Coming Home

Gordon and I were so excited to bring our sweet baby boy home last Wednesday!  Such a happy day for our entire family.  Gordon went to work that morning and waited until I spoke to the doctors and got the official OK.  I spent the morning packing up all of our stuff.  After getting Dr. Welty's blessing I fed William, loaded up some of our stuff and headed home to pick up daddy. 

See ya later room 812

My last morning in the NICU

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Freebirds and then headed to the hospital for the last time.  While William was in the hospital I pumped every 3 hours and put the milk in a fridge in the room.  A few times a day the milk bank came by and picked everything up.  I ended up having 200 bottles of frozen milk!!  WOW!  Gordon didn't believe me when I told him we needed two coolers.  Good thing we brought both because we needed them.  After getting all the milk and loading up the rest of our stuff we were ready to go.

This isn't even all of it!

We got William dressed, unhooked from the monitors (hallelujah), and buckled up in his car seat.  Since we were discharged from the NICU a nurse had to escort us out and watch us snap him into the car seat base.  While we waited for Gordon to pull the car up I helped another family buckle their new baby up in the car seat.  The poor couple had no idea how to get their baby boy buckled up right.  I am definitely thankful for the car seat education I received.  Every parent should have to take a class.  William did great on the ride home.  He didn't make a peep.

By the time we got home and put all the milk in the freezer it was time to feed baby boy. I did a couple loads of laundry, cooked dinner, gave the little man his first bath at home, and watched The Bachelorette. I'm not much of a TV watcher but I must say I missed it while we were in the hospital. I hadn't cooked dinner since I'd been put on bed rest (March 26th)!! It was SO nice to sit and eat together as a family in our own home. Gordon and I were both getting tired of all the eating out we had to do while William was in the NICU. Not only does it get expensive but it's not as healthy and not nearly as comfortable as home.

He loves bath time!

The first night went well. We bought a monitor that detects movement/breathing that I LOVE. I originally didn't think I wanted one but since he was a preemie and I am so used to having the monitors at the hospital to let me know he's still breathing I gave in. It has definitely helped me sleep better. Otherwise, I would wake up constantly to check if he was breathing.
Gordon and I are so blessed. We can't thank the staff at TCH enough for taking such great care of our sweet baby boy. I am SO thankful that I delivered at the new Texas Children's Women's Pavilion. Eventhough the nights were long and I got little sleep with all the beeping machines...I loved being able to stay 24/7 with William in our own private room. God works in mysterious ways. Years ago I would have told you I was never going to stop working at M.D. Anderson....for several different reasons I left and found a FABULOUS job at TCH still working with pediatric oncology patients. Since my insurance changed and the new pavilion was being built I left the OB/GYN I'd seen for nearly 7 years and found a new one that would deliver at the pavilion. If all those things hadn't happened William and I wouldn't have gotten the excellent care we received at TCH. Having the private room really helped our family bond like we would have at home. So, when things seem to be going terribly wrong and you're feeling sad just remember that God has a plan for us all. It may not make sense at first....just give it some time! Our God is an awesome God. Our little William James is living proof!!!