Home At Last! - 10 Days Old

Today was a big day for us. After 8 weeks in the hospital, I was finally able to bring Amaraa home. This morning, Dr. Anderson came in to check on Amaraa for the last time. He gave her some instructions and a pep talk. He told her that complete recovery will probably take about six months and to not get frustrated if she isn't running a marathon in a week. He told her to take it easy and let herself heal before she gets too rambunctious.

I had a Calculus test early this morning. I studied most of the night, only getting about three hours of sleep. After my test, I headed to the hospital. Amaraa didn't feel very well this morning. She got really weak and nauseated and threw up. The nurses had her stay a little longer so they could watch her and make sure everything was OK. I had forgotten to bring her clothes, so I drove home to get them. When I got home, Skylar and Jasmine were peering out through the front window, looking to see if I had brought Amaraa with me. They were disappointed when they realized it was only me. I grabbed Amaraa's clothes, ran to the store for some groceries, and started back toward the hospital. When I got there, Amaraa's nurses were ready to send her home. They had me sign some paperwork and gave us some final instructions.

Amaraa changed into her regular clothes and we went up to visit Aiden before we left. We were both able to hold him and he was doing very well. His nurse told us she was going to remove the last IV line from his naval later on in the day. That means no more IV feedings!  He has been doing so well with his regular feedings that they don't need the IV line anymore. He's doing better and better every day. He is such a cutie and he steals the hearts of all his nurses.

After we finished up at the NICU, we went back downstairs. Amaraa's favorite nurse, Annie, was there waiting for us to return so she could help me take Amaraa out to the car. Annie and Amaraa have become really close over the past week. Annie has worked extra days just so she could be Amaraa's nurse. We went downstairs and out to the car. It was beautiful outside. It had just rained and everything smelled clean. It was a bittersweet feeling for Amaraa to be leaving the hospital. She was so ready to get back home, but it was hard for her to leave the hospital without Aiden. She knows he is much better off there than with us for now, but she feels much further away from him.

We headed for home. On the way, we stopped to fill her prescriptions at the pharmacy. Before they could be filled, though, Amaraa became light-headed and weak and I had to take her home. I helped her out of the car and into our kitchen. She sat there for a while and ate a late lunch. She hadn't eaten since breakfast and that probably contributed to her weakness. The kids were so excited to have their mom back home. Jasmine kept going from Amaraa to me and back to Amaraa kissing and hugging us. She wanted to sit on Amaraa's lap all day.

I had another test this evening. After I went back to pick up Amaraa's medicine, I drove to campus to study for a while. Amaraa called and said that Skylar had broken out in hives. WHAT NEXT??? I wasn't really making much progress on my studying, so I just decided to go take my test. It was a disaster, but it's over. I went back down to the hospital to see Aiden before coming home. They had taken out his IV line and he was sleeping so cute. His nurses said he was doing really well. I stopped at the store on the way home and grabbed a few things I had forgotten earlier in the day.

When I got home, Skylar had fallen asleep. He was still swollen and had hives all over his body, but he was breathing OK, so I put him in bed. We put Jasmine in bed a little later. She was crying more than normal, so Amaraa's mom checked on her. She had thrown up all over her crib!!! I guess I found out the answer to, "what next?" We got everything cleaned up and she threw up on our bedroom floor. I've had about all I can take for one day. I hope she is done throwing up, though I have a feeling she's not. This could be another long night. Amaraa has a lot of medications she has to take. So far she is having a hard time staying on top of her pain, but hopefully she will catch on to her medication schedules and do better from now on. I'm exhausted. I hope to get some sleep before Jazzy throws up again. Wish me luck!