Isabelle Marie Benson

Isabelle Marie Benson

December 15, 2014

2:05 pm

6 lbs

19"

At Waccamaw Hospital, Josh was allowed to go into the nursery and be a part of the process with Chandler, but here, he had to wait outside the nursery. My family was there, too, and got to see her for the first time! I spent about 45 minutes in recovery and then they brought me up to my room, where I waited anxiously for them to bring me my baby. For HOURS. We kept asking over and over for them to bring her in and they kept saying that they would soon, but she never came. Josh said she was just sitting in a bassinet in the nursery; they weren't even doing anything with her! At this point I was bawling and Josh and Mom were starting to lose it on the nurses. Finally one of them told us they hadn't brought her in because we had to go through a "training" first. To which we told them to do the stupid training so that we could see her. The training consisted of 3 minutes of a lady asking us questions like "is there smoke in the home?" and "do you have a carseat?" Really? I couldn't be holding my baby while they went over that?! Finally, after 2.5 hours, I was finally able to hold my beautiful baby.

She is the sweetest, most perfect angel! Her eyes are pretty gray, so I think they will ultimately be brown like mine. She has dark hair, a little thin on the top. She has flawless baby skin and the cutest little button nose. I could just stare at her all day long.

That evening, Chandler was able to come meet his baby sister for the first time! It was so sweet to watch, he loves her! (And I can't narrow these down to a couple of pictures. I can't.)

(These are technically from Day 2)

She had fun meeting Nonnie, Grandpa, Halston, Jordan, Kaitlyn, and Maylee, too!

We were in the hospital until Wednesday. One of my biggest worries about the hospital stay was Chandler. I didn't want him to feel like he was getting the shaft, and on top of that, he has a hard time sleeping anywhere but his own bed. Mom and Dad were kind enough to take him for a few days, and it was a huge weight off my mind. He had the time of his life and slept great for them!

We spent the next few days in the hospital getting to know sweet little Isabelle. It was so amazing to finally have her here! I've had her name picked out for over a decade and couldn't wait to have a daughter. It's already everything I hoped it would be.

The hospital stay improved after the initial anger over them holding Isabelle hostage after she was born. The nurses were all very nice and attentive. I had a fair amount of pain, but it was manageable. It seemed a ton better than right after I had Chandler! Maybe because I didn't labor for 14 hours first, so it wasn't quite as hard on my body.

The first time I nursed Isabelle, she latched right on and did an awesome job eating for the first 24 hours. But after that, she pretty much refused to eat. Even after about 5 hours. We would rub her back and change her diaper and do everything we could to get her awake so she would eat. But even after she was completely alert, she would refuse to latch. Even the nurse didn't know what to do. She said to just let her eat when she wanted, and then see the pediatrician as soon as we could after leaving.

She took to her pacie immediately, however!

On Wednesday afternoon, we got all packed up to bring our princess home! She came home in the same outfit that both I and then Chandler wore home from the hospital.

So tiny in her car seat!

Arriving home: