He's got good Gas!!!

I am free!!! Today I was discharged from the hospital. I called Mark and said…COME AND GET ME…NOW!!!! just before 10am. As he was driving to Hamilton, I packed up my room and then I went down to visit Ayden.

well, our little boy is in great shape today. as of 4:00 am the breathing tube has been removed and he is on something called cpap. Cpap is an oxygen machine that is put into your nose and feeds you oxygen. He is doing all the breathing on his own right now, his little chest is rising up and down with each breath. He was also doing the shoulder twist for me this morning too, moving around and really active.

Mark arrived at about 11am and we emptied my room, took all of the stuff down to the car and then we went to see Ayden together.

They were really happy with the Oxygen levels he was at this morning and we heard the nurse say “he’s got good gas!!!” We laughed a little. Mark said..its not often you hear someone say that a Wilhelm has good gas!!!! We got to watch him have the hiccups, Mark was worried that something was wrong, but the nurse said..oh that’s just the hiccups! After a few minutes, it came time to be handling time as they call it on the ward. Every 4 hours, the nurses handle the preemie babies with much care. Mark and I actually got to experience a lot today. The nurse started off with changing Ayden’s diaper….we got to see his little bits and pieces (omg they are too cute!!!) and his little wrinkled bum. He didn’t like his diaper being changed and we actually heard him CRY!!!!! His voice is the best thing that we have ever heard. The nurse then took off Ayden’s little hat and his eye patches and massaged his head. As he has this cpap machine on, if they don’t remove the little hat and the pads that hold the monitor in place and massage his head, his head will be formed differently. She also adjusted some of the monitors that are on him too. It was so awesome to be there for the handling time. The nurse also told us that all the blood work has come back and showed that his levels are in place. (I don’t know if I mentioned that he had to have a blood transfusion yesterday. Since he is so small his body does not make blood very fast so when they are taking blood for tests he is not able to replenish it. They had to give him extra blood to build up his supply. The cool thing is that Mark and Ayden are the same blood type. Mark did a blood test to see if he can provide the next batch of blood to Ayden. If it comes back that Mark is compatible then he will donate blood so that Ayden can use it!!! so cool). Ayden also has quite an active bladder and his kidneys are working great. He has not had his first poop yet, but they also have not been feeding him (he is on an iv but no food yet). They are hoping to start with some breast milk today and that will hopefully help the bowels move along.

Although this news is great, we are aware that you take this with a grain of salt. Ayden will take one step forward and then two steps back. It will be a time of ups and downs, but as long as there is a little progress then we can pull strength from that.

Glad To Be Home

Was it ever nice to see the familiar sites of kitchener as we arrived back in the city from Hamilton. Mark took me to East Side Mario’s for a nice lunch after all the yummy hospital food…I had a Coke to start off with, then some bread, Caesar salad and then a Philly Cheese steak sandwich. I have to tell you, after being in the hospital, this was the BEST FOOD I HAVE EVER HAD!!!! After lunch, Mark and I drove to Shoppers home health care store on Gage street in Kitchener to see about renting a hospital grade pump. They told us that they didn’t have any in stock but to come back on monday. Unfortunately I needed one asap and we asked about the cost to purchase. Since we would have needed to rent for almost 4 months, the cost to purchase would have been the same as renting so we bought a pump. Its actually really cool. It’s all compact and comes with everything. It’s built into a backpack so it’s transportable and also has a battery pack as well. It’s a dual pump, so you can do both sides at once. They told me that this would be the best thing for us to use. It even comes with an ice pack and a cooler bag to keep the milk cold.

After we picked up the pump, we headed home. First thing I did is come into the house and say hi to the cats. Our cat Junebug was really unsure of me at first. I guess I smell a bit different to her (maybe it’s the hormones or something). She smelled me a bit and didn’t let me pet her at first, but then she warmed up. As soon as I got home, I sat in my chair in the living room and since I was so happy to be home, the tears showed up, but only for a second. It’s also really nice to be with Mark again, you miss the small stuff like being able to just look across the room and see your husband…After pumping and then speaking with some family, we are just settling in for the evening. Going to try to relax a bit.