Emory was born on Saturday November 17th, and we were able to bring her home on Monday the 19th. The pediatrician thought she looked great and did not need the bilirubin lights anymore, but he wanted us to bring her in for an appointment the next day (Tuesday the 20th). So we were able to bring Emory home on time!
Martin installed the car seat base at the hospital, and we strapped her into the car seat. She looked so tiny in there! Of course on the ride home Martin drove, and I sat in the back with Emory. There was no way I was leaving her back there alone :) We made it home without any problems.
The house wasn't too packed. Martin's parents had gone home earlier that day, but my parents stayed for the rest of the week. They live about 7 hours away, so they decided to stay a little longer. It was GREAT to have them here. They helped us out big time! They went to the store for us, cooked dinner, played with Sage, and ran a bunch of other errands that we couldn't have done. They were a HUGE help, and I think Sage misses my dad...he was her play buddy for the week!
The first night at home was pretty rough. Some of it was Emory's fault, but most of it was my fault. We put her in the Pack N Play by our bed. It was great having her right there, but we both got NO sleep! I would look at her every 5 minutes to make sure she was still breathing. I was so scared that something was going to happen to her. I remember thinking " I am never going to sleep again, because I will never be able to stop checking on her!" Every time she would make the slightest noise I would pick her up. She did actually get fussy about half way through the night. She was very congested and that was making it difficult for her to breath...she was very fussy. I was finally able to get her to fall asleep in the swing, but that wasn't until about 4:00am. Obviously none of us got any sleep that night...I guess that is all part of being a new, first-time, terrified parent :)
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Tuesday the 20th we had to take her to the doctor so he could follow up with her bilirubin issues. He said her skin was still a little yellow, but he wasn't too concerned. He also weighed her..she was 6lbs 12 oz (down from 7lbs 4oz when she was born). He said it was normal for newborns to loose weight, but he wanted to see her gain 1/2oz to 1oz daily from here on out. He also wanted us to come back on Friday to check her weight again. We went back on that Friday and she was 7lb 7oz! We couldn't believe she had surpassed her birth weight in just 2 days!!! She might end up being a little chunk!
The second night at home was a little better...she slept more than the previous night. We used the humidifier, and I think that helped her congestion a lot. I still didn't sleep...I was still paranoid and kept checking on her every 5 minutes.
I guess the important thing is that we had survived the first two nights at home! We were still figuring everything out...was the room too hot/cold? was she hungry? Did she need to be changed? Why didn't she want to be swaddled? What should she sleep in? So many questions! I was pretty terrified....but we all survived, and every night it got a little easier. I still can't believe she's been home for 3 weeks now...it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home!
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Linds---I think your dad misses Sage, too!
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