Discharge Day

Yesterday when I got the call from your doctor at 12:00, they told me that your bilirubin was down to 5.3 and that you were going to go home!  I was hanging around the house since I wasn't sure what our plans should be, but I had to get busy packing up all your things.  We had barely gotten your car seat installed the night before.  But yet again, you never seem to do things the ordinary way, so we didn't exactly follow my imaginary schedule.

The one hurdle that I wish we would have taken care of earlier was your circumcision.  We had to wait to have it done when your blood counts were back in a high range, so we were told that a doctor would come by and take care of you on her regular rounds, probably in the late afternoon.  She apparently covers five hospitals, so we had to just wait.  I got to listen to a horrific list of possible side effects and found out more than I ever wanted to know about it.

So here's how our day progressed:

12:00  Got the call, texted Daddy with the good news!  He was stuck at a meeting for school and was so excited.  Started gathering up all our stuff just in case we were there for a little while.

1:00  Got a call from our favorite nurse Laura that they were working on getting all your prescriptions set up and that I needed to go find a special baby vitamin for you.  Apparently it is over the counter, but the three places I tried all had to special order it.  It was quite an ordeal that eventually required the hospital to have some delivered for us.

2:00  Got a heavenly message from Aunt Kara saying she would take care of your big sister and pick her up from school so we didn't have to worry about making it there by 6:00.  Boy was that a huge help!  Dropped off her car seat at their house and kept going.

2:30  Got a call from the coordinator for the doctor in Houston so we could set up your appointment.  We didn't have much choice in the time, so we have to be there on Monday the 27th at 8:00 am!  That should be a fun morning of traffic with school starting then too.

3:00  Finally made it to the hospital and started a long process of paperwork and phone calls to other doctors.  In just a few hours, you had five doctors appointments scheduled for the next five weeks.  We will be seeing our pediatrician, the GI doctor, the hematologist, the liver specialist, and a developmental pediatrician just to get you registered in their system for any future needs.  Your social calendar is already very busy, my man!

4:00  Dr. Ahmad headed out for the day and came to wish us well and give me a hug.  He said he wanted us to email and follow up so he would know how you were doing, but that he hoped he didn't see us again.  I told him how much we appreciated all he had done but that we felt the same!

5:00  Dad arrived and wondered why you still hadn't "had your pencil sharpened" as Nurse Laura called it.  He also was surprised to see that they had moved your bed into a tiny corner so they could make room for a set of twins, so we were up close and personal with another little boy that was born the day before.  We got more lessons on the special measurements we need to use to mix your formula/milk concoction and all your medicines.  It seems less daunting looking back on it, but at the time I was a bit overwhelmed!

6:00  Still no doctor, so we left to grab something to eat and pick up a few supplies that we would need at home.  I wanted to make sure we got to tell Nurse Laura goodbye, and we were hoping you would be finished with your procedure when we made it back at....

7:00  But you weren't.  She finally arrived to do the circumcision at 7:30 and said that she had no idea we were waiting on her to be discharged, so she apologized for not coming there first.  (Nice, but not much help to us now!)  So we waited some more.

8:00  You were done and were due to eat, but you screamed more than I have ever heard you scream in your whole life.  Maybe combined.  It was such a surprise since they told us you would have lots of numbing meds and might not feel much until hours later.  You fussed and wouldn't eat your bottle, so it took over an hour and a half before we gave up.  The nurse told us that as soon as you had successfully peed that we could go home....

But that didn't happen at 9:00.

Or 10:00.  We joked about buying you a clean urine sample so you could pass this one test...  We talked with the new parents that we were still cramping.  We were practically falling asleep in our chairs as we held you and prayed that you would just go!

Finally at 11:00, we whooped and hollered in victory as the nurse confirmed you had a wet diaper.  All my thoughts of us posing for a nice picture on our way out of the hospital were tossed out.  We just wanted to pack up all your stuff and get out!  But we were surprised by how tiny you looked in your car seat and Daddy was so nervous about making sure you were buckled in tight.

And then we got home and it was time for you eat again....

Still loving you,
Your tired Mama