There's no place like HOME
We arrived home as a family of 5 (if we’re counting our two very
neglected dogs at this point!) on Monday, November 3 in the late afternoon. I
cannot tell you what a relief it was to be home and do whatever we wanted and
to just hold my baby and WALK around. Something that was impossible in the NICU
with all his monitoring cords.
Our dogs definitely did not know what to think. Rio was excited at first
but really has not bothered or paid any attention to him. Diego on the other
hand has been out of control at times. He’s either being really protective of
Henry or of us. The first few days he whined uncontrollably, followed us around
the house, and tried jumping on the couch to get to Henry. He got really
nervous when he saw me breastfeed Henry one night. He’s calmed down some but
overall I think he’s going to be one protective brother!
That first night was more terrifying than expected. Henry was 12 days
old and we felt like we knew what to do by this point, but we never anticipated
laying down in bed in the dark and worrying about if he’s breathing or not. As
previously mentioned he was always connected to cords and wires and at home we
felt almost lost without them. We both slept horribly that night wondering if
he was breathing. We spent a good amount of the night turning on the light to
check on him. Henry had a not good night too. He must have felt out of place
too and he woke up almost every hour or hour and a half crying and wanting to eat- so much for our 3 hour schedule we had full intentions of keeping to that night! That must have
been a one time thing because as of this writing (2 weeks later) he is sleeping
3-4 hours a night on a good night and very rarely does he have a bad night.
The day after discharge (11/4) Henry went for his first pediatrician appointment.
He weighed in at 4 lbs 8 ounces and 17.2 inches. The doctor had no major issues
with him, she just suggested some Vitamin D drops- something that is
recommended for all breastfed babies.
Henry’s next weekly appointment (11/13) he gained 7 ounces and 0.9
inches (4 lbs 15 ounces and 18.1 inches). The doctor was very pleased with his
weight gain and told us we didn’t have to come back for two weeks! He is still
under the curve for both height and weight but the curve does not take in to
account his prematurity.
Since Henry’s arrival home he has had a very exciting and busy life. He
got to spend the first week with Grandma and Grandpa (Laura’s parents) then 4
days with Brian’s mom (nickname TBD). He then had a 4-day break before his
Great Aunt Lucinda came for the weekend. He’s loved all the attention!
He’s already had an outing to Davis Islands to see the water (minus the
hospital!), been to a couple stores and one restaurant (luckily we were the
only ones there!).
Henry also had his first visit with our friends Sherry and Joey and
their baby boy Cayden (our boys are 7 weeks apart). We hope these boys will
become best friends one day! It was a very exciting play date- they both slept,
swung on their swings, and ate!
The first two weeks of being home have been beyond great. It is such a
mental and emotional relief too. Besides the wonderful family visitors he’s
grown so much already. I can tell he’s putting weight on his arms and legs and
face. He still can only wear premie outfits but he’s definitely getting bigger.
He’s more alert during the day and is slowly starting to stay awake
longer during the day. He loves being held more than anything, but second
choice is his swing.
He can- believe it or not- already roll over to his left side and his right
side and back to his back. He seems to have a lot of muscle strength already. We aren't making this up- Brian's mom and Aunt Lucinda both witnessed this!
Even in the NICU when the nurse came in to check his blood pressure one time (he was on
his back enjoying tummy time) he literally pushed up on his arms did a push up
and tried to wiggle (army crawl) away. Obviously the army crawl failed and he
only rocked back and forth, but he definitely pulled himself up in to a push up
position at probably 7-8 days of age
So today, November 17, 26 days after Henry’s birth, marks my first day
alone with Henry. Brian is back to work, he took last week off so just he and I
could spend time with Henry, and our family visitors are gone (that is for
another week until Thanksgiving!). It’s been a nice quiet, rainy day, filled
with lots of sleep (on Henry’s end). Daddy came home for lunch but other than
that there’s just been a lot of sleeping, eating, diaper changes, and cuddle
time! The home life is definitely better than the hospital life! Tomorrow he
gets circumcised, yikes!
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| Proud to be a NICU Graduate |
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| Time to finally go home |
