A Lifetime With You

Adjusting to Our New Life

(continuation of previous chapter. same day)

11 AM
Taylor's POV
I'm exhausted and in a lot of pain, but so in love. Motherhood is the best thing I've ever experienced and I'm only about 8 hours in. I think it's 8 hours. I feel somewhat better as I got a little bit of sleep when we finally went to bed this morning. Joe and I have been talking about names for her and so far we've got a long list we're trying to choose from. Does that make us bad parents? Why didn't we figure her name out months ago? Thankfully before I could make myself feel even worse with my thoughts, the baby started crying. I look at the time. "She's probably hungry." Our nurse came back in, only this time to give baby girl her first bath. Joe undressed her and held her close. She was screaming. "Poor baby." Out of nowhere she pees all over Joe. I start laughing to the point I'm crying because it hurts to laugh but it's also funny. He carries the baby to the nurse in the bathroom. She starts washing her. "Goodness. She's not having it at all" the nurse said. "Yeah, I think she's hungry." Joe said. "Uh oh. I'm gonna try and go as quick as I can." the nurse said. I'm lying in the bed, literally holding my boobs because they felt like they were gonna explode. After the baby's bath, the nurse puts her in a diaper and brings her over to me. "I'm sorry. You guys should've told me to come back later. That will happen frequently though. Your boobs will get a lot bigger and more sore when she's due for a feed. Or if she just simply cries, you might start leaking. It's the motherly instinct that kicks in." the nurse says. "One of my friends said when her baby was little, she went to the store and heard a baby cry and started leaking immediately." "That happens too. Our bodies are really something aren't they?" the nurse said. I nod. I latch the baby on. "Wait something isn't right." I say with concern. "When she's nursing, make sure her bottom lip is curled downwards and her top lip is curled upward. That's the key to a good latch." the nurse said. She helped me get her latched on better. She left and my mom and Abigail came in. "You look good." Abigail said. "Thanks. I don't feel it though."
"She's so perfect." my mom said. "She really is."
"How's breastfeeding so far?" my mom asked. "We had a little trouble with the first feeding. She wouldn't latch, but she eventually got it. My boobs hurt." I finish nursing and then Joe changes her diaper and swaddles her.

Joe's POV
Things have been pretty nice and calm here at the hospital. I kiss my little girl's head and then place her in Andrea's arms. "She's so tiny." Andrea said. I nod in agreement. Abigail sits down on the bed next to Taylor. "Have you eaten anything?" Abigail asks. "No. Joe tried to get me to eat earlier. I'm just too tired to eat." Taylor said. "Andrea, are you hearing this? Your daughter hasn't eaten in 2 days." Abigail said. "Honey, you need to eat. I know you might not feel like it, but it's important. You need your nutrients so you can make nutrients for her through your milk. Have you been drinking water at least?" Andrea asked. "Yeah. My throat has been so dry and sore. Probably all the screaming I did." Taylor says. "I'm gonna go get you some food. What would you like? It doesn't have to be from the cafeteria." She yawned. "In n out sounds fucking awesome right now. You know my order." she said. I kiss her before leaving to go get her some food.

Taylor's POV
"Abigail, can you hand me that black backpack down there?" She nods. "I hope y'all don't mind, but my boobs hurt so I'm gonna pump. They're hard as rocks. I don't understand." "That means they're full. Pumping should definitely help." my mom said. The baby started getting fussy. "Shhhhh" she said trying to calm her. "Does she need a diaper change?" My mom shakes her head. "Are you hungry again?" my mom says. "She might be. She eats a lot. I just feed her on demand. Once my actual milk comes in, I'll try and put her on a schedule of every 2 hours." My mom places her in my arms and moves my breast pump bag back to the floor. "Dang girl, slow down. I'm not going anywhere. She's sucking the life out of me like she's starving." My mom and Abigail laugh. "She's such a loud eater." Abigail said. "Right!" I look down at my baby and watch her nurse.

Joe's POV
I get back up to the postpartum floor and hear so many new babies crying, hoping mine was ok. I knew she was ok because Taylor is her mama and she's an excellent one at that. I get to the doors and try to scan my hospital bracelet, but it wouldn't scan. "Excuse me ma'am. I'm Joseph Alwyn. Taylor Alwyn is my wife. We're in room 113. I tried scanning my bracelet, but it's not working. It was working earlier." "I'm sorry sir. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. The scanner is what opens the door. It should recognize your hospital bracelet immediately, but it doesn't recognize it for some reason." the nurse at the nurse's station said. "But that's my wife and baby. I need to get back to them." She claimed she couldn't help me, but I knew she could. All she had to do was scan her ID and let me in. I pull out my phone and call Taylor. "Hey babe. I'm sorry, but I think you're gonna have to come get me. My bracelet won't scan and the nurses aren't letting me in."
"Babe, I can't. I'm feeding the baby right now. Put me on the phone with the nurse." Taylor said. Taylor talked to the nurse and I don't know what she said, but it worked. The nurse let me through. "She's eating again?" Taylor nods. I go sit next to her and tickle the baby's foot. "Daddy's being mean to you, huh? Tell him to stop." Taylor said. "We've got the loudest eater in the world." I say, chuckling. "That's exactly what we just said." Taylor said.

Taylor's POV
The baby has fallen asleep on me so I unlatch her and fix my tank top. I check her diaper and she didn't need to be changed. I kissed her cheek. "I think your godmommy wants to hold you." I swaddle her and Abigail comes over to me and I a pass the baby to her. "They're thinking about letting us go home tomorrow night." Mom looked shocked. "Even though you just had her today?" she asks. I nod. "I hope dad feels better tomorrow. I hate that he's sick. I know he's feeling awful." Mom nods. "Oh Taylor. You have no idea. He was so upset. He wanted to come today, but he knew he couldn't. I promised him some pictures. I told him that I'd give you his love and baby girl his love." mom said. "Awww. I can't wait to see him." I ate a little bit of my food Joe got me and talked with my mom and Abigail a little bit and they left. We had a few more visitors throughout the day. "Joe, I think out of all the names we picked...I think I like Avery the best."
"Avery Taylor Alwyn it is. It's perfect." he said. He sat next to me and we stared at our daughter. "I love you." he said. "I love you too." I can't wait to see what our future holds. I just know it's gonna be a great adventure.