Rooming In

It is 6:00 in the morning, and I just spent my first full night with my son!  We were “on our own” for the night, and it started out a little rough! But more on that in a minute!  First, I have to tell about our Christmas celebrations and the way our family made a hard time for everyone into a special one!

Last I blogged, it was Thursday.  That was the last day of school for the kids before a 2 week break.  I spent the day running errands all over Stillwater, attending Britt’s work holiday lunch, Jake’s winter class party, and finishing up preparations for the weekend and week ahead.  Friday morning, we got up, and the Five Dream Weavers loaded up in Derek and headed to see Mr. Finn.  The kids were excited since they hadn’t been to the NICU in a few days, and we spent the whole day up here on Friday.  Saturday, our Christmas extravaganza and present palooza started!  We got up that morning and began cleaning the house a bit, and then Nana and Grandpa came over for the first round of gifts.  It was super fun since these were the first gifts the kids were opening, so they were OVER THE TOP excited.  Emma, Lara AND Jake  all got Fijit Friends, so OF COURSE, all the friends went with us to the hospital:

After my parents left our house, we came to Mercy to see Finn.  We realized we had never gotten a picture of all four of our kids in the same place.  It was time to remedy that situation – and here is the result!

We didn’t stay with Finn too long, as we had to get back to Stillwater for Christmas Eve with my grandparents.  We had a nice turkey dinner, and after dinner all the big kids were running and laughing and playing – having a good time!  UNTIL!  Jake puked all over me, the couch, the living room, himself, and the even the bathroom by the time Britt got him there!  This put present opening on hold until Britt could go back to our house and get clean clothes for me and Jake.  While he was gone, Jake was stripped down to his underwear, and running around playing again.  We attributed the puke to the fact that he ate 18 Krispy Kreme donut holes AND a whole donut on the ride home from OKC.  The kids all got clothes from my grandmother, so the presents weren’t as exciting (to the kids), but I sure am thankful for the new duds!  When we got back to our house, the kids donned their new pajamas, set out sushi for Santa, and listened to Dad read “’Twas The Night Before Christmas” and went straight to bed!

Sunday, Christmas Day, started out with just the five of us, in our own living room. The kids tore into their stockings, opened the gifts from Mom and Dad, and played their little hearts out while our traditional breakfast of Birthday Cake for Jesus was set out.  Between playing with their new toys, they kids HAD to get dressed – there was STILL more Christmas to come!  (One of my Christmas surprises? Starting my first post-partum period!  Between that and the puke the night before, I was thinking the universe was against me!) When we got them all moving, we headed to Aunt Paula’s house for a few snacks, and MORE PRESENTS!  It is so fun to watch kids open gifts!  They all got some great gifts – including Finn – and then it was off to the hospital in OKC again! We had a glamorous Christmas lunch of Lunchables and Capri Sun in the car as we drove…

We spent the rest of our Christmas day with Finn, and took a Christmas picture to celebrate:

Nana and Grandpa came by for some Christmas Day hugs – Finn style, and we all spent the afternoon just hanging out!  Britt made a special snack of Ranch Oyster Crackers for the staff, and it was a HUGE hit!  Emma and Lara were picked up by their other dad at the hospital for a week with him, so we left that night with just ONE baby!  Monday morning, we got up super early and came back, as we were meeting with the nurse practitioners for a FINAL plan – to bring Finn home on Wednesday!  We spent most of the day Monday with Finn.  His big adventure for Monday was his circumcision!  My mom came down for one last NICU cuddle with Finn, then she took Jake back to Stillwater with here so we could have more time with our baby boy.  Later that evening, we left without our baby for the VERY LAST TIME!  We headed home to a dinner out with family, then getting things ready at home!  Tuesday morning we cleaned the house as best we could, dropped Jake off with my parents, and drove to the hospital for the VERY LAST TIME to get this “rooming in” thing started.

We had to be at the hospital by 4:00pm to meet with the home health company representative to learn about the oxygen and monitor we will be taking home.  We actually got here a little before 2 (after a “last meal” of sorts at Pei Wei), and got to feed Finn that bottle before starting our next class.  And we were definitely schooled!  MAN!  That was a lot of information in a short hour!  It went by so fast!  So glad Britt is a GREAT listener, and the monitor came with a manual!  WHEW!  The room wasn’t quite ready yet when we were done, so we did Finn’s 5:00 hands on in our old room.  This is when we disconnected him from the NICU monitors, and hooked him up to the home ones.  CRAZY stuff!  Then, we wheeled him down the hall to the “Rooming In Room.”  In here, there is a full size bed, storage, a mini-fridge, sink, TV (on an A/V cart with a DVD player AND a VCR!  Kicking it old school!), and the regular NICU medical equipment.  It’s a bit crowded, but it works.  Once we got all set up, it was our turn to show what we’ve learned!

About an hour after we moved down here, Britt left to go to a cupcake shop in Edmond that we frequent.  We have become friends with the owner, and she had told us to come get the leftovers to share with the NICU staff.  The staff was ONCE AGAIN thrilled with their treat from the Weavers! Normally, they have 1-2 dozen cupcakes left over.  Last night for some reason, they had TONS!  Britt brought 72, but that’s all because his box was full! LOL!

At the 8:00 feeding, we were getting things all settled in for the night.  I had planned on blogging after that feeding and before getting some rest, but Mr. Finn Weaver had OTHER plans.  Like, cry for THREE HOURS other plans!  Poor Baby!  We were all pretty miserable!  This is a baby that never cries!  He had his first RSV immunization shot this morning, so I thought that might be bothering him.  Or his circumcision, but we had given him Tylenol with his last feeding, so it should have been working by then!  At the two hour mark, I was convinced it was the new monitors – it had to be poking or pinching or something, so I stripped him down.  That didn’t help!  We stood, we walked, we rocked, we sat, we lay down, we sat up, we traded him back and forth… Finally, about 30 minutes before his next feeding, we gave in and pushed the nurse call button.  She came in, assessed him, and decided it was probably gas.  She thought we should try a swing and see if that helped work it out.  After lugging a HUGE monster of a swing into our already crowded room and trying him in it, we discovered Finn doesn’t like the swing!  This baby was so miserable!  So, we fed him the 11:00 feeding, and the nurse got a vibrating bouncy seat to try.  He liked this MUCH better, and actually slept in it until the next feeding.

The rest of the night went MUCH better!  I got up to feed him his 2:00 feeding, and Britt slept through most of it.  Glad he got some rest so he can drive us home later!  I woke him up with me for the 5:00am feeding since I needed to make the bottle this time – it wasn’t ready ahead of time like the others (we are feeding him fortified breast milk and supplementing with NeoSure).  So, we tag teamed the 5:00 feeding, and now we are just waiting for the day!  I went down the hall to return my breast pump before I sat down to write, and the unit is so quiet.  Shift change is at 7, and that’s when Dr. Scott is due here to check Finn’s eyes one last time before we go, so things are starting to get busy around here!

I cannot believe we are taking him home in just a few short hours!  There are only a few things left to check off on his discharge check-list!  WOW!  This is REALLY happening!  From the snoring coming from the bed in the corner, sounds like Dad is resting up for the drive home!  Can’t wait to see what this day brings!