He Is Coming Home!!! (March 6)

HE IS COMING HOME!!!  Tomorrow is the big day and Mr. Silas will be headed to Flora.  I am so excited to finally be able to bring our baby home and for all of us to be under one roof together.  The girls are super excited and so are Jason and I.  Everything looks good for tomorrow's discharge and hopefully nothing happens between now and then to change it.

Silas is doing awesome and eating a ton.  He eats a little over 2 ounces now and is getting into a 4 hour schedule instead of a 3 hour schedule.  He has made a lot of progress with his eating over the last 48 hours.  The oxygen made all of the difference in the world.  These nurses and doctors really know what they're doing.  Tonight's weight was holding steady at 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

There's a side of me that is a little sad about leaving.  Please don't take that wrong though.  I want Silas home more than anything but this place has been a huge part of my life for the past three months.  I have become friends with some of the nurses.  I love the doctors, the janitors, the receptionists, the cuddlers (retired folks who volunteer their time to rock the babies who need rockin'), and everybody else!  I love the fact that I know my way around this huge hospital like the back of my hand.  I know where the good food is and where the bad food is.  I know how to get around the heart hospital, the children's hospital, and the main hospital.  I know shortcuts and which elevators are slow.  I know which bathrooms are cleaned at what time of day and when to hit them at their cleanest.  I know where to find the best parking.  I know how many towels it takes to completely cover the shower room floor so that I don't have to touch it with my bare feet.  I guess my point is that it is just going to be weird to NOT be coming here anymore.  It's going to feel strange to leave and walk away from all of it.  Strange but good.  Very good.

Tonight I am going to try to get a good night's rest.  It's probably the last one I will have for awhile.  I will try to post homecoming pictures tomorrow night if I'm not too tired.  Oh and I know many of you want to come and see Silas but we are going to be living in a bubble for awhile so you might want to wait until cold and flu is season is over.  We also aren't going to be taking him out much either so if you are lucky you might see him this summer.  haha!  Just kidding, we will have him out and about before that.  I promise to take lots of pictures of him though!!!!

Monday (March 5)

Okay, so a lot has changed since I last blogged.  There are two reasons I haven't written a blog post in the past five days.  1.) I was too busy getting everything ready for Silas to come home.  And 2.) I was bummed out because Silas wasn't coming home yet.  Here's what happened:

Last Thursday, the doctor said that it would be at least Tuesday before he went home.  Silas was doing great on Saturday.  Jason and I spent the day with him.  We packed up almost everything from his room and took it home.  We took home a huge cooler full of my breast milk from the nicu freezer.  We were very excited because the doctor who was there over the weekend said that Silas could come home on Monday, instead of Tuesday.  We left on Saturday night and planned to come back early on Monday to take our monitor training and then bring him home. 

On Sunday we decided to take the girls out to lunch for the last time before Silas came home and turned us into a "table for five."  I also needed to go to Kohl's to pick up a few things while I actually had the time.  While we were eating lunch the doctor called.  I hate that feeling I get when I see that number on caller id.  He said that Silas had not been eating well and was very tired.  The nurses all agreed that his eating habits had changed over the last day or two days.  The doctor decided to put the oxygen back on him and see if that helped him have enough energy to take his bottles.  The nurse also kept switching nipples on him to see what worked best, got his schedule all messed up that day too, and several other things that totally annoyed me.  For the first time I was really not happy with the nurse.  We had this nurse one other time and although she is very nice I didn't think she was as good at her job as the other nurses.  I was ready for Silas' primary nurses, Karen and Jenn to come back on Monday.  All of the other nurses agreed with this one particular nurse though that Silas was acting differently so I probably shouldn't be frustrated with this nurse after all.  I just wanted to be there and thought I knew Silas better than she does, which I do.  But anyway, the doctor put the oxygen back on Silas and that is what he wanted.  After being on it a little while he started eating better and was awake enough to eat.  His liter flow of oxygen is .1%.  It is practically nothing but if that's what it takes to get him home, so be it. 

So today I had training on home oxygen machines and at-home monitors.  The monitors are nice and I am thankful for them.  The oxygen is going to be a pain in the neck but hopefully we won't have to deal with it for too long.  The home medical guy that delivered them both to me was a hoot.  He cussed about ten times throughout the hour I spent with him.  I was a little shocked but he just kept going.  He reminded me of a sitcom dad but I'm not sure which one.  I think the guy off of King of Queens is probably the closest match. 

I met with the pulmonologist (lung doctor) today and he thought maybe in 2-4 weeks Silas will be done with the oxygen.  I pictured this doctor to be an old man for some reason but was pleasantly surprised to find that he was about my own age and very nice and easy to talk to.  He became a lung doctor because he himself has had asthma his whole life.  His name is Dr. Spivy.  He thought Silas' lungs sounded great though.  He couldn't believe he was a 25 weeker.  He had read through his chart before he met with me and thought he must be missing something because 25 weekers don't usually look or sound as good as Silas.  He wondered if I was aware of how amazing Silas' journey has been.  I told him yes I was and that we have been very very blessed.  He said I was exactly right about that. 

I talked to Silas' regular nicu doctor today as well, Dr. Chao.  He is a great guy.  He explained everything and made me feel better about the way things were going.  He thinks that maybe Silas will go home on Wednesday now.  I refuse to get excited until he is in the car with me.  He did pass his 2 hour, 45 minute carseat challenge test over the weekend so that's good. 

Last night Silas weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and tonight he weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces!  Can you believe that??  I had to take all of his preemie clothes home as he has outgrown all of them. 

In other Cooper news, I skyped with the girls tonight while they were at Grandma Debby and Grandpa David's house.  They were glad to see me and we had a good little visit, although Carissa was a little too busy playing to talk to me.  Maleah told me all about her day at school.  Shortly after our skype chat, my Mom sent me a picture text.  Carissa had fallen and hit the end table with her face.  She now has a big ol' black eye.  I do believe it is the first one ever in the Cooper household.  It's quite the shiner for my beautiful little blondie. 

That pretty much wraps up our news.  I promise to keep you posted on what the next couple of days hold for us.  Be ready Flora, because an amazing little fighter is headed to town soon!!! 

Thursday (March 1)

Silas is doing great.  They did the blood test to see if it indicated that he would need the oxygen for a while longer or if it looked like he could come off of it soon.  It looked fantastic!  The doctor took him off of the oxygen immediately.  That was on Wednesday morning.  He was doing good so I headed home like usual on Wednesday.  After I left he decided that he was done with his feeding tube as well and pulled it out.  The nurses didn't re-insert it since he was doing so well with his feedings.  He has continued to do well and is taking all of his bottles and not needing any oxygen.  He is a rockstar!

Meanwhile, on Wednesday I started feeling worse and ended up with a full-blown sinus infection again.  So not fair.  I called the doctor and started another round of antibiotics.  I am hoping to feel better very soon because I am getting ready to bring my baby home!

Originally, they had said that Saturday was a possibility.  The doctor has decided though that she doesn't want him to leave until at least Tuesday.  She wants to make sure that he doesn't need to go back on the oxygen and can continue to take his bottles and not get worn out.  He has also lost weight instead of gaining it because he is working so hard with the eating thing.  He is burning more calories than he is taking in.  They have added a little extra something to his bottles to help keep from losing any more weight.  But by it being at least Tuesday before he comes home, that gives me a little extra time to feel better and rest up.  Jason and I are going on Saturday to take another class.  But this time it is a private class with a therapist training us how to use the at-home monitor that they are sending us home with.  He will wear it while he sleeps or if he is just lounging around the house.  It will go off if he has any apnea episodes and I am actually very thankful for that.  I think it will give me enough peace of mind that maybe I can get some sleep. 

Anyway, please say a prayer that our little man continues to do well and that I start feeling better so that I can take care of him and everybody else.  Also pray that I did not give him any germs when I was there.  I am so paranoid that I will make him sick.  Also, please pray for the city of Harrisburg that was hit by an F4 tornado.  I grew up in Harrisburg and that town holds a special place in my heart.  The damage there and in other nearby towns is unbelievable and my heart aches for those who lost loved ones.