I grew very attached to our nurses because they were so understanding and compassionate. All of the nurses work 12 hour shifts and several days in a row, so we had 3 consistent nurses during the day shifts and 1 consistent nurse during the night shifts. The ISCN can have 22 babies, but over the holidays it was unusually slow, and there were only 4 babies there including Weston. Because it was slow, Weston got a lot of special care and two of our nurses were on orientation, so most days there were two nurses caring for Weston - the orientee and the preceptor. As our time in the ISCN was coming to an end, I was thrilled to be able to go home with Weston and be together as a family of four, but, I was also nervous taking Weston home and caring for him without the expertise of our nurses. My favorite nurse, R'Lou was going to be off work the 30th and 31st and it was so hard for me to say goodbye. She was so supportive and encouraging - I honestly wanted to take her home with us. I have never been more impressed with the care these nurses gave us - they truly are phenomenal.
On the 31st, our nurse woke me up and said that we had a lot to do to get ready to be discharged. Discharged?!? I thought we would be staying until January 2nd when he would be 37 weeks. Our little overachiever had done so well nursing, that he was gaining weight well. He weighed in at 5lbs 1oz and even though it wasn't back up to his birth weight, the staff was pleased with his progress. Our agenda for the day included more education, a hearing test, car seat test, and eek - circumcision! I gave him a bath and shortly thereafter an audiologist came to the room and checked his hearing. He passed with flying colors! Then one of the pediatric physicians came in to have me consent for Weston's circumcision. Unforunately, when they brought him back to do the procedure, they decided to hold off until he was a little - ahem - "bigger." (He's now scheduled for February 8th, but don't tell him!)
Last thing was the car seat test. Amaya had this done because she was below the recommended weight and did well, so I was hopeful that Weston would do just as well. Unfortunately, I didn't remember that we needed the car seat base, so after a frantic call to Steve, he brought it up on his lunch hour. The nurse was struggling to get the straps tight enough on Weston to be considered safe, and I freaked out again. She recommended borrowing someone else's car seat that was a little smaller or purchasing a preemie car seat. He was being discharged today! Where on earth are we going to find a smaller car seat or a preemie car seat this late!?!? Plus, if the car seat worked for Amaya, surely it would work for Weston!!! Fortunately, another nurse came in to check on us, and was able to make some adjustments and got Weston all snuggled in tight.
After 90 minutes in the car seat, he passed the test wonderfully. They just wanted to make sure he didn't stop breathing, oxygen level stayed within normal limits, and his heart rate remained stable while in the car seat.
I packed up our room and Steve picked us up after work and we were headed HOME! Praise GOD!! We made a quick stop at my parents to pick up Amaya and went home. My sister and her family were visiting from Nebraska to celebrate Christmas and New Year's and we missed quite a bit of time with them while in the hospital. So, when we got home and settled, Joshua, Jordan, Carol, and my dad came over for a little bit.
