Discharge-Eve?

Like a broken record I have said that we have no expectations, BUT we expect to be home as a Party of Four tomorrow and at the latest Monday. Today? A great day. Megan spent the night last night and was reminded of what having a newborn is like on the eyes...This morning Allene and Stella headed over to hospital to see Megan and Hunter as I headed to work. Megan and Stella came home while Allene (Gigi) stayed with Hunter....we are not leaving him alone for one second because as of mid day today he is completely tube, wire, monitor, IV, drain and drug free (except for the occassional Tylenol for discomfort)...you can literally pick him up and not have to negotiate anything that hangs off his body...it's weird. He looks so cute and so sweet, we finally have our baby back. The only thing he has is is a few stitches in his belly button (site of an IV believe it or not) and some others near his lungs where the "pig tail" drains hung...other than that he is free of probes.

I arrived at the hospital around 1:30 and found Gigi with her friend Maxine obsessing over Hunter and enjoying being a grandmother. As I arrived my parents arrived as well. We changed "shifts" and enjoyed the quiet. Around 4 I got to feed Hunter and he scarfed down 42 ml's...he is really starting to get it all figured out. After that he dropped a load and went back to sleep...he absolutely loves being held, he just sleeps, squeeks, eats and poops...perfection.

After awhile Kiki and Papa left and Stella and Megan showed up. Stella and I went downstairs to the appropriately named "Heart Beat Cafe" and grabbed dinner and brought it up for a picnic in Hunters room. We spread out a large blanket and had dinner as a family. It was nice but tomorrow will be better.

This afternoon we began to learn some very important details about our responsibilities with medications and what we should look for and expect when we get home. Of the many items two doctors and two nurses told us indepedantly the importance of keeping Hunter germ free for 6 weeks at a minimum. He has a compromised immune system from all that he has been through and it is VERY important that we avoid contact with children, crowds of people and public places. It was kind of odd how hard they emphasized this, but basically they said "we know you want to introduce him to the world but you need to do it slowly". They know that we have a two year old and how easily kids bring home and pass around viruses. They also have experience as parents themselves understanding how people like to get close to and hover over babies in car seats as well as touch the babies hands, faces etc...they were tough on us and we got the picture, he can't get remotely sick for at least 6 weeks. So if you see us out and we run you'll know why!

So tomorrow the next chapter begins and it can't get here fast enough. We want him out of the Ped's unit as fast as we can get him out...he's a number in there and we get it...Stella wants her brother home and keeps asking when he'll get here and we feel the same way. We are excited to get the show on the road and have him close to us, no more back and forth trips to Emanuel 2-3 times a day leaving each time without our baby. We're done. We are thankful but we're done...is it tomorrow yet?