Earlier in the week the doctors had told us that he would most likely go home over the weekend, we were really excited especially since he was still two weeks away from his due date, and it would still be early for him to go home.
Wednesday was another good day. Our boy is getting bigger and becoming a better eater every day. Today Kieran went to 100% oral feeds for all of his 8 feedings. He did awesome!
Thursday Kieran took his car seat safety test. The hospital requires this before releasing all babies. He was placed in his car seat with the monitors hooked up to make sure he is able to make it home without any problems. Living in Williamsburg, just about an hour from the hospital, required Kieran to sit in his car seat for an hour and a half.
The other good news for the day was that his feeding tube was removed! Now that we can see his face I can see how handsome he really is and he looks like a real baby!
Car Seat Test
No more feeding tube!Friday, October 1st, Kieran was released from the hospital, just a few days after turning 3 weeks. We knew there was a good chance he was coming home that weekend, but it wasn't until Friday morning (when I called to check on him) that I was informed that he could possibly go home that evening. Good thing I had his car seat installed at the Fire Station that morning!
We barely had any notice that he was coming home so I had to take him home myself, Sean was working and it wouldn't have made sense to have him come to the hospital since we would still have to drive home separate.
Even though he passed his car seat test I was still nervous that he would stop breathing while I was driving home. Those damn rear facing car seats are enough to make a new more freak out. It didn't help that Kieran slept the entire ride home and was quiet as a mouse. Every once in a while I would mute the radio to hear him breathe, and that helped. The drive home was exciting but scary.
Once home Sean and I were so excited to have Kieran home. We hadn't told anyone, besides family, that he was coming home. The first thing we did, stopped at our friend Jami and Ryan's place to drop off Sean's USAT ID (he had decided not to race the triathlon he previously had scheduled on Saturday) and to surprise Jami and Ryan with Kieran being home!
We barely had any notice that he was coming home so I had to take him home myself, Sean was working and it wouldn't have made sense to have him come to the hospital since we would still have to drive home separate.
Even though he passed his car seat test I was still nervous that he would stop breathing while I was driving home. Those damn rear facing car seats are enough to make a new more freak out. It didn't help that Kieran slept the entire ride home and was quiet as a mouse. Every once in a while I would mute the radio to hear him breathe, and that helped. The drive home was exciting but scary.
Once home Sean and I were so excited to have Kieran home. We hadn't told anyone, besides family, that he was coming home. The first thing we did, stopped at our friend Jami and Ryan's place to drop off Sean's USAT ID (he had decided not to race the triathlon he previously had scheduled on Saturday) and to surprise Jami and Ryan with Kieran being home!
Packing up ready to go home!
Holy Cow I have a car seat and a baby in my car
Sean's excited to have his son homeSaturday we had our house professionally cleaned. Sean stayed home with the cleaners while I took Kieran on his first stroller ride around Colonial Williamsburg, and then down to our neighbors, Cindy and Steve, to visit. We decided to go out to dinner since we hadn't done that in forever and than went back to Cindy and Steve's house for Smores!
Kieran's first stroller ride
Nap time on Daddy
Kieran's first trip to Green Leafe
Getting ready to be outside and eat Smores, Kieran wasn't loving his outfit, I think he was a little too warm.
Kieran's first trip to a bike storeMonday was our first pediatrician appointment. Kieran weighed in at 5 lbs 10 oz. Our boy is definitely growing!
Kieran's first pediatrician appointment
Tuesday was my first day 100% alone. Monday Sean was with me for a few hours in the morning so Tuesday it was just me! We did pretty well, mostly stuck around the house and enjoyed a visit from our buddy Sonny.
Kieran's first visit with his buddy SonnyThe first few days home were so amazing. We love having 0ur son home, and even though we had a tough few nights, for the most part Kieran is a great sleeper. Just as long as he is fed, dry and doesn't have to burp he's pretty happy.
Sunday night was the only "bad" night and looking back I think he was probably just hungry. I went from breastfeeding and bottle feeding (breast milk) at the hospital to trying to get Kieran to breastfeed 100%. I think he was tiring himself out and probably not eating enough. It's hard to tell how much he's eating when he's breastfeeding, and even though he's mastered the bottle, he hasn't mastered the breast and it was a lot to expect from the little guy.
I have since changed to offering the bottle after breastfeeding so that he can eat more if he needs to but I can also get him to practice breastfeeding and get better and hopefully master it sooner rather than later. Kieran is still breastfeeding with a breast shield which helps him to latch on, and I'm hopeful that he will soon be able to feed without the shield. It's a pain to have to use, but at least it allows him to breastfeed.
Being in the NICU for over 3 weeks has definitely allowed him to get used to sleeping with LOTS of noise. Kieran can sleep through anything, ie. I can blow dry my hair next to him sleeping in the bassinet without a wiggle or blink of an eye. The only problem, he doesn't know how to sleep with no noise. Ok he can sleep when it's quiet but the first few nights were tough when going to bed with it dark and quiet. For the last 3 weeks he's slept in a room with light and noise and than we were trying to get him to sleep in a dark quiet room. We started turning our bathroom light on and putting our TV on low just to add some light and sound. This seemed to work.
I'm going to try and update once a week, we'll see how this goes as life gets a little more hectic.
Sunday night was the only "bad" night and looking back I think he was probably just hungry. I went from breastfeeding and bottle feeding (breast milk) at the hospital to trying to get Kieran to breastfeed 100%. I think he was tiring himself out and probably not eating enough. It's hard to tell how much he's eating when he's breastfeeding, and even though he's mastered the bottle, he hasn't mastered the breast and it was a lot to expect from the little guy.
I have since changed to offering the bottle after breastfeeding so that he can eat more if he needs to but I can also get him to practice breastfeeding and get better and hopefully master it sooner rather than later. Kieran is still breastfeeding with a breast shield which helps him to latch on, and I'm hopeful that he will soon be able to feed without the shield. It's a pain to have to use, but at least it allows him to breastfeed.
Being in the NICU for over 3 weeks has definitely allowed him to get used to sleeping with LOTS of noise. Kieran can sleep through anything, ie. I can blow dry my hair next to him sleeping in the bassinet without a wiggle or blink of an eye. The only problem, he doesn't know how to sleep with no noise. Ok he can sleep when it's quiet but the first few nights were tough when going to bed with it dark and quiet. For the last 3 weeks he's slept in a room with light and noise and than we were trying to get him to sleep in a dark quiet room. We started turning our bathroom light on and putting our TV on low just to add some light and sound. This seemed to work.
I'm going to try and update once a week, we'll see how this goes as life gets a little more hectic.
So glad to hear he is home! Have you tried a white noise machine in his room? That might be just the noise he needs. Max couldn't sleep without his!
ReplyDeleteI use to check Max's soft spot to make sure he was still alive in the car.
Thanks Laura. I didn't want to go the white noise route because realistically I WANT him to be able to sleep in any condition. When it comes down to it though, I'll cave and do anything to get him to sleep so I can sleep. So far the last two nights we have had no noise and he's slept fine. Fingers crossed for continued good nights of sleep.
ReplyDelete