Homeward Bound

My Facebook post may have been a little premature yesterday about heading home. I sent that around 6PM as we only had a hearing test and the newborn screen left to do. Unfortunately, JJ didn't really appreciate his circumcision that occurred a few hours prior. He hadn't eaten much that afternoon because he was either crying or passed out to the point he wouldn't/couldn't wake up. After some prolonged coaxing, he finally got his tests done and was eating well enough to take off. We hit the door around 10PM and that was just the start of the night...

Katie came by to set up a Pack-and-Play for us and left us dinner. Nothing like fried chicken and mac&cheese at 11PM; wouldn't make a habit out of it but it hit the spot last night (thanks again Katie). JJ was met by a very excited dog, and surprisingly it went very well. Cubbie sniffed him all over, licked his face a few times, and after that you couldn't separate them. I really do think he will sleep at the foot of JJ's bed eventually, but for right now he instead runs around with his tail wagging, barking, and wanting to play.

I think last night Sara found out what it is like being on call. She took the first shift of being with him overnight because everytime we laid him down he'd awaken and start crying. I got hit and miss sleep from 1AM to 6AM while Sara somehow stayed up the entire time. She finally went to bed and I held him from 6-830. We both took naps the following day with vivid dreams of what it'll be like when he can sleep alone and for more than 45min at a time. Finding out that he loves his baby rocker makes me hopeful that day is closer than I would have guessed last night.

Stevie and Phyllis brought us dinner today, thanks Phyllis. Stevie got to meet JJ for the first time. He did pretty well with him despite JJ being a little grumpy when they got here. Even though he cried a couple times Stevie didn't flinch. He jumped in head first, which is more than I can say for Betsy and her loving index finger :) (see photos below).

If tonight goes well, Sara says she's up for visitors so send either of us a text and we'll figure out a good time to come by.

Day #2

Is it wrong to say that day 2 could be better than day 1? I'll always remember yesterday: Sara's induction and delivery, JJ's arrival, and even the stress related to the above plus him needing some extra attention. Even with all that, today has to rank in the top 10 for me. Let me recount the day and you can tell me if I'm crazy...

Sara arose around 6AM and helped with JJ's first bath. I apparently didn't awake to my invitation, but that's ok. She returned with good news. JJ's supplemental oxygen had been decreased overnight and by 9AM it was completely off. He also started feeds today and for each successful feeding his IV fluids were decreased. As of now they are at 1ml/hr and should be turned off soon.

Dad showed up around noon and got to meet his newest grandson. Didn't get any pics of it because I left the camera in the room, oops! Sheryl and Wood showed up soon thereafter and of course there was no way she was forgetting to take pics. Then had a quick lunch at Rock Bottom with Sheryl and Wood (paid for by Wood's baby pool winnings, thanks Wood). Upon my return, Theresa and the kids were waiting in our room. Not two minutes later Katie shows up and we took turns taking JJ's aunts back to meet him.

The next few hours are a mystery to me as I fell asleep in Sara's bed while she ate lunch. However, I learned something the NBA is good for - improving sleep hygiene. If you can't sleep, turn on the first half of an NBA game. It's better than Ambien, Lunesta, and whiskey combined. I'm gonna copy the music from the NBA pregame intro and turn it into a lullaby for JJ.

I awoke around 630 to Steve, Phyllis, Anna, Stevie, and Betsy visiting. The grandparents got to see him before treating us to 25 cent Blizzards. Spent a little more time back in the nursery before Sara came back to the room and finally got some sleep. That left me time to write this blog and watch most of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I can't turn this movie off because Gene Wilder reminds me of Mac, my high school baseball coach. Not many movies get me to laugh outloud repeatedly and this is one of them...

Quick name your favorite WW quote...

Off the top of my head, here's my list:

5) I'm sorry, I'm a trifle deaf in this ear. You'll have to speak up.

4) He'll be made into marshmallows in 5 seconds. Impossible! Ridiculous my dear lady, absurd! Unthinkable! Why? That tube doesn't go to the marshmallow room. It goes to the fudge room!

3) What was that thing? Hsawaknow. What is that Japanese? No, it's WonkaWash backwards.

2) Open your mouth a little wider when you speak.

1) I'm sorry but all questions must be submitted in writing. Thank you. Moving on!

Sounds like Sara is going to be released tomorrow, but haven't heard if JJ is going with us just yet. I'll be sure and let everyone know the plan is. Tomorrow's installment will either be Day 3 in the hospital or, hopefully, Day 1 at home.

PS. The 25 cent Blizzard sale ends tomorrow so get to your local DQ and load up. I recommend either the caramel brownie or chocolate covered cherries!

Day#1

Didn't really know what to expect as today started. Showed up at the hospital around 8AM and registration took 2 minutes. Sara was in bed and getting her meds within an hour, no problem. Heart monitor attached and heart rate was within normal range consistently, again no problem. Epidural placed with a little trouble passing the catheter, but again overall no problem. We were 7 hours into our stay when Sara said she suddenly felt a lot of pressure and sure enough the baby was on his way...

There was a great deal of excitement and wonder during the entire process. I was so revved up at one point that Sara caught me pacing (that was a first). There was also a palpable feeling of deja vu from exactly 53 weeks before. While trying not to show my concern, I kept waiting for something to maybe go wrong. It had before. Things were going just too well. Different date, different story, different outcome. JJ showed up about 45min later. At this moment he is now 5.5 hrs old and doing pretty well. He is in the transitional care unit because he still needs a little oxygen. He's also getting empiric antibiotics just in case, but our RN says that babies who are delivered that quickly often don't clear their lungs in time before they have to start breathing so this is not atypical in these situations. The plan is to start weaning his oxygen as his levels tolerate and eventually he'll either cough it all up or just reabsorb it. I've gotten pretty good at reading MDs and RNs faces and can tell when they aren't being straight with patients; so far they don't seem all that concerned so at least for the moment neither am I.

Mom is doing well also. Her epidural is almost completely worn off and we've visited JJ once this evening already. She doesn't look the least bit tired and didn't take a nap today which shocks me. Around 8:30 PM or so I could barely keep my eyes open and all I did was stand there. I did make about 30 phone calls afterward so maybe that's why. Or it could have been the QDoba.

I will continue to post information about both Sara and JJ on here as well as via email and Facebook. I hope Day #1 was as good for you as it was for me. Stay tuned it should be a fun and entertaining ride.