The Report

So here's the Discharge till Today report:

Tuesday Night:

Partied hard in Philly with the girls who threw me a Baby Shower (I have the best friends ever. Just sayin'). Stayed up late because we couldn't sleep. And because we were putting together a changing table. And attaching the car seat adapter to our stroller. And realizing that our super cool car seat is not compatible with our super cool stroller. And spending all night online trying to find the right car seat. We've only had six months to do all this this out, right?

Wednesday:

Wake up, plan on heading to Babies R Us to purchase the correct car seat. Realize that they no longer carry it. Call the NICU. Tell them we're going to be late. Use the iPad to find a retail store that is still in business that sells the car seat (silly recession, you're shutting down all baby boutiques). Drive 40 minutes out of our way. Purchase car seat. Cringe a little at the price. (OK, cringe a lot). Drive hastily to the NICU. Realize we should have fed Caleb at some point. Get him food. Use the iPad to entertain him. Look over and see that he has fallen asleep. Wait for Charlotte to finish her feed. Wait for her to digest her feed. Wait for the NICU to calm down for 30 seconds so we could learn how to place the NG tube. Take a walk to the vending machine to feed Caleb more cookies. Realize that we will pay for this later. Take pictures. Place NG tube. Leave the NICU. Look at each other and say, "Umm, is this really happening?" Try to fit all of Charlotte's monitors in the car. Cause a traffic jam in front of the hospital. Ignore traffic jam, enjoy moment of family being together. Drive home. Try to bring Charlotte's stuff out of the car. Realize she has a lot of baggage-- literally. Wait for nurse to show up. Wonder why in the world they thought we were capable of this. Nurse shows up. Thank our Father in Heaven. Sleep.

Thursday:

Give Charlotte medicine. Give Charlotte food. Clean up from food and medicine. Give Charlotte more meds. Oops forgot to give her that medicine. Mix more food. Give Charlotte food. Has anyone seen Caleb? What time is the nurse coming again? 12 more hours? OK. Not OK, nurse called off. We can do this right? Leave Peter at home with both children to run errands. Come back. Save Peter. Why is she desat'ing? Why is she in the 70's? Start getting nervous. Call NICU. Realize we're not very intelligent and that Charlotte needs to actually be hooked up to the oxygen to receive any benefit from it. Hook up oxygen. Watch Charlotte pink right up. Watch her all night. Listen to alarms ALL night. Try not think about how much tomorrow will hurt after a night of no sleep. We wanted her to come home, right?

Friday:

Clean baby puke. Bathe Charlotte. Crap, she just puked again. And again. Wake up Peter. "Your turn." Wonder if the NICU takes returns. Remember that Jill specifically said, "No returns." Darn. Call NICU again. Plan to take Charlotte back to hospital. Know that she needs to poop. She won't poop at home, hasn't since before she was discharged. Peter notes that all moms pay too much attention to baby poop. Acknowledge he is correct. Take Charlotte to hospital for chest xray. Charlotte feels more comfortable. Charlotte poops. Charlotte stops puking, stops desat'ing. Peter acknowledges poop is sometimes important. Come back home. No nurse again tonight. Did you give her those meds? I need a chart. Make chart. Feel much better. Snuggle with Caleb. Put Charlotte down to bed. Smile because my kids are so flippin cute.

Start blogging.

And that brings us to this moment. So far, Charlotte: 3647, Us: 0

Pretty much everything is as to be expected.

Home

Our baby came home on Wednesday. We've been running around like crazy since then. I do plan to write a post about the day and how everything went, but that will probably happen late one night. For now, I present you with Charlotte's first picture in her home:



That about sums it up right now.

Last Time

Dear Charlotte-
I woke up this morning knowing that this was the last time I would get ready and head into the NICU. It's the last time I will have to call Chester County to see how you are doing.

It's the last time I'll be able to take a shower without checking on you, the last time I'll be able to make breakfast without feeding you first, the last time I'll wake up and not have my daughter downstairs.

Of course, we recognize that there may possibly be more hospital stays in your future. We hope not, but we know its a possibility. But when those hospital stays happen, I'll be able to tell the intake coordinator, "She lives at home."

It's the sweetest sentence that has ever been written.

This morning is the last time you won't be living at home.

I wish I could write to you to help you understand what that means to me. But, baby girl, there just are not words for this kind of emotion. Love. Excitement. Anxious. They all skirt around the bigger picture. And maybe it's because it's more about "firsts" than it is about "lasts."

This afternoon will be the first time I bring my daughter home. The first time my husband, my son and my daughter will all be under one roof.

The first time for the beginning of everything.

Little girl, have a good last morning in the NICU. Get your goodbyes in. Tell them how much you love them, how much they mean to us.

And then get ready.

Today is also your first day home.

Love,
Momma

We Have a Date

I've been rather nervous to actually put this up here, because I'm afraid of angering the NICU gods or something... but we do have a date for Charlotte to come home.

Wednesday.

This Wednesday. August the 25th. 26 weeks after she was born-- she's coming home.

We're meeting with the home care nurses today (Miss Charlotte gets nursing care for 8-10 hours a night) to plan out the best place to set her up and such. We're making our last minute runs to the store, we're stocking up on anything we can possibly stock up on, we're freaking out just a bit (well, really, I'm freaking out-- Peter is, as usual, unphased).

Can it be true?

I'll believe it when she's in the car and we're pulling away from the hospital.

But, really, truly, as long as all her monitors/NG tubing/bags/pumps/oxygen/nasal cannulas/etc arrive on time, Wednesday night, she'll be sleeping at home.

2 Months Adjusted

Charlotte--

Today you celebrate your two month adjusted birthday. You're pretty lucky in that regard, most kids would give anything to have two birthdays to celebrate. You're pretty lucky in most other regards as well.

For example:

1. You're coming home.

Soon. Hopefully before Daddy leaves for two months (he flies out on the 29th). He'd love to be there for your homecoming day, so if you could be on your best behavior next week, that'd be great. If not, we understand. It's difficult to behave all the time. Daddy will be there in spirit, with all the love a father can possibly have for a child. You have him whipped, just so you know.

2. Your big brother loves the heck outta you.

He held you today and told all the nurses how beautiful you are. He then sang you Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (currently, his favorite) and declared that you love race cars. He must think you're A-OK if you like race cars. That puts you on the same level as Uncle Soren, and believe me, that's a pretty cushy place. Caleb talks about you every day. His favorite book to read is "I'm a Big Brother" which we read every.single.night over and over again. Yesterday he made two piles of toys. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just makin' a pile for baby Charlotte. She will get all better and come home to play with me. She loves me." Seriously, girlfriend, your brother loves you lots. And believe me, as someone who knows, there's nothing like having a big brother who loves you.

3. You're doing well. Scratch that. You're doing remarkably well.

A new baby has joined the NICU. A baby who came just about as early as you did. This baby was supposed to have a sibling come into the NICU with him, but his twin was born to heaven and is watching over him. I gave his mother a "welcome to the NICU" bag today and she asked how you were doing. With tears in my eyes, I replied as honestly as I could. "She's doing great," I said. I meant it. You are thriving baby girl.

You're thriving. You are two months adjusted and you're thriving.

We're all lucky in that regard. Luckier than we'll ever really know.

With all my love,
Momma

Yumm Yumm

Peter's first time feeding Miss Charlotte.
Sunday, August 15, 2010

Weight: 4.495 kilos, or 9 pounds, 14.6 ounces

Lungs: Down to 1/8 Liter on oxygen, 100%. This is VERY VERY do-able at home. We're talking about HOME here people. Get excited!

Feedings: Miss Charlotte is taking about 30-45 mL two or three times a day from a bottle. She's wiped out after feedings, and I can't blame her-- the stuff she has to suck through a nipple is pretty darn thick. It takes a lot of work. She has been weaned down on her rocket fuel as well-- only 24 cal/ounce now, and she's off the hospital-grade fortifier (Human Milk Fortifier, HMF).

Home: We'll meet with her doctor on Thursday to determine the details of how/when/what/YIPPEE!! of her coming home. She'll most likely be coming home on both NG (through the tube) and PO (by mouth) feedings, and she will probably require some amount of oxygen. Where we are going to fit all her accessories is beyond me. What happened to babies not needing anything but diapers? Once she comes home she'll have weekly weight checks (for a bit, not forever) and visits from Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy once a week. She'll also follow up with the developmental clinic at Chester County Hospital, where they will teach her the wonders of being a baby: how to roll over, how to sit up, how to crawl, etc. And last, but not least, she'll follow up with the Speech Therapists at CHOP to evaluate her feeding progress.

She's gonna be a busy girl!

Transport Take 2

Something tells me they didn't have Charlotte in mind when they designed the transport crib. She's a tad bit big for it.