Sunday, October 5, 2008

Maddy Comes Home! (Now what do we do?)

After our last post, you probably didn't expect to be reading this. But hey, the roller coaster goes up, the roller coaster goes down. So how'd it happen? Yesterday Elaine got a call in the morning from the babies' regular doctor, Dr. Kao. The night before, Dr. Kao had left for the day when Maddy had the brady, and the doctor covering the evening shift wanted to play it safe and keep Maddy there. Dr. Kao learned about the decision the following morning and decided that Maddy was OK to go home. Still, we hesitated to post anything until we actually had her home.

As I write this, it's 9:30 in morning and Maddy is (mostly) asleep in her pack-n-play just a few feet from our sofa. Below is the complete photo documentary.

Maddy and Milo hanging out together one last time while Maddy is a patient. The little girl will be back each day to visit Milo along with Mom & Dad.

Nurse Brandi ceremonially removes Maddy's ID tag. It would have been strange to realize now that she was the wrong baby. She's ours!

A small contingent of the great medical team who cared for Maddy. That's Cheryl up front holding Maddy for the last time as a NICU patient. No doubt we'll still harass them all for advice in the coming months.

Maddy's first breath of fresh, clean East Bay air.

Nurse Brandy hands off to Elaine and now she's ours.

Elaine carefully inspects the baby to make sure there are no warranty issues. "Hey, wait a minute! There's a hemangioma on this baby's head! Where's customer service?"


I like this picture because it captures -- completely by accident -- a bunch of pertinent things. The baby is front and center with Mom arranging her; the hospital (and Elaine's hospital room) are in the reflection, and there I am in the center taking a picture and trying to be useful.

Elaine got to take the hand-off, so I took the honors and carried Maddy inside the house.

Lucy senses that things are about to change.

Maddy gets her first bath at home. Then it was off to bed. Maddy's first night home started off pretty sedate, but she was restless throughout the night. We're thinking the new surroundings, routines, and some heavy gas pains kept her fussy. We did manage a couple hours of sleep.

The morning after our first night of full-on parenthood. Elaine looks a bit shell-shocked, but she's feeling better now. Luckily Aunt Antina was on-hand to help us out.

Of course, the little man has to hang out in good ole' room 15 for a little while longer, but we'll all be heading off to visit him later this morning. He did very well with his feedings last night and this morning. If he keeps it up, he should be home before too long. No baby left behind!

11 comments:

Feisty said...

Woo Hoo! How awesome! So glad she is home at last!!! Love all the photos! Did the sleeping in shifts work, or did the 2 of you stay up all night? :)

Love to All,
Heath

Unknown said...

Nothing as organized as shifts. Maddy was pretty restless all night, and whenever she made a peep we both woke up. Whenever she was sleeping quietly, I would awaken and put my ear up to her to make sure she was breathing. Hopefully we'll start getting more confidence in the next few days.

BTW: we're back at the hospital now and Maddy seems a little more at ease and glad to be near Milo. That makes sense - this has been her home for the last 4 months.

Krista said...

What fabulous news!!! I was so sad when I read about the let down with the brady, but I'm so glad your little girl is home now. We look forward to seeing the family soon!

krista

Gretchen said...

horray for Maddy! Thanks for the photo documentation of the big event :) Cheering for Milo too and sending love to all.

Unknown said...

Wow! Yay Maddy!! So glad to hear she's home and maybe her tales of the miraculous place called home will entice Milo to try it out too.

Btw, LOVE the picture of Milo with the big frown. Did someone mention the economy to him?

xoxo,
Jody

Sarah V said...

This is the best news I have ever received. I am SO happy for you to have your baby girl home with you. I have to tell you that I continued to wake up and just check on Auden's breathing for a LONG time and would often do so even much later if she took a particularly long nap. Now she is 2, and I still wake up one second before she starts crying and running into my room, so that "checking in" impulse seems to be pretty resilient! I so wish I could be there to change a diaper or two or do some laundry while you nap! Wishing you all the best,

Sarah

The Kachmarskys said...

Congratulations you guys! Maddy is of course in good hands! Let your parenting instincts kick in and you'll do great! We're all rooting for both Maddy and Milo to continue growing strong, and especially now for Milo to join his awesome family. Good luck! I wish I could come help out--my kids are now 3 and 1 and I still haven't slept through the night (debated whether to tell you that--ha)! Love from the (Glanz) Kachmarskys

Unknown said...

Yippee! We are just thrilled for you all! You are brilliant parents already so just enjoy every minute. I can also admit I still check breathing during long naps or particularly quiet sleep, so don't expect that urge to fade any time soon! We're rooting for Milo's homecoming soon too.
Lots of love
Helen xx

mle linkner said...

HOW WONDERFUL!!!! congratulations guys! she looks FABULOUS!!! and you look COMPLETELY SHELLSHOCKED!!! you'll get used to it! i'm cheering milo on - "gimme an M - M! gimme an I - I...."

Unknown said...

Yay! I am so happy to read that she is home with you guys! I am praying that Milo will be at home with you soon.

Hugs to you and those beautiful babies!!

Lali

Marla said...

There's no place like home! We hope you had a wonderful week with Maddie. The quarentine nearly drove me crazy in January in Boston - so glad you have good weather! Can't imagine being up for all those feedings AND running back to the hospital. We found adding back in some noise like the machines at the NICU helped Oren sleep more. (radio static or a fan). Best, Marla