Homecoming

Homecoming

After arriving 13 weeks early due to unfortunate circumstances, Olivia Paige was officially discharged from the Penn State Hershey NICU on December 21^st, 2012. Her medical record now is officially Olivia Adams and no longer Babygirl B Adams. She spend 74 days there and we had no “major” setbacks throughout her stay. One of our awesome nurses had knitted Livi a “Sunday” hat which happened to match a dress we had from Emma perfectly. We decided that would be her going home outfit.

 

She was discharged on minimal oxygen support as you can see by the tank we carried with her.

She was clicked into her car seat base at 12:26pm… the exact time that she was born 74 days prior.

Allison turned 5 on the 20^th and had several times asked me if Olivia coming home could be her birthday present… along with a Brave doll. But I thought that the day after was not bad. Allison was ecstatic when she found out she was coming home. Emma was standoffish at first but came around by the next morning and was excited that her “baby livia” was finally home.

Livi’s first night was actually pretty much as we expected. She was demanding, loud and preferred to be held. No reason for the parents to sleep right?

We were restricted on how much she could nurse in the hospital because she was to have fortified breast milk so she would get more calories. When she was discharged that was less important as she was gaining weight well and was eating like a baby twice her size. She still has to have her vitamins by bottle daily but besides a little snack with her vitamins she is now completely breast fed, on demand. It took approximately 5 days to get her to that point. It took a good bit of training for her and retraining for me, but now she refuses to take a bottle from me. Knowing that this is the last baby I will have the opportunity to bond with through breast feeding it was a really big deal for me to get her nursing regularly so we both had that opportunity. I tried to find statistics about extremely low birth weight infants and the percentage that go on to nurse the majority of their feedings but the stats are not out there… study anyone? All I know is every pediatrician or neonatologist I speak to are amazed that she took to it and I stuck with it. I am really stubborn…

Things have gone very well since Olivia has been home. We are basically on house arrest because of her prematurity and respiratory issues it is advised she stay away from people/daycare/kids as much as possible during cold and flu season. She is off her oxygen currently and hasn’t had any issues at all. 8 days after discharge we weaned her completely off.

She is a pretty pleasant baby if you give her what she wants, which is to be held 24/7. She likes to cluster feed (I think it’s more wanting contact than actually needing to eat) but we have worked that into the daytime and she sleeps 3-4 hr stretches at night.  I know a lot of NICU moms have difficulty bonding with their baby and don’t have that true connection for quite a while. I am lucky in that we were able to start holding Livi only a week after she was born and I could be there basically all day every day. We have a good bond. She knows when I am in the room and just that seems to comfort her at times.

I am lying in bed typing this with her in her bassinette next to me. She smiles a lot in her sleep. That smile makes everything worth it.

Every time I look at her I see Owen. I know he continues to watch over her and her course in the NICU was easier than most because she had her own personal angel by her side.  I feel him with us sometimes. I think I will always wish things would have been different and I would have had two car seats to carry out of that NICU but I truly believe everything happens for a reason and we were incredibly lucky to have a healthy little girl come out of a tragic pregnancy.