In the week leading up to Easter we were so hopeful we'd have her home soon since she hit her 8 bottle requirement on Tuesday, but Wednesday marked her 2 month birthday which resulted in her first round of vaccines. Don't ask me why the don't delay vaccines for preemies, but my poor little 5 lb baby was just exhausted from her shots in the days that followed.
As a result, she wasn't able to come home when we expected, but I'm glad she was able to remain in the hospital for care while she recovered. It would have been pretty scary for me if we waited for the vaccines after we came home and she had the same reaction.
Saturday they gave us a glimmer of hope and told us that she *might* be able to come home the next day if she had a good night. We were so pumped and sure she'd get to come home until we called to check on her Saturday night. During her daily weigh in she had lost 3 grams and we were so afraid this would once again delay her homecoming. Her weight gain had somewhat stalled out in the past few days because they removed the extra calories they were adding to her feedings to prepare her for coming home. As a result, she went from receiving 24 calories each feeding to just 20 calories. This doesn't seem like a lot, but multiple that by 8 feedings a day and that adds up to 32 less calories a day.
When I called Sunday morning to check on her our day nurse confirmed my fear that the Doctor most likely wouldn't want to discharge her since she lost weight over night. I mentioned to our day nurse that she was weighed pretty early in the night and was wondering if it would make a difference if she was weighed again.
Our sweet nurse weighed her again after we hung up (which she totally didn't have to do) and discovered she had gained 5 grams. The gain was small, it was still a gain, so we became hopeful again.
We arrived at the hospital after church and were on pins and needles waiting for the Doctors new orders to come through. That was probably the longest 3 hours of my life. Finally at 2:30pm our nurse came in and told us we were going to be discharged today and to come back at 4pm after they completed the paperwork to take our baby home!! We couldn't believe it and were so thrilled to finally get the news we had been waiting to hear for nine weeks.
She was sent home on an apnea monitor; which monitors her heart beats and respiratory rate, but we didn't care (and to be honest is actually very reassuring when we sleep).
At 4:50pm we were wheeled out the door and started our journey home for the first time as a family of three.
Lydia in her going home outfit with Mommy
Lydia in the car for the first time
She has been such a joy and we love having her home. More to come on her first few days home, but overall she has adjusted well while mom and dad are still adjusting the lack of sleep that comes with a newborn.
