Welcome Home Day!!!

So glad to see the monitor turned off, knowing that he no longer needs to be hooked up to the machines and coming home.  !  :)  

Getting our going home clothes on!  He didn't hate it quite as much as I thought he would.  

Saying goodbye to the NICU.  He's been loved during his stay there and while the nurses are sad that he's leaving, they are so excited for us.

The three VBK's with our attorney.  It's time to load up and go home.  

Mom was a little hungry on the way home because she hadn't eaten very much on her field trip earlier in the day.  So, N's officially been through the drive thru at McDonald's

Home Sweet Home!

Trish loving on our little man!  Thanks, Trish, for coming with us and being our photographer for the day.

After his first meal at home, he needed a new outfit already due to spit up.  He's barely squeezing into the newborn clothes, but thankfully, he can still wear a few of them.  

Taking his first "sleep" in the pack-n-play in our room.  (The cord you see is part of our monitor that monitors his breathing and movement.)  

His first "real" bottle!  

Taking our first bath at home.  He's had plenty of these at the hospital and we knew that he hated them.  He didn't seem to like it one bit tonight, either.  

All clean, lotioned up, swaddled, and ready for bed for the first night at his house.  Goodnight!  :) 

He's Home!!!!!!

He's Home!!!!!!  Planning a blog post for later, but right now, I just want to sit and chill for a little while. I knew, though, that you're about ready to die because you want to see pictures.  Here are a few:

His first car ride home.  Never once cried or made any noise making us think that he didn't like it.  He's loving his blanket from his Nana.  

Us being super silly about him coming home.

Already sleeping!  :)  After a bottle, a super wet diaper, and new clothes (since he had spit up on his coming home outfit), he was ready to take a nap.  :)  

TOMORROW

 So...when Dave called the NICU this morning, the nurse said that Nate was doing so well that he could possibly (and most likely) come home TOMORROW!!!!!!

Possibility

We JUST got home (a little after 11), so a blog update is just going to have to wait. Nate had a great day and has the possibility of coming home this Sunday. Not getting my hopes up yet. Will explain more tomorrow.

Just a Reminder

Just a another reminder that this week is National Infertility Week.  Thought I'd share another link with you.

http://tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html

Quick Update

Super quick update tonight.  

He had a pretty good day with scores of 3's and 4's.  They have moved him down to .1 of his meds every 12 hours.  He has to be on that for two days with good scores (below 8) before they will step him down again.  

If we have no more bumps in the road for the remainder of his stay (not getting my hopes up), he could possibly be home early next week.  I'm just praying that he can be home by Mother's Day.  

He was pretty pleasant in the afternoon when we were there.  The picture you see is from around 4:30 this afternoon.  The withdrawals/weaning makes his sweaty.  This is why he's rarely wearing a shirt. :)  I took more pictures and they will be added tomorrow.  

When we got there tonight after the shift change, he was sleeping.  The nurses decided that they are going to give him his bath at his next feeding due to us being there when he woke up and his desire to eat right away.  Because of his bath happening later, we don't have his current weight, but will ask tomorrow when we call in the morning.  

Trying

So, I'm really going to try to be positive in this post. 

His weight tonight is 8 lbs. 5.6 oz.  He continues to eat about 4 ounces at every feeding.

He continues to look around and check things out.  He loves to be held, talked to, touched, and stare at faces, especially ones that are attached to voices he recognizes.

If you look closely at some of these pictures, you might notice something pretty cool.  His eyebrows are starting to change color!  :)  

They were able to move us back down to the NICU Step Down due to having an increase in the number of babies that needed the NICU services.  While it's sad to know that more babies are having to stay in the hospital, it feels nice to be back to "normal".  I hope that we can stay in the NICU Step Down for the remainder of our stay instead of having to be moved back upstairs again.

He's getting chubby cheeks and it makes me very happy.  

When he's really asleep, he wants nothing to do with his pacifier.  He will spit it out if offered.  

We still don't know when he'll be home.  If he can get dropped down tomorrow (two days later than originally planned), he could possibly be home next Monday, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  Even though we may not agree with the way that he is scored or the way his meds are bumped down, he continues to be loved and taken care of by the nurses in the NICU Step Down. 

Please pray that he can be home by Mother's Day, my new goal for him.  

NIAW

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week.

Even though we have adopted, we are still infertile.  While mothers of young children think about when they will have their next child, we struggle with wondering if we will even be able to have another child and how we will afford it.  Infertility doesn't go away just because N is here.

I've attached a link for you.  It's not for those who are infertile, but for those who know someone who is infertile, which, if I'm correct, is pretty much everyone.

http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertility-etiquette.html

Prayers Appreciated

Please, please, if you would, please pray for us.

When Dave called this morning, we were told N had high scores last night.  :(  This means that yet another day has been added and again, no end is in sight.

We are very frustrated and I don't know how much more I can take.

So Sleepy

The Burp

Really Trying :(

I'm really trying to be patient, but it's hard.  :(  

They told us last Thursday when he had been on .1 every six hours for two days, that they were thinking that he would skip the .1 every eight hours and move straight into the .1 every twelve hours, making his stay two days shorter.  They got my hopes up and they were soon crushed.  :(  

On Friday, they put him on .1 every 8 hours, saying that while his scores were still in the range to step down, that they were not low enough to jump to the every twelve hour dosage.  While I agree that they were on the higher end of acceptable (mainly 6-7), it was disappointing to know that those two days that I thought we had taken off of his stay were then added back on.  

I decided to suck it up and be thankful that they hadn't upped his dosage and that we were still looking at  coming home on Friday or Saturday of this upcoming week, allowing me to possibly finish out another week with my class at school.

I should know by now that I should never get my hopes up when it comes to him actually leaving the hospital.  I feel like I need to start setting up some homeschooling for him because some days, I feel like he'll be starting school before he ever gets to leave.  

 Today, we went in and were expecting that after two days of being on the .1 every eight hours, that he had been dropped to .1 every twelve hours.  WRONG!!!  Even though he has had acceptable scores (between 3-7) and hasn't had any problems, they are keeping him at .1 every eight hours an extra day.  The nurse today, a new nurse to us, couldn't really explain why they had decided to give him an extra day, since the doctor made rounds before she got there.  Due to it being the weekend, it's not a good time to talk with a doctor unless it's an emergency, so I just left and figured that we would find out more info tomorrow.  

Just so frustrated and stressed.

  If he gets dropped tomorrow and follows the pattern of two days on each time frame, we are now looking at him coming home on Sunday.  If he makes it home that day, he will be six weeks and two days old.  I have no guarantee that he will only spend two days on each drop of his meds, especially since they have already added an extra day this weekend, so who knows when he will finally get home.  I need to not get my hopes up.  :(  

I just don't know how much more I can take, how many more nights I can sit in those plastic recliners in the loud NICU.  We've been there every day for five weeks and two days and it's almost more than I can take.  We work, sleep, and spend a majority of our time in the hospital.  I know that we will be exhausted when he comes home, but at least I'll be able to be exhausted in my pajamas on my couch in my house and able to move around more than the three feet we can now due to his monitor.  

Pictures from Friday and Saturday