I know my posting has been a little sparse this summer and I apologize for that. We've also been deliberately vague about the baby, largely at the advice of our doctors, while the baby was still in the hospital.
But--we have good news! Oliver has more or less mastered this eating thing (he got his feeding tube out on Monday) and he is coming home today (Thursday). He is almost 36 weeks gestational age; he's been in the hospital for 47 days. After his 3 lb 4 oz birthweight, he now weighs 4 lbs 11 oz.
We've been blessed to have good doctors and diligent nurses who have watched Oliver and encouraged us. (With a process this long, it's hard not to feel occasionally discouraged).
Mostly, we're grateful that our baby is here and that he seems to be doing well. This wasn't necessarily a guarantee. The day he was born, I had a placental abruption (you can look it up if you want--it's kind of scary and I'm glad I didn't know that much about it before it happened!). This can have serious consequences, not only for the baby (one statistic I read said that 20% of the babies died in serious cases, as mine was), but also for the mother, who risks hemorrhaging (coma and death are not uncommon). Oliver was born with a 1 on the Apgar scale (for a heartbeat). One of the nurses who was there at his birth held up a sheet of paper yesterday and told me that was Oliver's color when he came out.
And yet, as the doctor who delivered him (and today, signed discharge papers) told us, Oliver clearly had guardian angels watching over him. He bounced back quickly after his traumatic birth, with none of the side-effects that can happen after that kind of trauma. And of course, the fact that we were not at home when all this happened, but in a larger town 45 minutes away with access to a bigger hospital (and NICU), also seems like a kind of miracle. As does the fact that we came directly to the labor and delivery hospital, instead of going to the ER (which is located in a separate building about 10 blocks away). The doctors told us that had we gone to the ER, and had to wait there for a team to arrive from labor and delivery, we might have lost our baby.
So today, the fact that we get to go home earlier than expected seems like something to celebrate. I know that we're facing several weeks (if not months) of fractured sleep, but I'm looking forward to having my family together again.
6 comments:
Awesome all around. Glad he's home now!
I'm happy you are alive as well as Oliver. Best in your continued journey of coming home!
I'm so happy that he is doing well and that you're able to take him home. It's so great to have the whole family together again!
I;m so happy and grateful that you and little Oliver are doing well. I love those tender mercies and miracles!!! I love NICU doctors and nurses!!! They are angels on earth!! Our sweet one came home after 66 days in the NICU. She's doing great!
Mr. Oliver is in my thoughts and prayers. I hope he continues to grow and bring happiness into your lives! I'm excited that your sweet family is together again!!
Glad to hear Oliver's doing well! I'm just finishing my OB/GYN rotation at the U, so I think I have a small idea of how scary and miraculous the whole ordeal was. I'm happy you get to have him at home now!
Wow, I'm so glad you are both okay. I've seen my sister struggle with having her baby in a NICU in a different town than she lives, and I can understand how you are ecstatic to bring him home. Congratulations with this new little member of your family! He's so sweet and teeny!
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