Later, Cathy brought Jamie and Taylor to the hospital to meet Bethany. "Wow, Mom, she's really tiny!" Jamie exclaimed. "I've never seen a baby that small! Was I that little when I was born?"
Jo smiled. "You were even smaller!"
"She's so cute!" said Taylor as she held the newborn. "She kind of makes me wish I had a baby sister too!"
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to babysit," Cathy told her daughter.
All Jo's family and friends in New York were thrilled to learn of Bethany's arrival. Mother and baby slept for most of that day. Doug never left his wife's side, except for a brief trip home for dinner and a shower, and he was back at the hospital first thing the following morning.
That evening, Rose flew in from New York to meet her new granddaughter. "Well, it looks like everything turned out all right, after all," she remarked.
"Thank God for that," said Doug. "I was sure worried."
"Do you feel all right, sweetie?" Rose asked her daughter.
"I'm fine!" Jo assured her.
"Are you eating all right?"
Jo rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom."
"And how's the little one feeding? Is that going all right?"
"She's just like a little vacuum." Doug laughed.
Doug, Jo and Bethany went home the following morning. Rose, who was planning to stay a couple of weeks to help out, accompanied them. As soon as they were inside, Bethany began to whimper, and Jo sat down on the sofa to nurse her. She was asleep within minutes, and Jo laid her in her crib and then lay down to rest herself.
The house was quiet until Clay and Jamie came home from school. "Grandma!" Jamie went to hug Rose.
"I came to help out for a couple of weeks," Rose told her.
"Cool!"
Doug had to go back to work the following day, but he was home for the remainder of that day, so he made dinner for everyone. Jo breastfed Bethany while she ate.
The baby fell asleep soon afterwards but awakened again at about nine thirty. Jo nursed her for about thirty minutes, then tried and failed to settle her back down. The process continued until four thirty in the morning, when Bethany finally slept long enough for her mother to get some sleep as well.
It was almost ten o'clock the following morning when Jo finally awakened. "Oh, my God! I have to get the kids off to school and Doug off to work..."
"It's already been done," said Rose.
"Oh, thank you!" Jo exclaimed. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Mom."
"That's what Moms are for," Rose replied.
With Rose taking care of the housework and Bethany still sound asleep, Jo quickly found herself bored. She checked her email and posted pictures of Bethany on Facebook, then watched TV until it was time to feed her new daughter again.
After that, she dozed off and on until the rest of the family came home. "Doin' OK, darlin'?" Doug asked as he hugged and kissed her hello.
"I guess so," she sighed. "My tits are sure sore. It seems like that's all she wants to do."
Doug laughed. "You'll get used to it."
Jo's breasts weren't the only part of her body that hurt. The site where she'd been stitched up became increasingly sore and tender until it was almost impossible for her to sit down, and she also began to run a slight fever and had to call Dr. Hanson for antibiotics.
Jo began to feel lonely after Rose flew back to New York. Accustomed to being around people all day, she found it difficult to be alone in the house with a baby all day. As soon as she was physically able, she began to go for short trips to the park or to a nearby store, but it still wasn't quite the same.
"You look so down," Doug commented one Sunday evening.
"It's just that everything's so normal on the weekend," Jo said. "Everyone's here and it's fine, but then Monday morning comes and everyone's off to work or school and it's just me and Bethany here all day. Not that I don't love her, because I do. It's just that..."
"Well, you'll be back at work soon yourself, won't you?"
"But that will mean putting Bethany in day care all day, and I don't like the thought of doing that either. After Jamie was born, I didn't go back to work until she was six months old."
"So take some extra time off, if you want. There's no hurry."
"But I really need something to keep my brain occupied." Jo sighed. "You know what I think would be really nice? I keep seeing these ads on TV about working at home, doing medical coding and stuff like that. I think it would be so great if I could just do something like that!"
"Check into it," said Doug. "To be honest, I'd a whole lot rather have you takin' care of Bethany than strangers anyway."
Feeling as if a weight had just been lifted off her shoulders, Jo quickly found the information for the at-home training online and sent off for it. She couldn't wait to get started.