My Bundle Of Joy: Part Fifteen

~ beetleypete

This is the fifteenth part of a fiction serial, in 726 words.

A different midwife came to see me after the morning shift came on duty. She talked to me about breastfeeding, which I wanted to do, and how a health visitor would come and make regular checks on Leah for a few days. She said I could go home that afternoon, and then asked me if I had any questions.

I couldn’t think of anything, it was as if my mind had gone blank.

Olly looked awful, so I told him to go home by taxi and get some sleep. I would ring him when he could come and collect us in the car.

Us. It felt funny to say that. Before Leah, ‘Us’ had only meant me and Olly.

Before the midwife left me to it, I finally managed to get Leah to feed. The feeling was both weird, and fantastic at the same time. She was hungry too. Although she still hadn’t made any noise remotely resembling crying, she did make some gurgling sounds that reassured me that at least her vocal chords were working. I had told Olly to ring everyone and ask them not to visit the house until the next day, at the earliest.

There had never been a time in my life when I had felt so tired.

Being alone with my little girl mainly made me anxious. What should I be doing? I spoke to her, kissed her and cuddled her, and didn’t let on to her that my belly and my lady bits were still hurting quite a bit. Once the anaesthetic had worn off totally, everything below my hips felt as if I had skidded down a tarmac road naked. Not quite enough for agony, but far more than sore. I hadn’t asked for anymore painkilers, as I didn’t want to ingest any more medicine than absolutely necessary while I was breastfeeding.

By the time I was allowed home and Olly was there with the carry-cot, I had started to feel like a mum. Millions of women did this every day, I kept telling myself. I had to stop over-thinking everything, and making such a big deal of it. We waited in the main reception while Olly went to get the car from where he had parked on a meter.

The cot fitted onto the car seat base in one slick movement, and he looked at me with such a look of pride on his face, you would think he had just constructed the Forth Bridge. I had been walking like John Wayne after a long ride on his cowboy horse, and it was a relief to flop into the seat.

As the car headed off into the early rush-hour traffic, I had a wobble. This was it. We were going home with a tiny baby, and it was all up to us now.

For the rest of our lives.

To give him full credit, Olly had done wonders while he had been at home. I doubted he had slept at all, as he had tidied up, prepared a basic meal for later, sorted out everything in Leah’s room, and had the nappies and wipes all ready downstairs. The machine for expressing my milk was there too, along with the bottles all sterilised, in case I wanted to use them. I thanked, him and told him I was going to try to stick with breast feeding. Then as if to prove a point, I gave Leah a feed while he watched. At least one of us would get some sleep later that night.

With Leah asleep next to us in her carry-cot, we sat and ate together. Olly said he had sorted out the baby alarm, and also the vibrating alarm that would wake me when I needed to feed her. He said he would watch her after dinner while I had a bath. But there was no way I was going to try to sit in a bath, and just stood there with one hand against the wall using the shower attachment. When I came down, Olly was trying to amuse Leah with a stuffed toy that had bells attached. But she wasn’t taking any notice. I suggested he wait until she was just a little bit older, and he laughed, saying he felt silly.

That was such a happy night, that first night at home.

32 thoughts on “My Bundle Of Joy: Part Fifteen”

  3. So far so good, Olly has stepped up…Can’t wait to see he they cope with sleepless nights etc …Like the rest of us, I am guessing…Well written and the homecoming as it should be …Well Done.. Pete x

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  6. I flashed back to our first night at home with our baby. It takes new parents a bit to get settled into their new roles. It’s such a strange feeling to know that you’re the one in charge of this enormous responsibility.

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  10. (1) Bad citation: “Us. It felt funny to say that. Before untethering Leah, ‘Us’ had only meant me and my vengeful doppelgänger from down under.”
    (2) The new midwife spoke to Angela about breastfeeding. “First of all, I need to make sure you’re not a fembot.”
    (3) Bad citation: “Leah still hadn’t made any noise remotely resembling crying. Instead, she had mumbled, ‘Google Gaga!’ That convinced me I’d spent too much time listening to pop music on the internet.”
    (4) Never talk about lady bits after feeding a toothless baby.
    (5) After the anaesthetic had worn off, Angela’s felt as if she had skidded down a tarmac road naked. She had almost forgotten how that felt. Back in her teenage years, Angela had done a lot of road skidding in the nude, but eventually tired of the sport.
    (6) Angela was walking like John Wayne after a long ride to Fort Bridger. When Olly brought the car around, she said, “Well, saddle me up, Pilgrim, and head us back to the ranch, uh-huh.”
    (7) Bad citation: “As the car headed off into the early rush-hour traffic, I had a wobble, like that of a top. Was I dreaming? And if so, at what level?”
    (8) Olly tried to amuse Leah with a stuffed animal with bells attached. The taxidermist had admitted it needed more cowbell.

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