Hospital breastfeeding in 1956

[Birdie]

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

I was able to sleep when he went to the nursery because I wasn't able to hear his every little peep. I'd never really been around babies before so I had no idea what to expect and what newborns do. Every peep and DH was up peering over the crib thing and I was sitting up trying to see what was going on. I was able to finally relax for an hour or two when he went to the nursery.

Plus I was high as a kite on the first night and physically couldn't keep my eyes open. My first attempt at nursing was kind of a joke since I was shaking so much from the drugs I was on and was so tired I couldn't open my eyes to look at him.

[badtzmaru22]

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

They took DD to the nursery for four hours overnight the second night.

[Birdie]

Plus DS was fussy and being new time parents we hadn't yet learned how to calm him down. It was easier to have the nurses help with that the first few nights.

Our first night home with him is a night I'd probably like to forget.

[karinothing]

Mar 24, 2014 19:37:30 GMT -5 Birdie said:

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

I was able to sleep when he went to the nursery because I wasn't able to hear his every little peep. I'd never really been around babies before so I had no idea what to expect and what newborns do. Every peep and DH was up peering over the crib thing and I was sitting up trying to see what was going on. I was able to finally relax for an hour or two when he went to the nursery.

Plus I was high as a kite on the first night and physically couldn't keep my eyes open. My first attempt at nursing was kind of a joke since I was shaking so much from the drugs I was on and was so tired I couldn't open my eyes to look at him.

Ah, ok. Yeah DS was always a silent sleeper. He just caused me a ton of anxiety that I had to have him near me to put my finger under his nose to make sure he was still alive. I could barely sleep with DH holding him because I was so freaken anxious something would happen, I feel like I would have had a panic attack if he went to the nursery lol.

[rootbeerfloat]

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

Well, we weren't changing diapers or listening to their baby noises or staring in awe at what we created, lol. Plus, I don't think they brought the babies in every 2 hours (at least not in the middle of the night), just when they were hungry, which was less often. And in my case, it was as much about sleep as it was that my mobility was severely limited the first night. (I kept the babies with me after the first night.)

[Birdie]

Mar 24, 2014 19:42:03 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Mar 24, 2014 19:37:30 GMT -5 Birdie said:

I was able to sleep when he went to the nursery because I wasn't able to hear his every little peep. I'd never really been around babies before so I had no idea what to expect and what newborns do. Every peep and DH was up peering over the crib thing and I was sitting up trying to see what was going on. I was able to finally relax for an hour or two when he went to the nursery.

Plus I was high as a kite on the first night and physically couldn't keep my eyes open. My first attempt at nursing was kind of a joke since I was shaking so much from the drugs I was on and was so tired I couldn't open my eyes to look at him.

Ah, ok. Yeah DS was always a silent sleeper. He just caused me a ton of anxiety that I had to have him near me to put my finger under his nose to make sure he was still alive. I could barely sleep with DH holding him because I was so freaken anxious something would happen, I feel like I would have had a panic attack if he went to the nursery lol.

See, I felt more comfortable with the nurses having him because they knew what they were doing lol. I had a lot of anxiety the first few weeks home with DS because I had no idea what I was doing. I still don't, but I at least feel more confident I'm not going to permanently ruin him with every decision I have to make.

[karinothing]

Mar 24, 2014 19:46:25 GMT -5 Birdie said:

Mar 24, 2014 19:42:03 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Ah, ok. Yeah DS was always a silent sleeper. He just caused me a ton of anxiety that I had to have him near me to put my finger under his nose to make sure he was still alive. I could barely sleep with DH holding him because I was so freaken anxious something would happen, I feel like I would have had a panic attack if he went to the nursery lol.

See, I felt more comfortable with the nurses having him because they knew what they were doing lol. I had a lot of anxiety the first few weeks home with DS because I had no idea what I was doing. I still don't, but I at least feel more confident I'm not going to permanently ruin him with every decision I have to make.

Ha yeah I get that. I just could not let that kid go. I am pretty sure no one else held him for 2 weeks. I remember DH had his family over for dinner and I sat on the couch holding DS to my chest just glaring at people. Like how dare you look at my baby! I was a little nuts at first

[Willis Jackson]

I stayed overnight in the hospital with DD (not with DS) and she was a heavy, silent sleeper so I had to set an alarm to wake myself up every 3 hours to feed her. I don't think the nursery would have saved me any trouble.

[bunch]

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

I didn't send dd2 to a nursery (there isn't one at my hospital) but she screamed almost every second that she wasn't being nursed from birth until my milk came in 48 hrs later. I slept two hrs each night it was in the hospital. It was brutal. I would have handed her to anyone who would have agreed to take her.

[karinothing]

Mar 24, 2014 20:35:26 GMT -5 bunch said:

Mar 24, 2014 19:34:53 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Can I ask a dumb question. If you send the baby to the nursery and you are breastfeeding how does that = more sleep? Don't you still have to feed every two hours? Obviously since I was discharged after 4 hours there was no opportunity for the nursery. I slept whenever he wasn't feeding.

I didn't send dd2 to a nursery (there isn't one at my hospital) but she screamed almost every second that she wasn't being nursed from birth until my milk came in 48 hrs later. I slept two hrs each night it was in the hospital. It was brutal. I would have handed her to anyone who would have agreed to take her.

Oh, yeah that sucked. DS basically ate/slept that was it. If he screamed every second I would not have been happy.

[babyrn]

Huh, it must have been a lot easier to be a nurse back then!

We definitely had DD in the nursery both nights we were there, but it was probably easier for me since I work there and knew she was in good hands with my coworkers. I would have rather had her in there while I slept that way someone was awake and watching her. I have seen too many babies silently go blue that it made me so nervous. That first night home from the hospital I didn't sleep at all because I wanted someone awake and watching her at all times, lol. I missed the nursery.

[IrishBelle]

My grandma had my twin uncles in the early 60s. She was discharged and since there were no other babies in the nursery of their small town hospital at that time, the nurses offered to keep them there. By the time my grandma brought them home two months later, the nurses had them on a schedule including eating at different times so it was more manageable for her.

[mdana]

My grandma nursed my dad and his three brothers in the 50s-60s. She said it was very unusual. One of my uncles spent a week in the hospital shortly after birth and she pumped/hand expressed for him and she said she received a lot of flak for that. I should show this to her, I think she'd find it interesting.

[mswax]

Mar 24, 2014 16:25:01 GMT -5 thebreakfastclub said:

<abbr data-timestamp="1395696301000" class="time" title="Mar 24, 2014 17:25:01 GMT -4">Mar 24, 2014 17:25:01 GMT -4</abbr> thebreakfastclub said:  

If I had a 2nd, I think I would ask them to take the baby night 1 again.   I think being a STM would give me the freedom/confidence of not giving a crap if they thought I sucked.

Yup!  I was SO exhausted after I got home with DS1 that we smartened up with DS2.  By the time DS3 came along, I was in the hospital by myself, since DH had to be home with the older boys (after he was there for the delivery), so there was no question I was using the nursery as an extra set of hands!

[winemaker06]

Mar 24, 2014 20:01:25 GMT -5 Willis Jackson said:

I stayed overnight in the hospital with DD (not with DS) and she was a heavy, silent sleeper so I had to set an alarm to wake myself up every 3 hours to feed her. I don't think the nursery would have saved me any trouble.

I had a super sleepy preemie that we had to wake every 3 hours to eat. They would take him overnight and promise to bring him back for feeding time, but now show up until an hour past when we agreed.
Plus, the nursery took all babies several times a day to check vitals, have the hospital pedi look them over, etc. I guess my hospital was weird in this? It was at least 4 times a day (definitely 7am and midnight), and we couldn't keep the schedule straight but it always seemed like they had to take him at feeding time or when we had visitors.

[carolinagirl831]

that is nuts! I imagine alot of unhappy babies.

and yeah i would have been so bored! a week in the hospital with no tv or internet! haha sure there were magazines, but i would have had to have a wheel barrel of books!

[litasail]

Mar 25, 2014 7:29:12 GMT -5 IrishBelle said:

My grandma had my twin uncles in the early 60s. She was discharged and since there were no other babies in the nursery of their small town hospital at that time, the nurses offered to keep them there. By the time my grandma brought them home two months later, the nurses had them on a schedule including eating at different times so it was more manageable for her.

Mar 25, 2014 10:08:04 GMT -5 @lauralynne said:

I was born in 1968 - there was no breastfeeding choice. My mom was given a shot to dry up her milk within hours of me being born. I'm sure she needed to consent to it (I would assume!) but it was just "how it was" back then.

Both of these are seriously blowing my mind. Thanks so much for sharing!

[havarti]

Mar 24, 2014 19:42:03 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Mar 24, 2014 19:37:30 GMT -5 Birdie said:

I was able to sleep when he went to the nursery because I wasn't able to hear his every little peep. I'd never really been around babies before so I had no idea what to expect and what newborns do. Every peep and DH was up peering over the crib thing and I was sitting up trying to see what was going on. I was able to finally relax for an hour or two when he went to the nursery.

Plus I was high as a kite on the first night and physically couldn't keep my eyes open. My first attempt at nursing was kind of a joke since I was shaking so much from the drugs I was on and was so tired I couldn't open my eyes to look at him.

Ah, ok. Yeah DS was always a silent sleeper. He just caused me a ton of anxiety that I had to have him near me to put my finger under his nose to make sure he was still alive. I could barely sleep with DH holding him because I was so freaken anxious something would happen, I feel like I would have had a panic attack if he went to the nursery lol.

 I did actually have a panic attack when they took him to the nursery for monitoring after his birth (he was born blue).  I laid awake staring at the clock until they brought him back in, despite having an Ambien, I just really needed to see him and know that he really was alive.  I cried when they brought him back to me and the nurses felt really bad -- they didn't try to separate us again.  

[sent]

My preemie left us for the NICU and then intermediate nursery right after she was born. I went home and recovered from my C-section and she came home 2 weeks after that. I told myself she was at "baby sleepaway camp."  I never really missed her because I knew they were taking good care of her.  Plus we couldn't hold her without gowning up and wearing gloves and masks so it never really felt like I was snuggling a baby until she came home.

When she came home, I was pretty well and able to do most normal tasks on 2 feet. As we were caring for her 24/7, I couldn't imagine how other moms with C-sections that go home with a baby 4 days later do it.

I pumped from the night she was born and she was fed BM via NG tube and later bottle until she came home. The only reason I pumped BM is because they told me she may come home sooner if I did.  Times have really changed.

[Willis Jackson]

Mar 25, 2014 10:08:04 GMT -5 @lauralynne said:

Mar 25, 2014 7:53:41 GMT -5 mdana said:

My grandma nursed my dad and his three brothers in the 50s-60s. She said it was very unusual. One of my uncles spent a week in the hospital shortly after birth and she pumped/hand expressed for him and she said she received a lot of flak for that. I should show this to her, I think she'd find it interesting.

I was born in 1968 - there was no breastfeeding choice. My mom was given a shot to dry up her milk within hours of me being born. I'm sure she needed to consent to it (I would assume!) but it was just "how it was" back then.

My brother was born in 1971 and my mother breastfed him.