Where was I? (Updated)

It's amazing how hard it is to find time for updates...

So,after I got to see my beautiful baby for the first time, J got to hold him near me for a bit, and my buddy the anesthesiologist took a wonderful "first family photo" of all three of us from above. He says he's gotten used to taking that shot, and it really came out great. So he gets some cred as a photographer as well.

Then it was time for the baby and J to leave me to get stitched back up. J went out to the hall to call all the parents, and baby went to get all checked out for a bit. I'm not sure how long all that took, but soon enough I was being wheeled to recovery and begging for some ice chips (I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for 12 hours, and even then my breakfast had been pretty meager, plus I hadn't eaten anything except for a breakfast bar for dinner, in the taxi on the way to the hospital.) But I wasn't hungry, just thirstier than I had ever been in my life.

Soon enough J arrived again, and they brought the baby in for some skin-to-skin contact. They put him right on my chest and sure enough, he did the amazing breast crawl, scooting himself up and over to my breast, where he didn't really latch on yet but plopped his head down for a little rest. It was so beautiful. I think he may have sucked a little, but I can't really remember. We did get to hang out for a while, and then they took him off for the last time, to have a proper bath. J went with him and took more pictures. They kept him in the nursery for a little while longer and J needed to get something to eat - he hadn't had any dinner and by this time it was midnight. So he went to the diner across the street for some pancakes - I thought that was pretty funny, but he also said he just needed a few minutes to breathe and process everything, and I was fine with letting him go.

When he came back it was time to head to our room, where they soon brought the baby as well. We were on the list for a private room, which we had to pay extra for, and fortunately one was available. Even better, we arrived after 1 am, so they ended up not charging us for the first night - score! This was the best money we ever spent (well, after all the money we paid to CC.RM I suppose...) - I felt so bad for the people in the shared rooms. It was so wonderful to have the room all to ourselves, and to be able to have J sleep there with us as well, especially since I wasn't able to move much. He took care of all the changing and bringing the baby to me for feedings. Plus the private room included the most amazing room service food with a real menu to choose from - not just hospital food. We were living in the lap of luxury for 3 days and it was great to be so pampered as we got used to the new baby. We brought him home on Friday the 22nd (the day we were supposed to do the c-section, and one week before his due date...), and J took off 2 weeks to take care of us both. He has been phenomenal - I don't know what I would do without him. He just went back to work this week, but still takes care of dinner and everything when he comes home.

The baby did great latching on for feedings almost from the start, and we had great help from the nurses too. He has been eating really well since then, and is gaining weight at a good rate. He is very sweet, and mostly just sleeps and eats of course. Today he has been a little fussy - wanting to eat almost every hour since 6:30 this morning - I just let him eat whenever he wants and am getting a bit sore. But he is usually on a pretty good schedule of eating every 3 hours, so hopefully he will get back to that soon.

What else can I tell you? I am still pretty sore, and sometimes have pain, from the incision, but overall I have to say that I don't mind missing out on the vaginal labor. I've been hearing and reading all kinds of horror stories of being ripped apart down there, so maybe I got a pretty good deal after all. As many of you said, once I had my little sweet baby in my arms, I just didn't care how he got there.

Finally, some of you asked his name, or for pictures - I'm not going to post either. Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but there are enough identifying facts about me on this blog, and with the whole egg donor thing...well, I don't know. I've become a super-protective mama hen, and I don't think that's a bad thing!

Update for Soulshine:
Ok, he's absolutely adorable, of course! In fact, several people on the street have even said that they aren't "baby people", but that our guy is seriously cute. He has a full head of dark hair (only curly when scrubbed dry but combs straight) and J is obsessed with brushing it (as he says, he doesn't really have much of his own to comb). He makes the cutest little faces. We are hoping that he has his dad's cleft chin - there is a little indentation that seems like it could go that way. And he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz at birth and now is up to about 7 lbs 5 oz. He was 20 inches long - so pretty long and lean. And since he was squished in there sideways, he loves to keep his legs crossed Indian style with his feet all tucked up - in fact one of the doctors at the hospital was worried that one of his feet had a problem straightening out, but our pediatrician says that he is perfect. Of course we think so!