Beauty where there's pain

Chapter 17

Marley had her first doctors appointment when she was 5 days old. Jade dressed her in a light purple, long sleeved sweater , and cheetah print leggings with a matching bow. Marcus joked that Marley already wore more cheetah print than Snooki, to which Jade rolled her eyes.

Marcus was nervous about a number of things, and when Marcus got nervous he had a tendency to make jokes and not take things seriously. "Don't make me regret bringing you with me. This is important, one inappropriate joke and I will put you out of the exam room myself." Jade told Marcus. "I promise I'll be serious, this is our daughter's first doctors appointment." Marcus told Jade as he followed her to the doors of the pediatric office. He carried Marley's carrier close to his chest and made sure she was covered to protect her from germs and the harsh cold wind.

When Marley's doctor walked in, Marcus felt extremely freaked out. The same doctor Marley had was the same doctor who took care of him and Max through their entire childhood. This was one of the women whose known him since he was in diapers. He couldn't help but wonder what she thought about him having a baby at suck a young age.

When Dr. Roberts started the exam, Marcus monitored everything she did very closely, making sure she didn't accidentally hurt Marley. Everything looked fine until the hip rotation exam. "I promise this isn't hurting her, it just looks very wonky." Dr. Roberts assured Jade and Marcus.

As soon as her physical exam was complete, Marcus cradled Marley protectively in his arms and watched as she fell asleep. They asked many questions and took up about 30 minutes of Dr. Roberts time before they left.

Marley had just turned 2 weeks old when Jade and Marcus began to do trade off nights. Tonight was the first night that Marcus got to bring Marley home and his parents and sister were extremely excited. He was nervous as hell.

"I put like 20 bags of milk in the freezer for her, I'll bring by more for her tonight, and you know she only drinks from the realistic nipple but I packed a few other bottles just in case." Jade told Marcus as she handed Marley over to Max and gave him a bag full of everything Marley would need. "I'll see you two tomorrow afternoon." She told him before giving Marley a kiss on her head before turning to return to her car.

"Alright, first things first. Mom, how do you warm up a bag of breast milk again?" Marcus asked his mom. Max was sitting in the living room baby talking to Marley and playing with her hands. "You can let it thaw out or you could put the baggy in a warm bowl of water. Never microwave the milk or try to boil it because then the nutrients and the milk will be ruined." Ellen explained to her son as she folded a basket of dish towels. Marcus nodded and got a bowl to fill with warm water.

While Marcus waited on the milk to warm up, he went into the living room and took Marley from Max's arms. "Hey! What if I wasn't done holding her?" Max complained to her brother, "I haven't gotten to hold my daughter since she's been here." He told her. Marley looked around the living room and made quite baby noises. "She's being so quiet!" Max told Marcus. "Trust me, when she gets hungry you'll be eating your words." Marcus laughed before handing Marley back to his sister.

As promised, the minute Marley was hungry she started screaming. Max tried to calm her down while Marcus made her bottle by lightly rocking her. She only cried louder and grabbed a fist of Max's hair. She would let go of her hair until Ellen took her from Max's arms. She carried her into the kitchen and sat at the table with her while Marcus got the top of the bottle screwed on. He took the bottle to his mom after checking it's temperature on his wrist. Marley comfortably laid in Ellen's arms and drank her bottle.

When Marcus's dad got home from work, he joined his family in the kitchen. Marley had just gotten finished with eating and being burped and was now staring at everything around her. Clint washed his hands before taking his granddaughter in his arms. Clint absolutely adored his granddaughter and was already starting to spoil her. He came home from work today with a tummy time water mat for her.

Nighttime was hard for Marcus, not because Marley was crying a whole bunch, but because he was too anxious to go to sleep. He was scared of Marley crying and him not being able to hear her, and he was scared that she would somehow roll out of her bassinet.

"Honey, you are going to drive yourself mad if you stay up waiting for her to cry. It's 3 am, go to bed." Ellen told him. "If she starts crying, you'll be able to hear her because you have a baby monitor in your room." She continued. He decided to take his mom's advice, but instead of sleeping in his bedroom, he slept in the rocking chair that was in the nursery.

Marley woke up at 4 in the morning because she was hungry. Marcus picked her up and slowly walked downstairs to make Marley's bottle. When she finished her bottle, she didn't go back to sleep for another two hours. When Marley finally went back to sleep, Marcus fell asleep immediately after her. A few hours later, he woke up and saw Max cradling Marley in her arms. "Oh, you're awake!" She said. He nodded, "is she awake?" He asked his twin. Max nodded and smiled at Marley lovingly.

Marcus spent a lot of the day interacting with Marley. He couldn't do much with her because she was only two weeks old but he made her tummy time pretty entertaining. He used her rattles to get her to pay attention on looking up and strengthening her neck muscles.

At the end of the day, Marcus packed all of the breastmilk bags in a cooler bag and made sure to pack everything Jade brought for Marley to use in her bag. Max decided to dress her a long sleeved white onsie that had her name written in pink cursive across the middle. She also put her in black leggings, her knitted ugg boots, and her pink headband bow.

Marcus made sure Marley was bundled up before taking her out to his moms car.

Jade was so happy to see Marley again. She told Marcus and Ellen to follow her inside so that she could show them the new baby swing she got for Marley. She showed them the swing speed settings, and the music button. "The second and third speed seemed a little fast, what if she gets launched from her seat?" Marcus asked. "Marcus she is going to weigh the swing down, which means it won't go that fast. She'll also be strapped in so don't worry." Jade told him. He seemed relieved at that. Marley was fast asleep in Ellen's arms and Jade was kind of scared to move her. Ellen carefully placed the sleeping baby in her bassinet and prayed that she wouldn't wake up.

Before leaving, Marcus kissed his hand and touched Marley's head softly before whispering that he'd see her tomorrow.