Hello, Maternity Instincts?
Last night around 4:00 AM my stomach started to hurt. Funny thing about abdominal surgery. It makes your abdomen sore. So, I got up to walk around a little bit because sometimes the laying down is what makes it the most agitated. So, I was walking the halls of the maternity floor and I thought I’d just pop my head into the nursery to take a peek at the Beaner.
The nursery is the best place in the hospital. I’m convinced. Its warm. Its softly lit. There’s usually soft white noise playing. Everyone whispers. Its pretty awesome. And last night was no exception. There were about 25 babies in the room all sleeping peacefully in their little plastic bins bassinets. When I walked in the door, the nurse asked if she could help me.
“I just wanted to peek in on my baby,” I said sleepily.
“Sure,” she said. “Which one is yours?”
I pointed to a bassinette by the door. “That’s my sweetie.”
The nurse smiled and then asked to see my identity bracelet. They always match my bracelet to the Bean’s to make sure that we are paired up right. The nurse looked at my bracelet and then gave me this pathetic smile.
“This isn’t your baby, dear,” she said nicely. She walked over to a bassinette on the far side of the room. “This is your baby.”
Oh, crap. I can’t even recognize my own baby! I was humiliated.
But I regained my composure, made some joke about still being half asleep, and I made my way over to MY baby. He looked adorable. He was all swaddled perfectly, the way only the nurses in the maternity ward can do it. He was sleeping so peacefully, along with all the other babies in the room. It was just perfect.
…Except the Bean had a tiny bit of spit up in the corner of his mouth. Just a little drop, but enough for me to gently take the corner of a burp cloth and wipe him. He sort of sleepily opened his eyes then and so I took the opportunity to sweep in and get myself a good 4:30 AM cuddle. I picked him up, cuddled him, snuggled him, and when he closed his eyes again, I laid him back down in his bassinette.
And that’s when the poopy diaper hit the fan.
The Bean started screaming bloody murder. And when he started screaming bloody murder, so did the baby next to him. And then the baby on the other side of him started. Before I knew it, the entire nursery of 25 babies was screaming bloody murder. And there I stood in the middle of them all.
I figured I had done just about all the damage I could do in 15 minutes, and so I apologized to the now angry nurse (who said maybe it was a good idea if I left…oops…) and headed back to my room. Even from the comfort of my hospital bed down the hall, I could hear those babies screaming for another half hour.
Anybody know when those motherly instincts kick in? Sure hope its soon before I piss off any more rooms full of babies…
17 Comments
Sarah
Hahaha, I think your motherly instincts are just fine. You wiped the spitup off your kids face, you cuddled him to you for loves. That’s pretty motherly. It just turned out kinda not fun. lol
That poor nurse…she knew what she was getting into when she decided to work in the nursery, though.
kay
judging by your pictures, your motherly instinct already has kicked in.
i have a trick that worked for my 5 darlings when they were babies, if little beaner doesn’t want to sleep at night, just fill your bathtub as full as you can with warm water(obviosly), strip him down to his nothins lay his head(the back of it) in one hand and just let him float. it relaxes babies and soon you may find you need a bigger tub to relax you and the mister!
good luck!!!
http://randommusingsfrommypov.com
Hilary
Okay, that was definitely funny! We also opted for our munchkin to sleep in the nursery after she was born. Worked great the first night. The nurses would bring her in for feeding and then take her back so hubby and I could sleep. The second night SOMEONE decided NOT to pick up the baby and so after about four hours of going back and forth from the bed to the bassinet, I thought “Screw this!” and brought the baby into bed with me. I fell asleep plotting the snide comeback I would have locked and loaded when the nurse told me that co-sleeping in a hospital bed was dangerous. Unfortunately, no one seemed to care. As for the mommy instincts, don’t feel bad – my husband got mine. I was pretty much useless the first two weeks.
Camille
Oh, Katie…how you make me laugh. I have no experience in this arena, but I’m told all newborn babies look the same. Don’t feel bad! At least, I wouldn’t. It made for an awesome post!
Jackie
Now we know why they sent you home today. HaHa. I’m so glad you guys are home. You can wake Michael up all you want.
RatalieNose
That is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!
Funny and terrible!
Maureen
I’ve heard that women often have a hard time recognizing their babies right after they are born. I’m not sure why, though.
Anyway, congrats on the adorable addition to your family!
Lori
We had Porter in the room with us and at TMH you can’t even go look in the nursery window because there isn’t a nursery window–so I never confused him with another baby since he was always with us!
Are you home yet?
Miss M!
LOL – OMG, I am so glad they didn’t keep Bubba in a nursery like that because I probably would have done the same thing! (he stayed in our room unless I was asleep)
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Rule #1 of parenthood:
Never, ever wake a sleeping baby.
You learned that the first week. You’re ahead of the game.
Emilyc
That is so funny. I bet those nurses are going to be glad when you go home! LOL
Queen of Quirky
Awesome. I just spit coffee.
Nelia
As a Mama-no-where-near-in-the-making, I thought, how does she know which baby is her baby? Don’t they all look the same? As I continued to read I felt foolish. Oh. A Mama just knows her baby. (But what if I don’t know my baby? Will I be considered an unworthy Mama?) And then I read bit more. (Whew. At least I’ll be in good company.)
shionge
Just read that Baby Michael is back home…..have plenty of rest yourself Katie and just enjoy motherhood 🙂
Jennifer
Honesty in the most rare form, that is what keeps me reading. Beautiful baby! Just beautiful. Enjoy!
Heather
I 2nd what Jennifer says… You are fabulous…! You’re doing great…!
;o) H
Christina
There is much comfort in knowing that you only have to be responsible for one baby when you are home. No more roomfuls of screaming babies. Commenter #1 hit the nail on the head.