A New Chapter Begins

Camping at the hospital went well. I camped with both babies, and while I slept perhaps a total of 4 hours (and not consecutively!) it was really good. It wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it was, though at one point, I almost resuscitated Nate because CPR training was fresh in my mind and in my overtired stupor, I thought he had suffocated. No worries, though, as he was totally fine and I’m just a spaz. The nurse laughed and said a baby who doesn’t need resuscitated will certainly let you know when you try to “save” them.

Before we camped, the doctor agreed that I could feed Nate on demand and only use his gavage if I felt it was necessary. As I had suspected, when left to his own will, he ate fine when he wanted.

In the morning, the nurse had sad she felt Nate should go home too, and was encouraging him to pull out his tube. She even loosened the tape for him. At about 2:30 pm, he finally gave in and yanked it. It kind of freaked me out, but he was fine and the nurse came and removed the tape from his face. He was a free man once again!

Once the doctor came by, it was about 6 pm. He said that the nurses recommended that Nate come home with Ace, and asked what I thought. I told him that of course I want him home because he’s my baby and because it was going to be hard having one home and one in the hospital. He said that while Nate did well over the last 24 hours, we had seen that before and it was after 24 hours that he had his setback. He said if we went another 24 hours with no problems, he’d gladly send Nate home, but he was nervous about sending him sooner.

I asked what the worst thing is that would happen if Nate came home and had a setback, and he said it would be weight loss. I asked if I could rent a scale and monitor him at home, then. The doctor felt that wasn’t a bad idea and said Nate could come home and that we’d have home visits to check his weight and be sure he’s gaining.

So, at 7 pm last night, I left the hospital with BOTH of my baby boys!

We didn’t get much sleep last night, but so far, it’s been great having them home.