Coming home!

On Wednesday, May 2nd I woke up bright an early, hopefull of what the day would bring...once again :)

I went to the hospital, fed Evelyn, and told the nurse, Renee, that we would be happy to bring Evelyn home without rooming in over night. Evelyn had officially been off the oxygen 72 hours and I felt confident bringing her home without staying overnight in the hospital.

Around 10:30, I looked at my phone and saw I had missed a call from the NICU. It was Renee, she said she had good news, we could bring Evelyn home today! I was super excited! I called Scott to see what time he could leave work. He said he couldn't be home until 6:00 pm. My heart sank, I couldn't hardly stand to wait that long, but I did want Scott to be there.

I frantically cleaned...again...just as I had done the day before! I guess one can "nest" after a baby arrives!

At about 1:30 Scott called. His work had thrown him a surprise shower and he was leaving at 2:00! I was over joyed and couldn't wait for him to get home. I called Renee and told her we would be there at 3:00.

Here she is all dolled up in her dress
from Coco and Hatty!
Ready to go home!



I think we have a lot of PINK!
All buckled up and ready to go!



Proud and excited parents!
She made it home in 2 weeks and 6 days!



I rode in the back on the way home. I felt so bad that her head kept turning so far sideways but I sure was proud. I think I took about 10 pictures in our 3 mile ride home! I was super happy, but a little overwhelmed by the thought that I was now a "real mom." As we pulled into the driveway I teared up. I tried to hold it back and be strong, but once again, Scott saw right through me! He gave me a hug and I told him I was a little nervous. What if I didn't know what to do with her?

Upon entering, meeting the dogs was high on the priority list!
We thought Nola wouldn't be good with her and that Chap would be awesome.
Well, it turned out very differently. Nola is like her second mother!
She guards Evelyn, wants to give her lots of kisses, and double checks to make sure I know when she isn't happy. It's hillarious. Chap on the other hand wanted nothing to do with her, until about 4 days into her being home. Now he shows a little bit of interest in her and likes to give her kisses.





All snuggled up in her bassinet!
I was successful in knowing she wanted to be
swaddled up and take a nap!
YEAH!

Hopefully, I'll get to right about my great first week at home with my daughter later today!





And the roller coaster continues...

Today I was at lunch with my friend Faith when I noticed a missed call from the NICU. I called back and to my surprise the nurse told me to keep my phone close because the doctor was about to call me. She said that her regular doctor was out today and that the doctor who saw her wasn't comfortable sending her home. I was shocked. I hung up trying to contain myself as I told Faith. It was really tough. As you know from my earlier blog post I was so excited about this special day.

A few minutes later my phone rang. It was the doctor. He said that her pulse ox was still going below the "ok" mark and although she is able to bring it back up herself, he was not comfortable sending her home. In addition he said that her lungs sounded great, but he wanted to order another chest xray to verify. He then said when he listened to her heart he heard a heart murmur. He said that many are born with it and grow out of it, but that he wanted to order an echo just to verify that there were no defects in her heart. He assured me that the test results would be in late tonight or first thing in the morning and that they would call me. He also said we would not room in tonight and that her regular doctor would make decisions about her future care tomorrow.

I hung up the phone heart broken. Why had no one else noticed the heart murmur in her 2 1/2 weeks of care? I talked with Faith and she offered to go to the hospital with me and pray for Evelyn. I was so thankful that she was with me during this rollercoaster moment! I called my dad and of course that's when the tears started flowing. He reminded me that there is a reason for everything and that it was better that we get all tests needed now rather than having to come back.

Faith and I went to the hospital together. Evelyn was peacefully sleeping so we prayed for her and as we were leaving the echo machine pulled in with old school VHS tapes to record it on. I didn't really want to stay and listen so we left. Then, I went to see my doctor. He reassured me that the percentage of babies that have defects on the echo is a very small. I left his office feeling better (like always, thanks doc!) and headed back to the hospital.

While I was feeding Evelyn they came to do her chest xray. In addition, the doctor (whom I had never met) came by to meet me and assure me that he was just being extra cautious and wanted to make sure we explored every avenue with her care.

About 10 minutes later the phone rang in the NICU, it was the cartiologist that had read the echo looking for the doctor. My heart didn't skip a beat or jump at all. For some reason, I was suddenly at peace. I knew everything was going to be ok :)

A few minutes later the doctor came in and gave me 2 thumbs up! He said that the chest xray looked great and that the echo showed no defects. So, we have a little heart murmur, but nothing to be alarmed about.

We had some sweet time together celebrating the good news!
I'm so proud of my strong little girl!
I can't wait to have you at home with us!

So, tomorrow we find out the new plan since we got the all clear from this doctor, but not the "go home" all clear. Who knows what tomorrow will bring on our roller coaster ride.

Happy 2 year anniversary!
Great dinner at The Libertine!

The past few days!

After the news of coming home on oxygen and going through a range of emotions about that, Sunday came as a day of hope! Hope that the trial off of oxygen would show how strong she was and that she was ready to be off of the oxygen! I knew they had taken her off about 9 am, so in Sunday School we prayed for her lungs, for her strength, and for God's will.

Sunday afternoon!
7 hours off of oxygen
Keeping the tabs that hold the tube on the
side of her face, just so she knows
it could come back.
Tough little girl!

A little less than 24 hours later (yesterday morning, Monday the 30th), at 7am I called the hospital to see how she had done off oxygen overnight and what her feeding schedule for the morning was looking like. I was so excited to see her and to wanted to celebrate that she had made it 24 hours without oxygen. The nurse said she would be ready to eat at 7:30 so I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, and put a little makeup on. I headed to the hospital hopeful for what the day would bring. We had been told that we would be trained on oxygen at 3:30 pm, room in for the night, and she would come home on Tuesday...but I had a feeling that plan was going to change.

I fed her, we cuddled, had our morning pep talk and I put her back in her bed. The alarm kept going off because her pulse ox was dropping below 92. I would pray and she would bring it back up. This happened 4 times over the course of about 20 minutes. I was a little nervous, wondering what the doctor would say. I decided to head home and get a few things done while she was resting and come back later in the day. I knew the doctor would be calling so I kept my phone by me.

At about 11 am, the doctor called. It was a new doctor as Evelyn had been transfered to the "red team" aka the "go home team!" He said that she was doing great and although her pulse ox was dropping below 92, he wasn't concerned because she was able to bring it back up on her own. However, he felt better keeping her another 24 hours just to be safe. So, we would room in Tuesday night and bring her home Wednesday.

I was pleased that the doctor was cautious, but also a little disappointed. Scott was a little agrivated as he keeps having to change his schedule at work to accomodate the changes. I can understand that, I hate having to change things with my boss.

I headed back to the hospital in the afternoon. The nurse was ready for the "car seat test." So I fed Evelyn and we put her in the car seat. They put them in the car seat for 1 1/2 hours and watch the monitors to see how they do. Some babies struggle more when sitting in that position. The nurse said this was the real test, if she did ok on this then we would not be going home on oxygen, but if she didn't, we would. I was a little nervous, but she looked so darn cute in the car seat. The cuteness made all the nervousness go away!

1 1/2 hours later...
SHE PASSED!
Look at thos long fingers, double chin,
 and that pretty bow!

 Today (Tuesday), I woke up so excited! I hadn't really realized that we would be spending our first night with Evelyn on our 2 year anniversary. I think that is just another blessing! What a special way to celebrate. Now I know, some of you are reading this thinking, celebrate? You will be up half the night...I know, I know! I just can't help but be excited though. We get to become "real parents" tonight! After almost 3 weeks of knowing you are a "mom," but not feeling 100% mom like, I'm super excited!

I can't wait to post tomorrow about our 1st night adventures (although, many have told me I won't be blogging once she comes home...I will find a way!).