She’s Home! She’s Home!

 

She gained sufficient weight to prove that she can bottle and breastfeed on her own. Her fortifier was reduced to 22 calories the day she lost weight. Hopefully she’ll exclusively breastfeed soon and we won’t even need the bottles. Right now, I have almost a month’s worth of pumping in the freezer. Fiona now eats about two ounces (60mLs) per feeding every three to four hours.

She has no monitors and her only prescription is for vitamins and iron. Her neonatologist told us not to worry if we don’t give those to her.

A photographer took some photos of her. They are cheesy hospital photos, but we wanted them none-the-less, as a memento of her discharge day.

The first thing we did when she got home was to hold her. I held her in her chair while John unpacked the hospital bags. Then John held her in our big comfy chair in the living room. Then he went out to get groceries and lunch and I gave her a tour of the house. After that, Fiona slept a little, then woke up and ate, then slept more. She was awake when my parents came over for dinner.

Right now she is sleeping in her bassinette next to me. It’s a Graco Travel Lite Crib (thanks Richard and Guila!) and we wheeled into the living room. We will wheel it back to our room to sleep tonight. She makes a lot of cute noises in her sleep.

This feels like pure heaven. It’s weird not going to the hospital tonight. It’s been such a part of our lives for almost 7 weeks. I keep looking for the monitors to see how her breathing is and asking permission to pick her up. I sometimes just stare at her, listening for the signs of life, checking her color, and making sure she’s not spitting up. A while ago, I sat on the couch while she slept on me. It was so much more comfortable than the hospital chairs.

I am so happy to finally be able to start the adventure that is going to be parenting this little bundle.

Here are some photos of her in her car seat. Yes, she looks teeny tiny. She is not yet six pounds, but very close to it.

   

Yo yo yo, Fiona in the hiz-ouse!

 

And Fiona really in the house. John was not really sleeping, he was posing.