After an up-and-down week, the Bubble Baby was finally discharged from the NICU, and finally came home! Before the blood transfusion we were told that they probably needed to observe Bubble Baby until at least Sunday. But everything went so went, that she was actually discharged Saturday, which took us a little by surprise. As a preemie, she will still have many challenges ahead of her, and will have special appointments to monitor her development, but we're thrilled that she's made it this far.
It's amazing to us to look back and see how far we've come. I had gone to the hospital 86 straight days -- 49 days of hospital bed rest for my wife, and 38 days in the NICU for Bubble Baby (the last day of bed rest and the first day in the NICU were the same day.) When my wife was first admitted to the hospital, Bubble Baby was only at 23-1/2 weeks gestation, and given little chance to survive. She gave birth at 30-1/2 weeks, and we nearly lost Bubble Baby on her birthday due to a prolapsed umbilical cord. Bubble Baby couldn't breathe on her own for the first 8 days of her life, and had bouts with jaundice, feeding issues, and needed a blood transfusion. But she made it through all of it. She grew from 3lbs. 2oz. to 4lbs. 13oz. in the NICU, gaining more than half of her birth weight. And she grew from 15-3/4 inches to 17 inches in length.
With Bubble Baby finally at home, it was a great moment to see our six-year-old get to meet her little sister in person for the first time! At one point, she let Bubble Baby hold her finger. After a while we told her that she could release her hand if she wanted, but she refused, and said she wanted to stay by her side.
On Monday we took Bubble Baby to her first pediatrician appointment. She is growing fast and is now up to 5lbs., 2oz. and is 17-1/2 inches long.
So wonderful that she is home! Let us know how things are going with the whole family at home when you get a chance!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear that BG meeting her new little sister went well. Hopefully things start feeling back to normal soon.
ReplyDeleteWe are all adjusting the "normalcy" of having a baby at home 24/7. That means severe sleep deprivation. But it's certainly better to have her home than at the NICU. Bubble Girl loves helping out whenever she can with Bubble Baby. And fortunately she also sleeps through most of Bubble Baby's crying during the middle of the night. The other day, Bubble Girl said she didn't want to go to school because she wanted to stay home and be with her sister all day.
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