by Betsy Shaw posted in Mom Stories

As far as childbirth goes, my labor and delivery with my firstborn was not the abridged version. No, it was a sprawling, unabridged American novel, spanning seeming years, which was actually just 48 hours, or so.
As any human who has undertaken a long journey would be, my baby girl was exhausted when she finally arrived. And so, she slept. And she slept. And she slept.
And then she slept some more. Talk about anticlimax. When did I get to play with this baby I had waited so patiently for"
She slept so much, I got scolded by a nurse for not feeding my baby often enough. That nurse woke me from a postpartum sleep more deeply delicious, heartburn and nausea free, than I'd had in 10 long months. I was so out of it, I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep with a rubber glove filled with ice between my legs. "When was the last time you fed her"" the nurse barked.
"Uh... I don't really know," I said searching the room for a clock, something to give me a clue how long I'd been asleep.
"Well you should be feeding her at least every few hours or so," she barked again. And here I thought becoming a mother would mark the end of being scolded like a child.
"But she's asleep," I said, exhausted to the point of drooling, myself.
"You have to wake her up, then, and make her eat," the barking barker continued.
My breasts were aching, that was true. The nurse put my exhausted newborn on my ches...