Thursday, April 29, 2010

Sunday, August 24, 2009 - Adjusting to home

Overall it is a harsh nighttime for Nico as well and we guess that it probably is gas related, but who is to know... The new bottle works well, as there is some small flow of its own, so he does not have to strain to get it out, which helps him a LOT to get used to things. One big difference also is the different temperature, as it had been so hot at the hospital and now he has to get used to the far lower temperature at home in our basement, so we have to really bundle him up and make sure that he can keep his heat, because we definitely don’t want him to go blue again.

Val is still having a very hard time with the aftermath of her surgery, so everything takes a lot longer, getting up, laying down, moving overall, so I am stepping up and try to help whenever and wherever I can. I am so happy that I was able to get the time off from work, because we had not anticipated things to be that difficult and as frustrated as mommy is, I am trying my best to help her take care of everything, which works surprisingly well, even more so as we are both sleep depraved.

Saturday, August 23, 2009 - Discharge from hospital and a huge scare

A new day and it is supposed to be discharge day. This definitely lifts the spirits and to see Nico progress also is a big plus, because of the rocky start he has had. We get tons of paperwork to fill out to prep for the discharge and Val gets another exam in preparation as well and is told that it would happen soon, so we start picking things up, packing stuff and having things ready for when it will finally happen.

Linda, Richard and my dad come by again, as we are supposed to be able to leave, but we wait, and wait and wait some more, while Richard and my dad wait outside, as my dad still does not feel well inside the hospital. So they keep saying for hours that a doc has to sign off on her and that she is in L&D and busy and then Val snaps. She asks the nurse, which papers she has to sign in order to be able to discharge herself and that seems to trigger something, because it takes less than 5 minutes until the doctor is there and gives Val the final blessing to be discharged, so we are outta here as fast as we can. It is Val’s first direct exposure to sunlight in two days and obviously Nico’s first ever, the fresh air is incredibly refreshing, though.

The drive home is very careful due to the precious cargo and once we get there, it’s “getting set up” time. As we do not have the time or energy to do so, we have Nico’s bed/playpen next to our bed on Val’s side with next to no room for her to get up, but for the first night that’s what it will be.

The first feeding, though, creates a dramatic problem, as Nico is getting colder and is turning blue in the face and we are not sure why. We think that it may be his bottle (Playtex Drop-Ins) and that it may be too straining trying to suck the milk out, but we call 9-1-1, because we are very afraid for Nico, but once the EMS comes and checks him out, all vitals come back normal. One of the medics has four kids himself, so he is able to assure us of a few things, which make us breathe easier and he even helps us bring out the dresser from our bedroom, so we have more space for Nico’s bed, now that’s what I call service!

I head out to Superstore to get other bottles, because it is obvious that the one we have doesn’t work and we just as obviously would not want to risk anything like that again, and Philips Avent is the choice. Still, despite being exhausted like hell, we still are up at every little peep that Nico makes, because we don’t know yet what is a regular sound made while sleeping or if something is wrong.