that would help. Totally not the little jail cell I had when I recovered with Brooke. And the hospital was literally within walking distance from our apartment, and Brian and my mom promised to bring the kids and spend as much time with me as possible (Brian had games and practices to go to still!).So between Brian's visits around his baseball schedule, and my mom and Austin & Brooke literally living there with me, the 5 days there wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be!
In all honesty, it was actually pretty awesome!! I got tons of rest and one on one time with my new little Natalie, I still got to see my family most of the day, I had a kitchen in my room so when the hospital food wasn't looking edible (fish with scales on it, seaweed soup), I was able to munch on things from home, the nurses took great care of me...it was like a little vacation...(well except for not really sleeping much...between feedings and nurses coming in every 30 minutes to check you out) I actually felt better faster than with any of the births I had. I guess they know what they are doing afterall with this whole hospital confinement thing!!
Austin and Brooke LOVED coming to visit me, they treated my hospital room like a play gym! They brought tons of toys and books to entertain themselves and they loved playing on my bed with all the baby's boppy pillows! And of course they LOVED seeing their new sister. They are so in awe with her, it was just the absolute BEST watching them smile, light up, squeal with excitement, and stare at their new little sister. It was the best feeling in the world seeing them look at her with those big smiles.
We even had a Typhoon (Typhoon Talas) hit Japan while I was in the hospital. Fukuoka got hit pretty good with it too! I was on the 11th floor with an Ocean view, so I got to see a lot of the action out on the water and down on the city streets below, and was very thankful I picked that week to be stuck in the hospital and out of the hard rain and winds!!! Many thanks to my mom and Brian for braving the weather with the kids and walking through it to see me at all hours of the day!!
So, 5 days (well 7 total if you count the two I was there before that) of being in a hospital...not as bad as I thought. And of course I took a ton of pictures...never did get to blogging any of them while I was in there like I thought I would (hello, I am just getting to them now!)...I chose to spend my time getting to know my new little miracle...and it was the best...
THE BIRTH DAY:
The Sanno Hospital...where we gave birth to Natalie!
Annie came by to visit and meet Natalie!
Her head was bigger than I thought it was going to be...all of her hats were hard to get on that big ol head!!
DAY 1:
Austin and Brooke couldn't get enough of Natalie!! It was so precious watching them touch her hands and stare at her, they are the proudest big brother and sister! They handled everything so well, I was very proud of them!
Love newborns squishy faces!
They were so excited to see her every day!!
Grandma Cathy admiring her newest grandchild!
They loved kicking me out of my bed so they could play on it!
proud mom of 3 now!
DAY 2:
They brought me 3 meals a day...most of it was pretty good...except the times they brought me fish...just not what I was craving right after I had a baby! I always got a kick out of the meals, I felt like I was on a celebrity diet with them! They were such tiny portions!! Hello people...don't you see how big I am?!
Brooke's new favorite pillow!
Keeping themselves entertained when the novelty of the hospital room wore off!
Brian had a fantasy football draft!
Typhoon Talas coming to town!
Later in the day the waves got HUGE!
Wrestling match with dad!
Trying to get our first family photo as a family of 5...not easy!!! Austin & Brooke could not keep still for anything!! It was hilarious trying to get them to look at the camera and smile at the same time!
Date night!!
How cool was this...the hospital provided the mom and dad a dinner alone in the hospital's nice restaurant! We got treated to a 5 course dinner without any of the kids! Thanks mom for watching all three of them while we took advantage of this ;)
DAY 3:
Can't get enough of this squishy little face...
DAY 4:
Every morning the baby nurses would come and take Natalie to observe her and bathe her. It was funny, they left her with me all night and all day, but took her away every morning for an hour or so and I wasn't able to go with them. This was the time my nurses would come and check me out...they had a routine they followed...checked my stomach/bleeding/milk production (they would literally hand squeeze my boobs and check to see if milk was coming out, it was a little weird!). Most of them didn't speak much english so they had laminated note cards with the questions and things they were going to do in english written on them and they would point to something than look at me and I would give them a thumbs up or down!! It was hysterical!
One day I finally asked if I could go with them to see what they did with Natalie...they had to go get permission to bring me! I am glad they let me go, I got to see them bathe her, (which she loved!), and it was so different than the sponge baths they give newborns in the states!! They fill a huge sink full of water than literally just dunk her in!! They scrubbed her with a bar of soap and then dried her off! Natalie just loved being in the water, she is probably going to be our swimmer!
When they brought her back to me in the mornings, they would give me a rundown of what they did. They made me keep a nursing journal (which I do anyways) of how often I fed her and when she was wet or poopy. They would always take it with them when they got Natalie and when they brought it back they would all "aahhh" out loud at how often I fed the kid!! I feed my babies on demand so I am usually feeding them constantly!! I guess they aren't used to that and couldn't believe how much and how often she was eating. They were worried though at first because she was losing a little weight...I am talking just a few ounces here...but they were getting a little frantic. Her lowest weight dropped to like 9 pounds 10 ounces and they wanted to give her formula if she didn't start gaining weight back. I kept telling them not to worry, once my milk officially came in she would gain those few ounces back no problem. Believe me people, I am a milk machine! Sure enough, Natalie left the hospital weighing more than what she was at birth, and they were all happy!
Getting ready for bath time!
So much for getting the umbilical cord wet!
Something funny....they wrote Sandy "Falkenb" on all my things...I guess "Falkenborg" was just too long for them!
Checking out the storm!
I just love the pictures of Austin and Brooke looking at Natalie (as you can see I took A LOT!) There's just something so special about the look on their faces when they see her, it is the most precious thing to watch as a mom :)
Could this be her first smile already?!
Love this.
Grandma with her only two grand-girls!
Such the proud brother, and he felt so "big" for getting to hold his little sis!
♥ Very special thank you's to my wonderful husband and mother for taking such great care of Austin and Brooke for me while I was in the hospital. And for spending all your free time with me and bringing me food when I needed it and for running back and forth to the hospital in the middle of a Typhoon!! I could not have done this without you guys, thank you so much, I am one very lucky girl ♥
