Madeleine has made it to 11 days old and has not been dropped, maimed, scalded or otherwise injured by either parent. We survived a visit from the maternal health nurse and she did not, as I had half feared, whisk her away from us. We have mastered two different nappy-folding styles. The feeding - well, we're getting there. We had a lactation consultant come around last night and she showed us a few things that have made subsequent feeds quicker and a lot less painful. I was so grateful that I considered locking the door and refusing to let her leave.
Sleep hasn't been too bad... so far. She was actually very sleepy for the first few days and we were feeling very pleased until it was discovered that, like Mary Donaldson's little one, Madeleine was jaundiced and sleepiness is one of the characteristics of jaundice. We had to leave her in the Special Care nursery last Friday under the blue lights which was horrible. I felt so sad heading home with our car seat all set up and ready for a baby. But with each subsequent feed I could see her becoming more alert and feeding more enthusiastically so I knew that it was doing her good. There were a number of other babies in there too being de-jaundiced so she wasn't alone, either. The nurses put little velcro dots on the side of their heads and attach little felt sunglasses to them so their eyes aren't damaged by the lights. It looked very cute but I kept forgetting and when I changed her her clothes kept getting velcroed to her head. What a bad mother...
Thanks for your well wishes - I promise to post some images once I get myself a bit more organised.
