Home Sweet Home

The nurse told me Monday night that the doctor said that Ian would be weighed Tuesday morning (later than the usual 2am weigh-in), and if he showed any gain, we could go home that day. His nurse said she'd weigh him prior to his 5am feeding. This nurse was really nice. She offered to go get me from the lounge if I overslept any scheduled feeding (every 2 hours); I never overslept any feedings during the 6 days I was nursing him in the NICU. On Sunday night I wore my coat to try to stay warm while sleeping. On Monday I found a supply of pillows and blankets in the PICU lounge. I claimed one of each and kept them in the NICU lounge. I definitely got more sleep on Monday night; I would estimate on Sunday night that I got a total of 3 hours of sleep.

My heart was pounding like crazy when he was placed on the scale at 5am. Amazingly, I didn't cry when the number showed he had lost 35 grams. The nurse said we could weigh him once more at 7am. I nursed him and asked if we could also give him a bottle of my milk. The nurse agreed. It was about 6am by the time we finished feeding him; we asked him not to pee or poop over the next hour. I returned at 7am, and the nurse told me that they weighed him on two different scales as the first one still showed a (smaller) loss. The second scale showed a 5 gram gain (2525), and that's what she recorded in the computer. Not surprisingly, Ian didn't want to nurse at 7am, LOL. I was so happy to know that we were going HOME!

I went and had breakfast and then came back at 8am to nurse Ian. After I nursed him, they started his 2 hour car seat test that tests for apnea (see photo at left). He still wasn't very hungry at 8am so near the end of the pneumogram he started screaming bloody murder because he was HUNGRY. While he was having the test done, the doctors did their rounds; it was then I received the official word that we were being discharged with the understanding that I would offer Ian a bottle of my milk after nursing him and see the Pediatrician on Wednesday for a weight and bilirubin check. Not suprisingly, his bilirubin count had gone up slightly since the Wallaby blanket had been discontinued 24 hours earlier.

I had made plans to get a shower at Donna's house and play with Nadia during the car seat test. Donna picked me up and took me to her house (less than 5 minutes away), and Paul arrived at her house with Nadia a few minutes later. Nadia was rather distant with me at first. I hadn't seen her since Thursday. It reminded me of how our cats treated us when we were growing up and would return from a family vacation. It felt so wonderful to get a shower and change clothes as I had worn the same pants for an absurd amount of days in a row and the same top for 2 1/2 days. Donna had helped me out on Monday as well by picking me up so I could take a hour nap in one of their bedrooms. After playing with Nadia a little bit, Paul & I headed back to the NICU so that I could feed Ian. He was definitely hungry this time!! When I changed his diaper, the stump of his cord fell off. The nurse saved it in case I wanted to keep it, but I promptly threw it away.

After signing all the discharge paperwork, Paul and I ate lunch in the cafeteria before heading back to Donna's house. Donna was the one who took the photos at the top and bottom of the post. As we left the hospital, it felt like a very, very heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

After visiting with Donna, her husband, and one of their granddaughters (who is about 2 weeks older than Nadia) for an hour, we drove home as a family of four. My stress level increased when we entered the house. I was expecting to see toys strewn here and there, but I wasn't expecting to see dirty dishes in one half of the sink, painting equipment in the other half of the sink, and the dining room and kitchen tables were completely buried in mail and other things. The laundry hadn't been done, grocery shopping hadn't been done, etc. Paul took Nadia up for her nap, and he also took a nap while I nursed Ian and then tried to start unburying the kitchen table. I don't deal well with clutter. Because Ian's room wasn't ready, we had Ian sleep in Nadia's room last night and Paul put Ian's crib in our bathroom for Nadia. Paul wanted to put a second coat of paint on Ian's walls, but he didn't have enough paint. I said let's just leave it alone for now; it can be tackled again at a less stressful time.

Nadia was REALLY jealous of Ian. She had quite a few temper tantrums when Mommy couldn't hold her due to nursing Ian. She's been through a lot considering she was separated from Mommy for 11 days and then we bring home this intruder that we tell her is her brother. Hopefully she'll have a more positive attitude toward him in the near future. It was a very wonderful feeling to know we had TWO children in the back seat of the car as we drove home. I am so, so glad we are home from the hospital. PTL!!!!!!!! I am so, so thankful to the nurse who helped make it possible to demonstrate that Ian had gained 5 grams. If it weren't for her, I think we wouldn't have been discharged until Wednesday.