Our sweet baby boy is home!!! It's been a roller coaster of a week, but Jack was finally discharged from the hospital on Friday night, January 18th, at 6:45 pm. He was discharged weighing 7 lbs, 13.2 oz- pretty amazing how much he's gained since birth... we are fortunate that he loves to eat thus far! 94 days total in the NICU- thank goodness we are out of there and ready to start raising our beautiful boy!
We did have to bring Jack home on 1/8 of a liter of oxygen and an apnea monitor, so we are getting use to the cords and machines at home. The monitor goes off if his heart rate goes out of a certain range (>220 or <90) or if he stops breathing. The alarm has already gone off a few times, as he gets VERY feisty when he's ready to eat and his heart rate soars! We are learning that we have to start getting him ready 30 minutes before his scheduled feeding time so we minimize him getting upset and setting off the alarm. We will see a pulmonologist in 3-4 weeks, who will decide how much longer Jack will need to stay on the oxygen. We are seeing his pediatrician for the first time on Tuesday AM and then headed to the ophthalmologist on Tuesday afternoon so that we can monitor Jack's ROP.
Leading up to his discharge, Jack had a good week and was passing all his tests, so we knew he'd be home soon. Matt and I were supposed to "room in" at the hospital on Tuesday night and potentially take Jack home on Wednesday. "Rooming in" is where we stay in a room with no nurse help and see how we do with the oxygen and monitor. Unfortunately, Matt wasn't feeling well Tuesday, so he went to the doctor before we went up to the hospital and he tested positive for the flu. We'd both had our flu shots and Matt thought he just had a sinus infection, so it was pretty frustrating... such terrible timing! We had to cancel the "rooming in" and start talking to an Infectious Disease pediatrician on how to proceed. Matt was quarantined for a few days and started taking Tamiflu. They also put me on a preventative dose of Tamiflu so that I could avoid catching it. Matt went back to the doctor on Thursday morning and tested negative, but the doctors wanted him to have a few symptom free days before being in the same room with Jack.
We were hoping to wait a few days so that Matt could bring Jack home with me (fortunately there were a few delays on test results, so that got us a few extra days), but Jack was ready to be discharged on Friday. They didn't want to keep Jack in the NICU any longer due to various reasons. I "roomed in" with Jack on Friday morning by myself and my parents drove in from Arlington to help me Friday afternoon. All went well and Jack was discharged Friday night! Matt watched from afar with a mask as we loaded Jack into the car and brought him home. My parents helped me drive him home. Matt hasn't been able to help or be close to him yet, which I know has been so tough for him, but we're trying to be extra cautious and have 3-5 symptom free days for Matt. Hopefully tomorrow Matt will be in the clear and no more masks or gloves and lots of Jack snuggle time!
Some pictures from Friday:
We did have to bring Jack home on 1/8 of a liter of oxygen and an apnea monitor, so we are getting use to the cords and machines at home. The monitor goes off if his heart rate goes out of a certain range (>220 or <90) or if he stops breathing. The alarm has already gone off a few times, as he gets VERY feisty when he's ready to eat and his heart rate soars! We are learning that we have to start getting him ready 30 minutes before his scheduled feeding time so we minimize him getting upset and setting off the alarm. We will see a pulmonologist in 3-4 weeks, who will decide how much longer Jack will need to stay on the oxygen. We are seeing his pediatrician for the first time on Tuesday AM and then headed to the ophthalmologist on Tuesday afternoon so that we can monitor Jack's ROP.
Leading up to his discharge, Jack had a good week and was passing all his tests, so we knew he'd be home soon. Matt and I were supposed to "room in" at the hospital on Tuesday night and potentially take Jack home on Wednesday. "Rooming in" is where we stay in a room with no nurse help and see how we do with the oxygen and monitor. Unfortunately, Matt wasn't feeling well Tuesday, so he went to the doctor before we went up to the hospital and he tested positive for the flu. We'd both had our flu shots and Matt thought he just had a sinus infection, so it was pretty frustrating... such terrible timing! We had to cancel the "rooming in" and start talking to an Infectious Disease pediatrician on how to proceed. Matt was quarantined for a few days and started taking Tamiflu. They also put me on a preventative dose of Tamiflu so that I could avoid catching it. Matt went back to the doctor on Thursday morning and tested negative, but the doctors wanted him to have a few symptom free days before being in the same room with Jack.
We were hoping to wait a few days so that Matt could bring Jack home with me (fortunately there were a few delays on test results, so that got us a few extra days), but Jack was ready to be discharged on Friday. They didn't want to keep Jack in the NICU any longer due to various reasons. I "roomed in" with Jack on Friday morning by myself and my parents drove in from Arlington to help me Friday afternoon. All went well and Jack was discharged Friday night! Matt watched from afar with a mask as we loaded Jack into the car and brought him home. My parents helped me drive him home. Matt hasn't been able to help or be close to him yet, which I know has been so tough for him, but we're trying to be extra cautious and have 3-5 symptom free days for Matt. Hopefully tomorrow Matt will be in the clear and no more masks or gloves and lots of Jack snuggle time!
Some pictures from Friday:
Getting Jack's footprints |
Jack's homecoming outfit |
Matt watching from afar :) |
Loaded up and ready to go home! |
Home at last!! (Matt is holding his breath :) ) |
Tucker and Jack- BFF |
Comfy at home! |