1. What a blessing it was to be home for almost 2 days and to be able to attend Nadia's musical.
2. Oliver went from three bili lights to two bili lights on Friday to one bili light on Sunday to NO bili lights on Monday, which meant he wore clothes for the first time yesterday (see photo at the bottom of this post). This was one of the hospital's outfits. Hopefully his bilirubin levels will stay at a good place.
3. My mom came up Monday night so that she could watch the kids today and tomorrow. It's been awhile since they spent a weekday at our house. This also meant we could get our cable hooked back up again as someone was in the house during the day. They were running a special of the first two months free (and we only had to commit to keeping the cable for two more months after the free months). We haven't had any channels on our tv working for 4 1/2 months, but we want to be able to watch football. We plan on ending the cable service for a few months again in 2013.
4. Oliver's feeds went from 1ml every 6 hours to 1ml every 3 hours to 2ml ever 3 hours. Hopefully his bowels will start working, and he'll start pooping.5. When they saw Nadia and Paul, they were no longer worried about a "chromosomal problem" related to the roundness of Oliver's face. What a relief! I think he's cute, and he definitely takes after Paul like Nadia does.
6. His echocardiogram yesterday showed that the valves that are supposed to close after birth have all closed and that he no longer has pulmonary hyptertension. PTL! He's been able to stay on the Vapotherm, which is also a huge answer to prayer (rather than the ventilator, SiPAP, or CPAP). At first he was needing about 40% oxygen to keep his saturation levels where they need to be, but by yesterday he had been weaned down to 24% oxygen (21% is the goal).
8. I got to see Oliver's eyes a lot more yesterday since he wasn't wearing "glasses" and since he was awake more than he had been the other times I visited him. He has blue eyes like Paul, Nadia, and Ian. We shall see if they stay blue or not! It was so much easier to get nice pictures without him being on the ventilator or under the bili lights.
9. We were trying to decide whether or not to transfer Oliver to Geisinger. The transport costs $1,500, and the insurance won't pay for it because it's not "medically necessary." I mentioned we were trying to make that decision on Facebook yesterday, and a woman from church sent me a private message on Facebook saying that she and her husband wanted to pay the $1,500. I was in shock. God provided far more than I ever dreamed possible. I figured either we'd pay or we'd stay in Harrisburg for another 3-7 weeks. The doctor told me yesterday that the very soonest he could be discharged would be in 3 more weeks, but it was highly unlikely he'd be ready to go home in 3-4 weeks. She said 5-6 weeks was the most likely scenario, and it could be longer than that. We aren't accustomed to receiving help like this, but I am ever so grateful. I hope some day that Paul and I can help someone else out and "pay it forward" so to speak.
10. The doctor said that Oliver is already stable enough to transfer, and Geisinger does have beds available. This means Oliver should be able to be transferred TODAY. Unbelievable!!!! I need to find a way to get back home. I packed enough stuff for a week although I was planning to come home again this weekend if Oliver isn't nursing yet. I am grateful I could have stayed at the Bailey House, but I am really looking forward to sleeping at our house until Oliver starts nursing. Ian has not been himself lately. He is the main reason I want to be back home ASAP. My plan is to spend an hour or two at the NICU each day until Oliver is able to nurse so that I can spend the rest of the time with Nadia and Ian. Once Oliver is able to nurse I'll need to be at the NICU every three hours, but until that point I want to focus on Nadia and Ian. I am going to call the MFM office and see if I can switch my follow-up appointment from Thursday to today. If not, I'll just go to the OB for that check-up instead. I also need to find out if I can take the pump with me and return it at Geisinger once he's discharged from that NICU.
11. Two men from church are coming to move some furniture tomorrow as we transform the fourth bedroom from Paul's office to Oliver's bedroom.
12. Although my feet and ankles are still very swollen, the swelling in my calves has been going down (started to go down on Sunday). We stopped at Walmart on the way down here yesterday. I was planning to buy a pair of shoes, but they weren't selling sandals and such any more. I bought a pair of men's Steeler slippers. I am hoping they might fit my dad and I could give them to him after I'm able to wear my own shoes again. It's one thing to go barefoot at home, it's another to go barefoot at the hospital! I felt a little silly wearing big slippers, but they were functional and comfortable. In general the swelling didn't get as bad as it did after I had Nadia, and it's also going away faster this time around. I look forward to the day when it's not painful to be standing.
13. We didn't fill the Percoset prescription. The last time I had any was Saturday morning. I continued to take ibuprofen after discharge, but I haven't even had any of that since Sunday morning. In general I haven't had too much pain or had too much difficulty moving about. The one exception would be Saturday night. I had a lot of trouble getting in and out of our bed that night. It helped when I slept on Paul's side of the bed on Sunday night because for whatever reason the pain of my incision is worse on the right side. The bed at the Bailey House is much lower than our bed so I had no trouble getting in and out of bed last night.
14. I am thrilled that my milk production continues to increase as time goes by. Oliver thus far hasn't had any formula, and I'd love to keep it that way! Nadia had formula before I even came out of the recovery room from the c-section, and Ian also had some in the NICU. I'm hoping the milk I've already given them can be transferred to Geisinger, and I have some milk here at the Bailey House that I can transfer to Geisinger, if for some reason they won't transfer what is in the NICU.
15. I wish that Oliver was still in my womb rather than the NICU, but I am really grateful the heartburn is gone and I don't have to adjust my diet any more in an attempt to avoid acid reflux. It's also much easier to get comfortable in bed now that I'm not pregnant.
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