The Rest of the Story

When J finally came back to the room, he looked excited and scared all at the same time. He had spent nearly two hours in the NICU trying to digest the situation. Just hours before, we had had no idea we'd be parents that day! Unfortunately, I was not able to see our baby due to my condition. It was a little surreal to know that I was a mom but not know what my son looked like. J brought pictures for me to see. I have to admit that I was a little jealous that he'd been able to hold him, but I was so happy to see the love in his eyes. He excitedly told me that Finley was 3 lbs 2 oz and 15 1/2 inches long. He seemed so tiny! The NNP told him that they would have flown me to Denver to deliver Fin if they'd known he was going to be so small. He was under the limit for delivery here in town. Thank goodness we didn't have to go through that!
J then told me that he'd talked to my mom several times that day, and she would be in town by 11pm. I had told her she didn't need to come, so she called him instead! Ha.

The next 5 days were tough. I finally got to meet our son at about 10:30 the next morning. I started crying like a baby when I held him. I hadn't cried during the entire ordeal until then. So much for being a tough girl!

I cannot believe I'm posting the picture above. I looked like Humongo-girl still. Yikes. And J is still wearing his clothes from the day before. We were a little unprepared for the turn of events.

Finally, I was taken off of the magnesium sulfate, so I slowly started to feel more normal. We spent as much time as possible in the NICU those next couple of days. On Thursday, my doc was discussing the fact that my blood pressure was still high when the pediatrician, an NNP and another nurse walked into our room with news. Unfortunately, Fin was having trouble regulating his glucose levels. They planned to establish a main line through his umbilical cord to administer a glucose drip. If they couldn't get one in, then they would probably fly him to Denver. They said they would be back in two hours with an update. When they returned with bad news, we were devastated. They then told us they were going to try playing with his IV to see if they could bring down his levels manually over the next couple of hours before making a decision. Basically, we sat and waited every two hours that entire day to see if things would improve. We were ecstatic when they told us that what they had done seemed to be working. Thankfully, he slowly got better over the next few days until the scare was finally over. He got down to 2 lbs 8 oz during the ordeal!

I was released from the hospital at 11pm Friday night. It was surreal to leave the hospital without our child, but it was nice to sleep in my own bed. Not much sleep was had between pumping and a 4am alarm... we were showered and out the door by 5:30 to get to the hospital by 6am. This would be the start of my new reality.

After another week, J went back to work and my mom went back home. I spent my days in the NICU-- from 6am until 7 or 8pm. Before coming home, Finley would have to eat without a feeding tube and continue to grow. The last couple of days were filled with tests-- car seat test, rooming-in test, etc., but after 38 days in the NICU, he was able to come home with us! When we took him home, he weighed 4 lbs 14 oz.
After a week, he was able to come off the oxygen. And, four weeks after being home, he weighed 6 lbs 6 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long! He's growing like a weed. He's pushing the limits of his preemie clothes, but he's still swimming in the newborn ones. He'll get there soon enough!