Jake meets Adin

Homecoming

That's right, the heading of this post is correct! Adin is HOME! it's been a whirlwind of a few days, so let me back up...

Thursday - the attending du jour said that it would be 5-7 days of Adin being on monitors after the 2 episodes of apnea he had on the 5th. My heart sank because that just elongated his stay... then, they had said Wednesday would be circumcision day (and it wasn't) and that Thursday morning it would happen (which it didn't) so Thursday afternoon I went momma bear on the poor nurse and called her up that afternoon and let her know that we had been told it would happen Wednesday and Thursday and my hope would be that it would be done that day so he could come home on Sunday (they had already warned me that Friday was booked up). So, about an hour later I got a call from the surgeon to review the procedure and get consent to do it - which we gave. 

Friday - Jesse dropped me off before parking and I headed up to the NICU floor. The nurse was new to me and greeted me by saying "You must be so excited that he's being discharged today!" Now, in hindsight I should have said "Yes, we absolutely are!! We will bring up the car seat later for the car seat test." Instead, my reply was "We were told he was being discharged Sunday". She then realized I was not one of the two mom's having their child discharged that day. However, the Fellow on Adin's case came over and said if he really hadn't had another episode of apnea since the 5th that he would come off monitors that morning and could go home the next day. I began to cry (which I'm about to do just typing this) because I was so happy. She unplugged the monitors and removed some cords and for the first time I held my son without feeling like I was on a leash. I almost wanted to walk around the unit just to make a point that I could move more than 3 feet with my child. 

That morning they booked a family room for us and we headed home to pack our items for our overnight and clean the house in preparation of a child coming home and a nurse visit. Just after 6 we went over to the Westfields to get the Snap-N-Go frame that we were buying off of them and then to fill up the RAV-4 with gas and finally to Honeydew (a coffee for Jesse, a green tea for me) before heading up to the hospital for THE LAST TIME!!! We got there at about 7 and settled in for a few minutes before Adin was hungry. Then he had to wait 1 hour before the car seat test (sitting in the car seat for an hour hooked up to monitors to make sure he could breathe and maintain an adequate heart rate). Jesse went and picked us up dinner and by 10:15 we were wheeling Adin down the hall to family room D in his crib. 

We did a diaper and feed, watched a movie, attempted to sleep (me on a pull out chair with awful coils, Jesse on a tumble chair that he couldn't even lay out flat on), did a change and feed with a check-in from a nurse, Jesse got an upgrade to a fold out cot, slept for about 3 hours, did another change and a feed (and a pump and walk to drop my milk off to be refrigerated), another 3 hours of sleep, and finally a change and feed at 7:15. Then we packed up the room, wheeled Adin back for a final blood pressure check and blood draw, had breakfast, and started the discharge process...lots of paperwork and signatures and words of wisdom from the attending and nurse. I was also given all the milk that they had in the freezer that I'd pumped and, if I were to guesstimate the amount of bottles, I would say there were at least 20 (each 2 ounces). 

Now we are at home. Jake has met Adin and Adin has lounged in his boppy newborn lounger and pack and play. He has slept through guests (with kids), doorbells, Jesse playing video games, and a Skype session with Nana. Soon will be his nightly daddy feeding with his vitamin in a bottle. 

Below are pictures from the past few days...in random order. 

A cute pose during the first diaper/feeding session of the night. 

Can you get any cuter than this?!

This is from Thursday - he was just cute so I had to snap some pictures. 

Jake sniffing out the situation.

I love his little neck!

We call this his Zoolander face - he makes it while sleeping, sometimes as he's waking up. 

The proud daddy carrying his baby boy into the house!

Adin in the car seat during the test. 

Jake's first snif of his little brother. 

Again, he's just cute, cute, cute!

Adin in the car ready to take the trip home. 

Adin getting strapped in to the car seat. I swear this is a normal sized car seat despite how huge he makes it look. 

February 8th

Today was a great visit with Adin. He was moved from a Pod to the Special Care Nursery. The Special Care Nursery is the last stop, so to speak, for NICU babies. It's where babies go when they need less staffing and less support. It was frustrating because this is the second day that he's been moved. Today, however, I walked into the Pod he was in yesterday and one of the nurses said she didn't know where he was - not something I like hearing! Adin did two breast feedings, one took forever because he and I had a battle of the wits. I attempted to feed sans shield. Well, for the first time (of many I'm sure) he won and I had to pop on a shield. Then, even after over 30 minutes of a struggle he was able to get a good 15 minutes of feeding in. The lactation consultant came in to check on me and said I had good instincts and reinforced my choice to add the shield by agreeing with me that he's still really little and needs to grow and get strong before I really tackle the battle of removing it. I did two feedings without it yesterday and he dropped 2 ounces...so I'm pretty sure letting him "win" is just fine. 

Then he slept for a bit, allowing Jesse and I time to get some thank you cards done. Coincidentally, Jesse was writing a card for the giver of the below card when Adin began waking up so we thought it appropriate to snap this picture. Even though he's fussy he's still our bundle of joy!

During his second feeding I didn't even bother to challenge the shield vs. no shield battle. I just popped in on and he went to town! After a good 25 minutes, he fell asleep. His hand looks like he's whispering a secret to my breast :) They dressed him today in a super cute outfit - one that belongs to the hospital - so I made sure to point out to his new nurse where his bag of clothing is. We may have this outfit in a larger size...I can't remember. 

I wake up each night at 2:00 and then again at 6:00 to pump and Jake has gotten in the habit of coming out and joining me. He started sitting in the chair across the room, but has now graduated to joining me on the couch. I time my pumping to an episode of The Office. Jake is our original fur baby and he will not be ignored...however his air time on my blog will significantly decrease because Adin is just so incredibly cute! 

Each day when we come home from the hospital with dirty clothes we drop them on the floor and let Jake smell them up. Most parents bring one blanket home, we are bringing home a small wardrobe bit by bit :) 

Adin's Hiccups

February 6th

Adin is progressing nicely. That's what they keep telling us. We got to sit in on rounds again this morning and heard how wonderful he's doing. He went up 1.5 ounces from Saturday to Sunday (now weighing in at 4 lbs 7.8 ounces) and his bilirubin levels at around 12. The second we arrived in his Pod, I snatched him out of his crib and we snuggled for about an hour before Jesse got a turn. Then we tag teamed a diaper change and dressing Adin. I had to swaddle him prior to his feeding so we could go sit in on rounds with Dr. Pelligrinni (not sure if that's how it's spelled) and the team of residents. We heard that the expected take home date is next week...which made me fairly emotional a few times today. During rounds Adin was crying/yelling to be fed, so I snatched him up and started setting him up to feed. 

We have been working on breast feeding and the past few times he has needed for me to use a shield in order to decrease his frustration. However, I keep trying to feed sans shield because eventually he'll get it. Our nurse de jour scheduled me for a consult with the Lactation Specialist so when she joined us I popped the shield off and she gave me a few tips and tricks and we got Adin chugging. The best analogy was to picture my nipple as a hamburger, he would need to open his mouth, position the nipple towards his upper lip and then chomp down. So now my nipple is a Bic Mac. Perfect. 

After he was done, he fell asleep. That is my favorite part...it's the most contented sleep :) I swaddled him up and put him back in his crib. Jesse and I had a hefty agenda for the afternoon so we had to head out. The nurse, unbeknownst to her, gave us a nice guilt trip for leaving. As we packed up she asked if we were going to eat lunch and then come back...easy enough question, but we felt like douche bags for saying we weren't coming back.

We then went and filled out the paperwork to give Adin health insurance - man is he going to give Harvard Pilgrim a run for their money! I also had a nice long chat with his pediatrician a shot that they would like to give him and whether or not that is something we should approve - and he recommended that we do it. It's a monthly shot that protects babies (especially preemies) from RSV which could hospitalize Adin at this point if he gets it. The pediatrician said that the insurance company may not cover it once he leaves the NICU so we should take advantage of having it offered and then his office will work on the referral for the next one. 

Our car seat also arrived, so we installed the base and realized that the other base that we have isn't compatible, thus we will return that one and get the other one (and then install it so both cars are good to go). It is an expensive base, so those that take care of Adin will have to switch cars with us if they would like to run errands. We also installed the camera for the video monitor, set up the humidifier, and put the mattress protector and crib sheets on his bed. His room is fairly cleaned up from all the "stuff" that he now has - however his closet needs some organizing. We have all our luggage in there as well as his tub set, toys, and all the items that he won't be using right away. 

Lastly, I tried out MY pump since I've been using the hospital rental...and my review is as follows: Aveda Purely Yours is better than the Medela Symphony. That's my opinion. 

Oh, also I have produced so much milk that they told me I can start freezing some and keeping it here so i picked up some freezer bags and put the first one in. I think the most positive reinforcement I've ever gotten is for my ability to produce milk. The nurse exclaimed "OH MY!" when she opened my cooler this morning.