That's right!  We are in Parent Care WITH  Addy as of 3:30pm yesterday afternoon!  YAHOO!

So, here's a downplay of events since the last post... I attribute a LOT of Addy's turnaround to not only her blood transfusion, but also a fantastic nurse that refuses to let Addy slip between the cracks.  I think she KNOWS Addy will be fine at home.  She has random desats, but mostly they are attributed to her stretching.  She is a back archer and when she stretches, she holds her breathe and then her apnea belt slips out of place.  But, her nurse yesterday gave us some great tips for getting her out of her..healthy!  

So, I stayed over again Tuesday night mainly because I couldn't leave her after she just had that blood transfusion.  It has helped me adjust to those 3am feedings too.  I don't care too much for the midnight or the 6am feeds, but I love the 3am.  She seems so alert and cute at 3am!  I remember 3am was the very first time a few weeks ago that she took her entire bottle!  We've got a little night owl!

Then, I found out on Wednesday that her chart said "DC SOON"!!!! That means "DISCHARGE SOON"!!!  Addy's nurse let me in on that (she had the same nurse Wed & Thurs AM as she did over the weekend AM).  We got her carseat checked out in my car on Tuesday and it passed and so they put her in her carseat on Wednesday for her car seat challenge test.  The sat her seat in a wagon and then used diapers to level it out to where it would be when she is riding home.  They leave them in it for a minimum of an hour.  This is to ensure they don't have any Apnea (desats) or Bradycardias (heart rate plummets) while in the seat.  Most babies pass, but a few don't.  It's an extra precaution.  We barely had to adjust the straps...just had to pull on it a little bit to tighten it up and she was home free!  Our little 5 pounder is just big enough to ride in it now!  Her nurse refused to let her fail and Addy was wide awake in her seat.  She only had one teeny desat and it was because she decided to puke all down the belt of her brand new car seat!  She only whined a bit trying to get put into the belt. It was a little complicated because she still had her IV in AND we had to put her in Newborn size clothes (still HUGE on her!) because we couldn't get her Preemie clothes over her IV board.  Anyway, no adjustments were needed for her car seat.  She didn't need head support or anything because the seat we picked out fit her perfectly.  Her nurse called her Eddie Bauer seat "swanky."  It's got a fun brown and green stripe with some paisley fabric on the hood.  Here's some fun photos of that event:





I stuck around after her car seat challenge and went to visit my friend who had her boy/girl twins.  Kelton & Rylyn are still healthy and in the regular nursery and in their mommy & daddy's room!  So proud of them and I got to sneak and hold little Kelton who is just a bit smaller than Addy at 4lb 12oz (Addy was 5lb 1.3oz on Wednesday).  It was nice seeing what a full-term baby looks like and how they act.  We missed quite a bit of those "normal" things with Addy, but she still acts a lot like a newborn because she acts her gestational age.  In fact, when she gets out of here and starts hitting milestones like rolling over, crawling, walking, etc.. We have to follow a different curve.  Since she was born early, we use a corrected age.  So, if she rolls over at 5 1/2 months, then she would of been 3 months corrected age; therefore, she did it within reason.  You just go based on her due date.  If she were born October 16th, then she would roll over around 3 months after October 16th, not August 2nd, her birthday.  Make sense?  In time, Addy will catch up.  Her being a preemie won't hold her back for long.  She's on special formulas and such to help her grow and it has extra nutrients that she needs for brain maturity and all that good stuff.  Most preemies go on to be smart little kids and adults, they just have a little bit of a setback in the beginning.

Addy's Wednesday nurse told us she'd be doing our HAM (home apnea monitor) teaching on Thursday and that we "might" get to room in with her Thursday night and Friday night.  SOOOOO....I went home and packed and got the house in order.  I felt like I was FINALLY packing my hospital bag!  I packed up 2 diaper bags for Addy.  One with clothes and then a basic one with some essentials in case we get side tracked on the way home.  It was so much fun trying to figure out what going home outfit to pack for her, but even more difficult trying to find something that fits.  She's growing out of "some" of her Preemie up to 5lb clothes, although most fit well still, but her cute gymboree clothes up to 7lbs look huge and her Newborn 5-8 Carter's outfits practically swallow her still!   I got very little sleep again trying to get everything together..

So, Thursday morning, Charley, myself, my mom, and my sister-in-law, Tera, took the HAM class.  We had to choose a few extra people to be in the class in case Charley & I can't be her caretaker for a few hours of a day.  Anyone who watches Addy must know infant CPR and had to be taught how to use the HAM.  I'm with my mom a lot, so we figured she was a good option and being that Addy will come to work with us, we had Tera take the class too in case something happens while we're at work and my mom is not around or something.  Addy will not be able to stay with anyone else unless myself, Charley, my mom, or Tera is present since we are the only ones that know how to care for her while she is on a HAM.  It's a small price to pay..trust us!

Here's Addy with her Apnea Belt.  (It's the green band with the black wire on HER left side and the white wire on HER right side).  This apnea belt will let us know if her heart rate drops below 70 beats per minute (a Bradycardia or Brady) OR if she stops breathing for longer than 15 seconds (Apnea - she's done this a couple times already).  It KEEPS sliding out of place and triggering her SUPER loud alarm.  Most alarms with the HAM (home apnea monitor) are false alarms like the leads (wires) are lose.  I can't wait for the company to come to our house and give us a few pointers on how to keep it in place.


I fed her at Noon on Thursday and the nurse came up to me while I was feeding her and brought a chair up to Addy's bed side.  I was scared it was bad news the way she came to the bedside.  She told us earlier that there was a "possibility" that she wouldn't be able to room in with us Thursday night because she had a few desats overnight.  Well, she pulls up a chair sits down.. looks at me and smiles and goes.. "So, when would you like to do parent care today?"  I grinned from ear to ear...she smiled even bigger at me!  And, we set up a time.  At around 3:30pm on Thursday afternoon, after 7 weeks in the NICU, Addy was wheeled down the hall into a parent care room and the nurse left us both alone.  I fed her..burped her...got her back to sleep and put her back down.  I stared at her and cried.  It is the most wonderful, scary experience yet!  They trust us enough to let us have her with us full-time now. 

The night was a bit rocky.  Let me first say that Addy didn't wake us up..all her MONITORS DID!!!  Charley worked until until 7 and then came up.  We did bath and she ate well.  He took the 11:30 feeding and I did the 3:30 and then he got up for the 7:30 as well before he went to work.  Only problem was he couldn't get her to take very much at 11:30 last night, she just wanted to sleep.  Since it's so crucial for her to get enough to eat to keep gaining (literally, they force preemies to eat every 3 hours because if they don't, they won't gain...Addy JUST got moved to 3-4 hour feedings yesterday, so we have to average her out and make sure she's getting enough).  So, he woke me up and he was so frustrated.  After changing her diaper, removing her sleeper 1/2 way, flicking her feet, and burping her until she could burp no more...she finished the bottle!  Once we are out of here, we then can more liberal about feedings as long as she's taking a certain amount.

Welcome to the parent care room Addy! NO MORE NICU (except for doctor check ups and any testing)!


Addy and her monitors.  The left one in the bag with the strap is her apnea monitor.  It LOOKS big, but it's really light.  Her oxygen saturation (only for while she is here) is to the right.  They also have her oxygen cannula hanging on the wall in case she would need it.  We certainly hope not, but you have to be prepared.  Especially since we just found out (not sure how I missed this!) that she had an x-ray 2 weeks ago and they found a VERY VERY VERY VERY mild case of chronic lung disease.  Common in preemies, but it WILL make her more susceptible to illness and RSV...thank goodness we're able to get Synagis for her! It's a VERY expensive shot - around $1500-$1800 a shot).


Addy laying on Mommy...ya..this was LATE!  I was in my PJs..  This was during her late night feed where she got 1/2 undressed to wake up!


Our first bath OUT OF THE NICU!


My first night with mommy & daddy!



Today, they came and took her hospital pictures!  As soon as they are posted online, we'll let you know how you can access them to view them...

Also, here's some pics I played with!  The first pic was Addy at 1 day old..the next was taken Wednesday in her carseat... See the difference??