What I've learned...

In the last 2 and a half weeks, Matt and I have learned a LOT:

• the best place to vomit while in the hospital is in the operating room because they suction it straight out of your mouth
• Matt is incredibly patient, helpful and loving in such stressful times
• it takes 23 minutes from walking into an operating room to delivering a human via c-section
• surgeons don't care about what music is playing in their OR (we listened to Christmas music while Bella was born)
• you are united with your baby an hour and 40 minutes after being born, whether you can move your lower extremities or not (I couldn't wiggle my toes for approximately 4 hours after Bella was born)
• beer increases milk production (in limited quantities, obviously) and so does drinking a lot of water, eating a lot of food and sleeping a lot
• no amount of vicodin helps with the pain associated with raw, cracked or bleeding nipples
• postpardum depression is real
• breast shells (plastic covers for your nipples to air dry) work to heal quickly
• nipple shields (silicon nipple) work to alleviate pain and speed healing but can become addictive to a little baby
• losing 23 pounds in 2 weeks is great, but may mean that a body is stressed (so yes, I'm still proud to say that I gained 25 pounds during the entire pregnancy and have almost already lost it all!!! ...however, I'm still wearing maternity clothes)
• dermabond (skin glue) is the best for sealing incisions
• walking upright takes about a week after a c-section
• breastfeeding is hard work and a constant event (I hope it becomes rewarding sometime soon)
• it feels good to hear from people that your baby is cute
• babies must regain the weight that they lose after birth by 2 weeks of age or there's a problem (Bella weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and needs to gain 5 ounces this week!)
• asking for help is hard
• swaddling is an artform and the tighter the better
• it takes a week for a man to get over changing a baby girl's diaper
• baby's belly buttons look cool until you look closely
• breastfed baby poop smells and resembles movie theater popcorn
• breastmilk sours on your body
• pumping breastmilk is humilating (but Matt helps make it fun)