***Today was one of the best days of our life! We got to bring our precious little angel home from the hospital after being in the NICU for 7 weeks and 1 day! She is being a great example for her older brothers and we cant wait for them to join us!!! The Doctors asked us yesterday if we would be ready to take her home within the next couple of days and of course we said yes!...we didnt think it would get to be the next day! So we went in to the hospital like every other day and they met us at our room with huge smiles and said SO are you ready? I teared up and said for what (I knew what they meant, lol) and they said to bring Stella home!? I said of course I am nervous and scared but I am going to be like that if we bring her home today or next week, haha so they talked with the nurses did her hearing test, discharge papers, etc and we left the hospital at 5:30pm, it was SO unreal to walk out of there with our daughter who is 7 weeks old and has never even been outside, at the same time I felt so bad leaving our boys there even though I know they still need to get better and thats the best place for them...I thought shes not going to want to leave her brothers and there not going to want her to go (I think shes liking all the attention to be honest, lol) and they have each other I keep telling myself ;) ....so then the interesting part comes, we get home, feed her, change her, gave her a bath, prayed over her cause of course we didnt think we were going to be able to take our eyes off her...and put her to bed, we thought we were the best parents and I told Rick this is SO easy! One baby is SO easy! lol Then as were laying there and all of a sudden we hear grunting, moaning, little baby noises that were so cute in the hospital but not so cute while your trying to fall asleep! lol This lasted the majority of the night, Rick fell asleep and I did her feedings throughout the night and then after her 2am feeding Rick said he would do the next couple and let me sleep...so I woke up this morning with Stella in her swing in the living room and Rick laying on the floor next to her with a blanket on sleeping, lol He is such a great Dad! I knew he would be but he really is way better than I even thought he would be! So anyways right now were running on about 3 hours of sleep (I know this is normal for new Moms and Dads) but until you go through it you dont understand...So today Rick is going to stay home with Stella and I am going to go to the hospital to visit with the boys...
Here is the update on the babies:
Jace- He gained 7 grams and still weighs 4lbs 4oz. His feedings got raised to 40ml and 24 calories of fortifier. Hes still on 1/4th -1/8th liter of oxygen @ 21%...Hes a little fighter we all think he will be the biggest of them all one day =)
Liam- He gained a lot last night and weighs 5lbs now! Hes still on room air and is getting 44ml of food now with the 24 calories of fortifier.
Stella- Is adjusting to being home with it being dark at night and no noises...We think shes used to the hospital where the lights were on majority of the day and there were always people coming in and out...She doesnt get weighed daily but we have our first appoinment with the pediatrician on Monday morning at 9am, so this will be interesting getting me and Stella out of the house by that time since its usually hard for just me to get out of the house by that time! lol She did alright eating throughout the night and this morning did good, we have to add 22 calorie formula to my breast milk, I am hoping that she doesnt eat that much during the night cause she likes to sleep and will be doing that soon through the night! =)
I am so excited for you guys!! What an answer to prayers...just two more to go. God is Good!!! Can't wait to hear when the boys get to go home too!
ReplyDeleteSheryl & Rick,
ReplyDeleteThat is such great news! I bet you are so ready for the boys to be home now, too. Wow! Can't wait to meet Stella and the boys. So glad they are all doing well. We continue to pray for them each night. Even Addison is starting to say their names during her bedtime prayer. Sending hugs and kisses to those beautiful babies!
<3 the Timmons'
thats is amazing news sheryl. i remember so many nights where i'd wake up with jeff sleeping on the floor next to the swing or bouncy chair. you two sound like you are already amazing parents. our prayers continue for your family!!
ReplyDeleteYay Stella! You go girl. She's the trailblazer. The one who's going to set the pace for the boys. FYI: preemies do a lot of grunting. NOt sure if the nurses warned you of this. But they tend to be very fussy and grunt a lot. So if you can't sleep cuz she's doing a lot of grunting it's normal. My trips did the same thing :) Also, you may want to invest in a night light. That helped the trips and they still sleep with one. Yes they are very much used to the NICU...count that as a blessing because you won't have to worry about having the house "pitch dark and compeltely silent". But you may find that she'll sleep better with a little bit of light on. ;)
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