A Lifetime With You

Taking Elijah Home

Joe's POV
Elijah and Taylor have been cleared to go home today, which makes Taylor and I so happy because we hate hospitals. Taylor was sleeping and I brushed her bangs out of her face and kissed her forehead. She smiled and her eyes slowly opened. "How you feelin?" I asked my beautiful wife. "I'm ok. I feel a little bit more awake now that I got a few hours of sleep. Where is he?" she asked, looking around the hospital room in a panic. "He's sleeping on the other side of you." I say. She sits her bed up a little and lifts Elijah out of his little hospital cot. "I just wanna snuggle him all day long." she said. "You were really made for this life. The way you light up when you're around him or Avery is honestly one of the cutest things I've seen in my life." I said. He started getting fussy. "Nothing like the sound of a newborn cry" Taylor said. I smile. She was right. That tiny little cry is so adorable. That is, until your baby has you up every 2 hours every night. Taylor positioned her boppy nursing pillow and she started feeding the baby. "Let me paint your nails when we get home." She looked at me like I was crazy. "Yeah right. I do need to do them though because the polish is chipping off." she said. "I was just offering. I thought it was a nice gesture." I said. "I know and I appreciate it, baby. It was nice of you, but I just like to do my own nails." she said. There was a knock on the door, which was followed by the nurse entering. "Just coming to check up. Everything going ok? He's nursing ok and everything? You guys can go ahead and pack up and when your ready, press the "call" button and I'll be back with a wheelchair for you and we'll take you through the back entrance because there's a lot of fans waiting in the front of the hospital." she said. We nodded. Taylor finished feeding the baby and she passed him to me so she could get dressed. I put him in the outfit we chose for him to go home in and then placed him in his car seat, which he hated. "Look in my bag and there should be a pacifier in there." Taylor said. I dug through her bag and I found a pacifier for him and it calmed him down immediately. After she finished up, I made sure everything was packed and we pressed the call button and the nurse came with a wheelchair. She wheeled Taylor and I carried the baby and our bags. We went through the back exit and our driver was waiting on us. I secured Elijah's car seat in the back seat and helped Taylor get into the car, which wasn't easy for her because of the pain, and I got into the backseat as well. We sat on the sides and baby was between us. Taylor started falling asleep and I grabbed her hand just because I really wanted to hold it.

3 PM
We finally arrive at home and I run over to Taylor's side and opened the door. "Nice and slow baby." I said. She slowly stepped out of the car. I held her hand and helped her inside to the couch. I went back out and got the car seat and the bags. I put the bags down and put the car seat on the kitchen table. "Let's go see mummy" I say, kissing Elijah's head. I place him in her arms and she started sobbing. "Babe...what's wrong?" I asked, very concerned. "Ignore me. I'm fine. It's hormones. I'm just so happy." she said. I smiled at her. "After I feed him, can I take a shower?" she asked. "Of course, honey. Take a nap also. You deserve it. You're doing some hard work" I said. She got situated and latched Elijah on. "Wait just a second." I said. I run upstairs to the bedroom and grab the other nursing pillow. There was one already down here since we took it to the hospital, but she just prefers this one more. "You went all the way up there for this? You're so sweet." she said. "I miss Avery. I kinda want her home with us." she said. "I miss her too, but you need to rest today. Just relax and have a quiet, calm day." I said. She winced in pain. "Ouch. Dude, just so you know, your tiny little body wrecked mommy's vagina. You better respect me all your life or I'm going to use that against you." she said to him. "Oh my god, he's literally smiling right now. He thought that was funny." she said. I couldn't help but stare at her. She's perfect and she's so happy, especially now. She caught me staring. "What?" she says, starting to blush. "You're just perfect, that's all." I say. She smiled. After Elijah finished eating, I helped Taylor upstairs so she could shower. I lied Elijah on our bed and he was sleeping. I helped Taylor get undressed. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Gross. I look awful. My boobs look horrendous. They're so veiny and I hate it. She turned around. "Oh my god, is that cellulite on the back of my thigh?!!!" she said. "Hey, look at me. Stop. You're perfect. I want you to look at your reflection and tell me something good you see about yourself." I said. "I grew two babies. That's pretty cool, I guess." she said. "You're damn right, that's cool. I hate hearing you say that you think your body isn't perfect. Your body is so amazing. 10 months ago we were standing right here having this same conversation. This belly right here will go down in no time, but just so you know, even if it stayed this way, I'd love you regardless." I said, kissing her forehead. "Really? But I'm not the same sexy 26 year old I was when you met me." she said. "Bullshit, you're 29 and still sexy as ever. Now, take a shower so you can get some rest. Call me if you need any help. I'll be right over here." I said. I turned on the water for her and helped her step into the shower. "See...I can't do anything for myself." she said as she broke down. "Baby..." I pulled her in close and just let her cry it out, not caring that my clothes are getting wet. She cried for a good minute. I held the sides of her head with my hands and wiped her cheeks with my thumbs. "I'm sorry. I know you hate it, but I'm here for you. I love you. I love doing things for you even though you like to be independent." I kiss her lips before closing the shower curtain. I walk into our room and strip down to nothing so I could change. I put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before lying down in bed, snuggling our baby boy.

4 PM
Taylor walked out of the bathroom. "I think I tore a stitch. It hurts so bad." she said. "How did you do that?" I asked. "I bent over to pull up this stupid ass diaper and hurt myself in the process." she said. "You should've called me in here." I said. She lied down in bed and I lied next to her. Moments later, we were both passed out, our baby asleep in the bassinet next to our bed.

6 PM
Elijah started crying so it woke me up. I got up from the bed and picked him up. "Let's not wake mummy." I say. "It's too late" I hear Taylor mumble. "Go back to sleep, honey." I say. "It's probably good that I'm up, so I'll sleep more tonight. Hand him to me and I'll feed him." she said. I pass Elijah to her and she starts nursing him.

Taylor's POV
I'm currently sitting in bed feeding Elijah and I grabbed my phone to FaceTime my mom. "Hi, sweetie. You guys got to go home, I see." she said. "Yeah. I'm so tired and my whole body hurts. He's so perfect though. He's eating currently so I'm sure you can hear him." I said. "I wanna see him!" she said. "He's attacking my boob right now." I say as I turn my camera the other way so she could see him. "You can get in all the cuddles when you bring Avery home tomorrow. I wanna see my baby." I say, as I turn my camera back around. "Hi, sweet girl! Mommy misses you so much." I said. She smiles at me through the camera and I blow her a kiss. I finish talking to my mom and hang up. "I'm gonna go out and grab us some dinner. You gonna be ok?" Joe asked. "Of course I will be ok. Just please be careful." I said. He kissed me and grabbed his keys and left.

7 PM
Joe returned with my favorite takeout food and sat in bed next to me as we ate. Elijah was sleeping soundly between us. "So babe, I was thinking...and it's a long time from now, but are we wanting more kids?" he asked me. "Yeah, eventually. Maybe like 2 or 3 years from now. I want one more. After that, I'm done. My body can handle childbirth one more time. You're gonna look at me like I'm crazy, but next time I want to have a home birth." I said. "Ok. I think it's a great idea. You'd definitely be more
comfortable and wouldn't have nurses coming in and out of the room." he said. "Mhm. That's why I wanna do it. The nurses are great don't get me wrong, it's just a lot sometimes. I have my heart set on it unless we absolutely have to have a hospital birth." I say. He agrees that it's a good idea. After we ate, Elijah started fussing. "What buddy? You ate not too long ago. I don't know what you want." I say. I slip my tank top over my head and undress him down to just his diaper and lied him on my chest. "That's all you wanted? To do skin to skin?" I asked him. His soft, tiny body fit against my chest perfectly and soon he was snoring and there's nothing cuter than a newborn snoring. "We make some beautiful babies. I probably sound biased, but they are absolutely perfect." I said. "They are." he agreed, kissing Elijahs head.

10 PM
"Wake up, little man. You're way past your feeding time and you need to eat before we go to bed." I said. I cradled him and latched him onto my breast and he immediately started suckling. "Wait, slow down." It might seem easy, but breastfeeding is far from it. It's actually quite painful in the beginning. I've had times where I literally just sob my way through the feeding. "He's a hungry boy." Joe said. "Weaning him is gonna be so hard. They say boys are harder to wean than girls." I said.

10:15 PM
I unlatched Elijah so I could burp him. "I'm sorry, baby. You need to burp first before I switch you to the other side." He burped and I switched him to the other side.

11 PM
Elijah is sleeping in his bassinet and I snuggled up next to Joe. "I love you." he said, kissing my forehead. "I love you too." We both fell asleep.

1 AM
Joe and I were awoken by Elijah crying. He's due for a feeding, but I couldn't get him to eat. I tried everything to stop his crying. "Please baby. I don't know what you want" I say, starting to cry. "It's ok. Give him to me" Joe said. He calmed him down and I tried feeding him again. Success. After I fed him, Joe and I went back to sleep. Little did we know, the rest of the night was going to be rough, rougher than when we brought Avery home.