Stephen had blond hair--on his ears. There was a bit of fuzz at the back of his head; otherwise, he was bald. But he was so beautiful. Seven and a half pounds, 21 inches.
We were released from the hospital in a couple days, and I took my baby boy home dressed in one of the beautiful outfits that had been given to us at the shower given by Mama Rios. And what a welcome we received! The family was eager to see the newest addition to the family.
He was an eager nurser, but I was having pain. After about three days I was back in the hospital with breast abscess. Nursing just wasn't the "thing" at that time, so I got no encouragement from my doctor, my husband, or my aunt. So my baby ended up being a bottle baby instead of a breast baby. Much to my disappointment. But, he progressed well anyway.
Glory be! we got into student housing on campus. I hated to leave the lovely Rios family, but we got a two bedroom apartment on campus. And we didn't have to step over the toilet to get to the shower!!
We had no car, but classes were within walking distance, and the busline ran almost to my front door, so taking Stephen to well baby clinic was no problem. No problem at all. He immediately fell asleep as soon as the bus started moving. He put himself on a very convenient schedule for feeding, and life was good. In the morning, usually around 6:00am, I would hear a Waaahhh!! from the baby's room. I was holler back at him "OK, Baby, I hear you," and stumble out of bed to get his morning bottle. Not another sound out of him. I would change his diaper and give him his bottle. Never did he cry, but waited patiently until Mama presented his bottle to him.
This was the child I had dreamed of having since I was 13 years old. While I was pregnant, I said I didn't care, all I wanted was a healthy baby, but I really did want a boy. A blond boy with blue eyes; a chubby, healthy, happy baby, and that's exactly what I got. How did I get so lucky!!
Only one scary thing happened. Stephen hadn't at this point yet turned himself from back to front or front to back, so I felt perfectly secure in putting him in the middle of our double bed while I went to fetch something. Stan was home at the time when Stephen was supposedly napping on the bed, when we heard a THUMP! from the bedroom. We raced into the room to find the bed...empty! Ohmigod! where is he? What happened? We heard a little whimper and found our precious child had not only turned himself over, but managed to move far enough to fall off the bed. We found him between the bed and the wall. Well! that was the last time I put my baby down for a nap anywhere but in his crib!
My heart still pounds when I remember.
OK, enough of the baby. Tomorrow: life on campus in student housing.