Home at Last! And Some Big "Thank You"s

This was our private room in the hospital, which we moved to on Maren's third day there.

The doctors and nurses required us to jump through a bunch of different hoops before we could take Maren home. We had to show that she would eat a certain amount of milk with each feeding, and then they switched it to let us find a more natural schedule with Maren, but she still had a milk quota to meet every 24 hours. We were also informed on our last evening in the hospital that Maren would have to pass a carseat test, where her blood oxygen levels had to maintain a certain level for one hour in the carseat. Here's Maren taking the test in the carseat, placed in her hospital crib.

And here's her daddy wondering if he will next have to pass the swaddling-while-juggling-the-bottle test! Here's the monitor showing Maren's stats during her hospital stay. The monitors kept beeping because the sensors would fall off of her skin - she's non-stick like Teflon! We don't miss the continuous beeps throughout the night.

Maren gets ready to go home

Maren is out of the NICU and getting acquainted with her new home. After all the poking, prodding, monitors and cords attached to her at the hospital, now she has gone completely "wireless"! Her mommy and daddy are pleased to report that we are getting to know our daughter's natural rhythms and needs at home - the "normal" newborn baby adjustments, especially to our sleep schedules.

James is an awesome daddy. He is fast becoming an expert at swaddling, though our princess has one arm that she just won't straighten. She must've had both arms up in the womb, because she came out that way - broad shouldered - ouch!!! James has been going the extra mile and waking up every time Maren does, changing a lot of diapers, and supporting me as I breastfeed Maren. At the hospital, she really got used to the bottle, but I am happy to say she appears to be adjusting well to breastfeeding now that we are at home and have had more time to work on it in a more peaceful environment.

Now that we are home and have a chance to do so, we'd like to thank several people who have given us a lot of moral and material support over the past week. Sheila spent a lot of her vacation time to stay at our house and take care of us in so many ways. As a sister and a mom herself, she has given me a lot of advice and support. It has been especially helpful to hear her stories about her first few days with her son, Aidan, and to be reassured about what is "normal" for a newborn baby and for a new mom to think and feel. Sheila brought us the clothes and supplies we needed and some home-cooked meals to the hospital, which were very welcome. I'm so glad she was able to be here to attend Maren's birth and to support us emotionally as we dealt with Maren's hospitalization.

Bill Hurtt stayed at our house to look after Aidan as Sheila looked after us. I'm happy that he had a chance to meet Maren, and next time she won't be hooked up to any monitors! Bill cooked and cleaned our house for us, and we came home on Saturday to a pristine-looking home. Thanks Bill! Roberta Hurtt also helped look after Aidan and she woke up in the middle of the night to see us off to the birth center when I went into labor. She spent all of her vacation time with us and had to leave before she could meet Maren. I hope we can all get together soon so Maren can spend time with her adopted grandparents.