She's HOME!!!

Okay, so first of all, I have been posting via the Blogger app on my iPhone....yet somehow the posts haven't made it to the blog.  :-(  Sorry to keep y'all in the dark!

Anyway, we did our day of testing last Monday, came back that she did NOT need another surgery!  Thank God!  So the team decided to put Annelise back on the Erithromycin since she did so well on it before with her reflux.  Then she stopped having Bradycardias once she was put on it.  So they said we could bring her home...on erithromycin, prilosec and a heart monitor.  The heart monitor just alerts us when her heart rate is too high or too low or if she stops breathing.  At first, I thought it's going to be annoying and I didn't want it.  After our first night home, I definitely like having it.

This is Annelise waiting to get her discharge papers to leave the NICU. 

Daddy has the car seat pictures on his phone, so I'll have to post them later.

When we got home last night, this was waiting for us:

I took the picture today since it was dark by the time we made the rounds visitng the grandparents after leaving CHOP.  I LOVE this, and didn't think we would get one since this wasn't the traditional homecoming of a newborn.  Thanks Mom Mom!

By the way.....her length is wrong.  Totally my fault! Things got very confusing those first few weeks in the NICU and we didn't have her correct length and weight until discharge yesterday.  She was actually born at 17.75 inches and 4 pounds.  Oops!

After we got home, it was crazy to try to get on schedule with her feedings and medications.  Annelise was super tired because she didn't sleep well all day in the NICU.  I think she could sense the excitement!  Here she is sleeping in Mommy & Daddy's bed after her 9pm feeding.

Last night was rough, but we made it through.  Evidently Annelise likes the 3am hour.  She woke up at 2:45am and stayed awake through her 3am feeding until her 6am feeding!  What a night owl!  I'm glad that we have the heart rate monitor.  It beeps (quite loud!) to alert us if something's wrong.  The only reason I slept at all last night was the monitor.  I kept thinking that she would stop breathing if I set her down, or the cat would smother her, or she'd have another Brady when I fell asleep.  But the monitor will wake me up if that happens, so I can rest easy for now.  I'm sure we'll be off of the monitor in a few weeks, but it's a good transition for me from the NICU to home.  At least I can sleep the 2 hours between feedings without worry!

Today has been calmer.  The Home Health Nurse came out to see us and check up on medications, feeding, etc.  It was great to have someone come over and make sure we were doing okay.  CHOP has been great!  She'll be back in a week to check on us again.  In the meantime, they have a nurse on-call 24/7 to answer questions and walk us through anything that we're not sure about.  I hope to not use them, but am glad they're there. 

Tomorrow, Annelise and I are going to her pediatrician for her first visit!

And then October 13th, we have a follow up with the surgeon. 

No one said having a newborn was dull!  We're on the go! :-)

Annelise in her Froggy bouncer in our living room!  Look how happy she is to be home!