One month on and time for an update!
As I'd been in labour all night, by the time Joseph arrived, Adam was feeling pretty shattered (I was still running on adrenalin) so he went home around tea time. Friday night at the hospital was pretty stressful, as I was unable to get out of bed after my c-section, so every time Joseph cried I had to call for someone to pass him to me. (They do have special bed side cots for mums who've had caesareans, but there weren't enough to go round!) Joseph also wasn't yet feeding. He had latched on, so we knew he could do it, but he was choosing not to!

Adam came back to visit us as soon as Father's visiting started at 11am on Saturday. One of the auxiliaries took Joseph for a bath in an attempt to clear some mucous, as they though that might be why he wasn't feeding. It was then my turn for a clean up! I had my catheter removed, and was then able to go for a shower. I took my dressing off and was really surprised by how neat and clean my scar was. I was struggling a bit to get around, but it felt good to be finally out of bed! Adam stayed until he had to leave for "mother's rest hour" at 1pm. He then met up with my parents, and the three of them came to visit us at 2.30pm. Mum and Dad had to leave at 4pm (visiting over), but Adam stayed til around 9pm. By this time Joseph still wasn't feeding properly, he'd feed for 5 mins or less and only from one side! I tried expressing a little, and gave it to him in a bottle. This seemed to help, and just after Adam left, we tried feeding again, and it finally clicked.

Saturday night was much less stressful. I was able to get up and Joseph was feeding 3 hourly. So when the midwife came to see me on Sunday morning I asked if I could go home, and she agreed! As we'd already arranged for Adam's mum, dad and sister to visit, we decided that I would have my visitors in hospital and then go home. So at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon we took our little boy home.

Our neighbours, Sarah and Luke popped over to have a look at Joseph, and then, after a few hours, we bundled him in to the pram and went out to get a take away. I was walking slowly, but pushing the pram helped, especially uphill. Downhill was a bit harder though, as it tended to pull a bit on my tummy. Finding a position to sleep in that night was a bit tricky, as I had slept propped up in hospital, and getting out of bed was quite difficult too, but it was good to be home.

We had a day at home on the Monday, partly because we had to wait in for the midwives, who didn't come til about 3.30pm. On the Tuesday we ventured into Macc and spent half of our time there in Mothercare's Mother and Baby room! We then went home via Tesco. On the Thursday my mum brought my nan to see us, which was lovely. By now I was feeling much more myself and was a lot more mobile and experiencing very little pain from the op. We planned to take Joseph in to work on the Friday, but unfortunately he woke up with conjunctivitis, so we took him to the doctor instead!

On the Saturday we decided to go to Stockport on the train, and had a lovely family outing. While we were there we met up with my friend, Sarah, from work, and also bumped in to a couple of others as well. On the Monday, we met a couple of Adam's colleagues for lunch. We decided to walk, as Adam does to work, along the Middlewood Way, which took about an hour each way, which was great exercise for me, although a little tiring.

On the Tuesday, we registered Joseph's birth and also popped back in to Macc. We planned the visit a little better this time and got more done! On the Wednesday we were finally able to take Joseph in to work to meet my friends and colleagues. We also decided it was an ideal time for me to try driving again, as the route was a decent length without being too long, and one that I knew well. I had no problems or discomfort, which was great news, as we both prefer for me to drive. We spent a good couple of hours at work, as all the girls wanted a cuddle! Adam's mum and step-dad came to visit that evening too.

On the Thursday we were discharged from the midwife, which was an odd feeling, as we'd got to know them pretty well, and all of a sudden all contact with them stops. Both Nicola and Ann were great, especially towards the end and during and after the birth. I hope they're both still working this patch next time!

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew came to visit at the weekend, and we had a lovely time. But then, unfortunately, it was time for Adam to go back to work.

On our first day on our own, we went to visit my friend, Sally, who had also just had a little boy. And we also had our visit from the health visitor. I found the second day harder, as Joseph just cried and fed all day, and as I knew Adam would be out in the evening as well (a work meal), it was all a bit much for me. But things got easier, and I even took Joseph to the Trafford Centre on the third day, where he was an angel. Our final day alone that week was spent preparing for the weekend, as we were travelling down to Leicester on the Friday, where we planned to stay until the Monday. Adam's sister was having a Birthday/Graduation party on the Saturday night and we decided we'd make a long weekend of it and use the extra time to visit family/friends.

We popped into Hobby Horse Crafts on the way, to say hello to Rachel and Sally, before heading to mum's (our base for the weekend) to unload the car. Unfortunately, by now, Adam wasn't feeling too good (a bit fluey), so he went for a lie down, while I sorted things out. After a couple of hours, he decided he was feeling well enough to visit his Gran & Grandad and introduce them to Joseph. We then went to Adam's mum's for tea and spent a lovely evening with them.

On Saturday morning, Adam still wasn't feeling right, but decided he was well enough to run a few errands with his sister as arranged. I went and had my hair done while mum looked after Joseph. It was a strange feeling, being away from him, but something I'm glad I did early. As I knew I'd be away at feeding time, I had expressed some milk, and he took a bottle from mum without any problems. (Another thing I'm glad I did early.)

We went for a meal before the party. Mum and dad came too, and then took Joseph home while we stayed out. Unfortunately Adam really wasn't feeling good by this time, so we arranged for dad to pick us up at 10pm, and it was a good job we did, as he started to feel worse and began to suffer from diarrhoea as well as his other symptoms. He went straight to bed as soon as we got home and stayed there, as he felt even worse on Sunday.

Mum and I went shopping on Sunday morning and I took Joseph to visit Adam's other grand-parents in the afternoon, as we didn't know what Adam had, but we didn't want to risk passing it on. On Monday he was still really ill, so we decided that we would stay another night, as he couldn't be away from the bathroom long enough to get home! I took him to visit the doctor, who said he thought it was gastroenteritis.

On Tuesday, Adam was still feeling awful, but, as his bathroom visits were reducing (he hadn't eaten since Saturday!), we decided to make the journey home, as we thought it would be better for all of us to be in our own home. When he still wasn't better on Wednesday I took him to the doctor again. She asked him to do a sample, which they would send off for testing. Upon producing his sample, so to speak, Adam noticed blood, which he decided must've always been present, just unnoticed, so we made yet another doctors appointment. Fortunately this co-incided with the Baby Clinic that I was planning to take Joseph too.

So while Adam saw the doctor, Joseph got weighed. He was 12lbs 3oz, exactly what he should be at this stage, which was reassuring. The doctor was concerned by Adam's sample and said he would try and get the testing rushed through so that he would have the results the next day, but in the mean time he gave him some anti-biotics.

The results weren't in on Friday, but Adam gradually started to feel a little better over the weekend, but as he still wasn't eating a lot, he was very lacking in energy. He got the results this afternoon which showed he has campylobacter. He seems to feel better for knowing what it is, and the anti-biotics seem to have helped. He is going back to work tomorrow, but I think he's going to find it a struggle, and it'll be a while before he's back at full strength.

So, Joseph and I haven't yet had much time to get into a routine and I still don't really know what it's like to be a full time mummy, but hopefully we'll get there soon! And, you never know, I might get back in to the swing of blogging regularly again!