Spring is Coming!

Saturday was another chore day. David still wasn't feeling well, and needed to rest. Still sore throat, headache and coughing. He was bummed to be missing the set building work day at the school for the play. He was also supposed to drive Timothy up to the merit badge round up to get more driving practice. So Aaron dropped Timothy off at the church to catch a ride with the others going up. Christen C* brought us dinner. It was a freezer meal, so she brought it by in the morning, so we could let it defrost all day. It was only after she stopped by I realized it was our day to clean the church, and we totally forgot. Oops!

Aaron found another project for himself. Earlier in the week my friend Bernie texted to tell me our favorite blueberry picking place was going out of business! I'm guessing it's more retiring- they have to be over 80! Anyway, they were selling their blueberry plants $10 each in sets of 5. I told Aaron, if he wanted to do it, that was up to him, I was in no shape to be replanting blueberry plants. So he took the project on. Amy went with him. They bought some peat moss to amend the soil, and then stopped by to pick up the plants. They moved some of the strawberry plants, and then planted the blueberry plants. Hopefully they take and produce some yummy blueberries. We'll see.

 I didn't leave the porch, but I wanted to capture a few signs of spring.

 I had noticed the narcissus in full bloom for about a week

 the azaleas have some leaves

 I still don't know what this vine is called

 roses are starting to get some leaves

I rested while the kids did chores. Although I actually made my bed for the first time in almost 2 weeks. I think I washed a few dishes as well, but not much else. At some point I realized it was St. Patrick's Day, but I hadn't done anything about it. No green breakfast, or traditional Irish dinner. Oh well. I wasn't even wearing green!

At some point that morning David took a shower, and said he was feeling well enough to go to the set work party. I said if he was well enough to build a set, he was well enough to do his chores first. He wasn't happy about that, but oh well. So he did some of his chores, and I reminded him of other chores that needed to be done, and then he asked Aaron to take him to the school. He didn't talk to me, or I would have reminded him that he still needed to sweep the floor. It was a disaster!

We had lunch - lots of leftovers from all of the generous meals brought in. Aaron left to pick up Timothy from the church after the merit badge round up. Then he got a text from David saying he needed more ibuprofen, he wasn't feeling well again. Aaron reminded him that he would need to get a ride if it went later than 3:00 because Aaron had a stake conference leadership meeting in the city. So David opted to just come home, rather than suffer at the school. He went back to sleep, and Aaron finished up some things (he was working on his pinewood derby car) and showered before heading up to the city. Leadership meeting started at 4:00, and then he had a break for dinner. Then the adult session started at 7:00. I always love that meeting. I was sad to miss it.

At home I just rested, and played with the kids, and got dinner in the oven.

 She was so cute sound asleep

We had jello, and tater tot casserole for dinner compliments of Christen. I haven't had that in forever. It was yummy! We didn't do much else that evening. David was up and down, but mostly stayed in his room. We didn't want anyone else to get sick. I think the girls got baths and showers. And that's about it.

Aaron got home around 9:30. We talked as he drove home. I wasn't sure if I would be awake much longer after he got home. Allison was consistently going to bed between 10 and 11. If she was out by 10, so was I!

Sunday morning, David still wasn't feeling well, so we stayed home from Stake Conference. Which meant Aaron could take the car instead of the Yukon. So he got Michelle's car seat installed, and the other girls got in back, and Timothy sat in the front seat. They headed out early enough to get some comfy seats.

It was pretty quiet. I slept when I could. I warmed up some lunch. Allison slept while I showered.

This is another outfit all of my kids have worn. Sometimes I'm sad she's my last. But I also know that is the way it's supposed to be, and I'm ready to move on to the next stage of my life.

Apparently Michelle fell asleep for about an hour at stake Conference, so she didn't take a nap after church. They got home around 12:30 and had lunch.

Michelle always wants to hold Allison!

We had the missionaries coming over for dinner that night, so we were planning what to have when Aaron found out that Bonnie G* had meals coming in all week for us! I wasn't expecting that! So we just had to get the kitchen and living room clean enough for guests. The missionaries arrived at 5:00, but the food didn't get here until 5:15, but that wasn't a problem. We had plenty of time to eat. Bonnie G* brought us enchiladas, Spanish rice and a salad. I can't remember what the dessert was... The missionaries left us with a message and then they headed out to their next appointment.

We had FHE, and activity, and then headed to bed. That's about all I remember.

It's Getting Better!

Two things I forgot:
Friday Aaron completed another project. He put up this spice rack above the range to give me more room on the counter.

And Elizabeth J* and her three kids came by on Sunday to meet Allison. Ben and Kameryn both wanted to hold Allison. Sam just wanted to hang out with Timothy. Elizabeth got to hold Allison as well. They brought a gift for Allison - a blanket they had made so cute!

Monday David was off to seminary, and Aaron got the kids ready for school, and made breakfast. He brought me some breakfast while I was still catching up on sleep. Eventually I got out of bed and took a shower. The girls were playing nicely, for the most part. Aaron had gotten them dressed before he left to take the kids to school, and then go back to work. He'd already taken two weeks off, so now he started his reduced schedule. He starts later than usual, so he can make breakfast, and get kids off to school. He also ends earlier than usual, so he can come home and help out with dinner, and picking up David etc.

So many people had offered to help out, and I definitely needed help. I called Bonnie L* to see if she would stay with the girls while Aaron and I took Allison to my appointment. She was more than happy to come over. When I called to make the nurses appointment there was some confusion as whether or not I needed to come in. I had already made a 2 week post partum check up, but I thought My Dr. had said to come in at 1 week. So I had the scheduler check with the OB nurse, and she said, yes, they wanted to see me that week. So we made the appointment. I would have felt bad for making Aaron change his schedule to help me, if I didn't actually need to go in. He had moved his Monday afternoon patients to Friday afternoon, or earlier on Monday.

So he came home around 1:00 on Monday, and I put Michelle down for a nap. Bonnie came over around 2:30, and then Aaron and I left with Allison. If I had been able to make a 4:00 appointment I would have just waited for Timothy and Amy to come home, so I was glad Bonnie was able to come over. We drove to the clinic - I was glad the swelling in my feet and legs had gone down. I could fit in my shoes a little better. Aaron dropped me off at the front, and I slowly made my way to the check in desk, and then walked to the waiting area. Aaron had parked at the back and came in with Allison that way. The regular nurse (Raelynn) wasn't there, so someone else did the check up, and we discovered we were in fact supposed to come in at 2 weeks, not 1 week. Oh well. Everything was fine though. Having a baby is a quick way to lose 25 lbs!!! Especially if I only gained 25 lbs in the first place! Quick, but definitely not painless, or easy - haha! After the appointment we went back to pediatrics to have them meet Allison.

Then we walked over to the car and drove to the hospital for Allion's second PKU. We had to wake her up :(. She cried for the poke, but did surprisingly well as her heel got squeezed to fill up all of those circles. Afterward I nursed her, and then we headed home. We thanked Bonnie, and she went home. Aaron picked up David from drama, and then he did homework. He had two days of work to make up from the two band trips. It was also the first two days of new classes. He's now taking pre-calculus, and Spanish B, and History, and Honors English B. He couldn't fit in band because of Spanish and Honors English, so he's doing an independent study class, rather than taking some elective he didn't want. So he's playing trumpet pieces he and his band teacher picked out.

Tammy brought over dinner. I can't remember what she called it, King Ranch chicken or something. It was like a creamy enchilada casserole. Yum!!! The whole meal was delicious! We had FHE activity, and got kids ready for bed.

I took pictures of Allison at 1 week old.

She was a little fussy that night.

After the kids were in bed I noticed David was still in the kitchen diligently working on his homework. He looked frustrated and asked if I could help him. It was trigonometry. It has been quite a while since I've done trig! So I looked over it and refreshed my memory. It took me a little while, but then I remembered and we worked through the problems together. I went upstairs to change Allison's diaper and found Aaron had already fallen asleep. So I went back downstairs, with Allison and continued to help David. We worked through all 20 problems. On some of which David had to find all functions for the angle (sine, cosine, tangent, cosine, secant cosecant - remember that???). I had to leave once to feed Allison, but we worked on it until 10:30. Then he still had Spanish vocab, and history to read, and English terms. He was up until midnight doing homework. Or at least when I went to check on him at midnight, he was finally in bed with lights out.

Allison did better that night, waking only at 2:00 am and 5:00 am to eat. It's getting better.

Tuesday, I was tired. Aaron got up with the kids, got David off to seminary, and made breakfast, and got kids ready for school. I had to shower early as I had Allison's appointment that morning. I had asked Christen if she could help me with getting to that appointment. I was told I couldn't drive, but was cleared the day before, because I was no longer taking any of the pain killers my Dr had prescribed. However I still wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than Allison, and with her car seat carrier, that was too heavy. So Christen came over to my house, and we loaded kids in the Yukon. I drove, and found a spot close to the entrance - which never happens! The girls got out, and Christen carried Allison's seat in. We checked in, and the ladies at the desk wanted to see Allison. They couldn't believe how big she was!

I was slow enough that the MA was waiting for me in the hall. We walked back to the waiting area, and I asked the girls if they wanted to stay in waiting area, or come back with me. They opted to stay in the waiting area with Christen. I was relieved. The MA carried Allison for me, and we did her weight and length: 10 lbs 8 oz - almost back up to birth weight, and still 21.5 inches long. She did all of the other vitals and everything looked good. I nursed he while waiting for Dr. M*. She was still nursing, so Erica and I chatted for a while about Allison until she was able to do the exam. We talked about the ranula, and she said at her next check up she'd send a referral to the ENT in Seattle. We'd probably get an appointment when she is 3 or 4 months old. Because she wasn't quite up to birth weight she wanted to see us again in 2 weeks, rather than wait for her 1 month check up. Then we were all done.

I gathered the kids and texted Aaron to say we were done. I made the next appt, and Aaron said he was free for a few minutes if we wanted to stop by. So we walked back to the Peds and said "hi" to everyone. I introduced them to Christen, and got to see people that weren't there the day before. Also she was awake this time, which was fun for those that had only seen her asleep the day before. Aaron found some Conversation Heart boxes for the girls, and then we were on our way. I was so glad to have Christen there with me.

Christen helped me get everyone inside, and then she headed home. We had lunch, and naps, and the rest of the day was pretty normal. I really didn't do much at home for that first week or so. I just took care of Allison, rested, and made sure the other girls were safe. They played by themselves, Melanie even made lunch for her and Michelle. I ate when Allison was sleeping. She typically takes a bit longer nap in the morning, and has more awake times in the afternoon and evening. After a rough first week, she seems to settle down for the evening around 10 or 11, and wakes maybe once or twice to eat. Sometimes I have to wake her at 2 or 3 to eat. Then she'll eat again around 5 or 6, and then sleep again until 7 or 8. I know her schedule will change, so I'll take it while it lasts.

I don't remember details about that afternoon. We had people bringing meals over all week, so that was one thing we didn't have to worry about. Tuesday night we had Bonnie G* and Sandra R* bringing dinner. One brought over pie and French Bread, and the other brought salad and spaghetti. Sandra and her two youngest girls stayed and visited for a while. After they left we had dinner. Aaron was at the hospital board meeting until 7:30 or so. I tried to give the girls a bath while Allison was sleeping, but then she woke up, so it didn't work very well. Luckily Aaron took over when he got home.

Wednesday David went off to seminary, and the kids went to school. I was home with the other three. At some point I'll get used to having 3 little kids at home. I don't remember much about the day. I remember I found out Stephen Hawking had died, and I texted David knowing he'd be sad about that. He had already heard, as I figured he would have. But I wanted David to know I thought of him when I heard about it.

It was Aaron's Mom's birthday. I took a few pictures for her and the rest of the family.

She was just waking up at 7:15

The rest of the day was spent at home for me. Aaron went to his meeting at 8:00, but then spent the rest of the day at home, and did work from there. It was nice to be able to take a shower, and get a nap while he took care of Allison. I noticed that my feet were finally back to normal size - no more swelling!

Melanie loves to hold Allison

 silly faces she makes

Aaron baked some Artisan bread for Amy. It was a recipe Shannon gave the girls in her primary class, and Amy had been wanting to make it since Sunday. Aaron picked up David at 5:00. Dinner had been delivered - Loren D* brought over some fresh bread, Kim B* brought some ice cream sandwiches for dessert, and Teri P* brought some delicious chili.

In the midst of the craziness David made some no bake cookies to take to drama! After dinner Aaron took Amy to the church for Activity Days. Timothy brought his homework to finish before scouts, and then Aaron drove David and other young men to the stake center for basketball. After he dropped them off he ran to the store for some groceries. Amy and Timothy ended up staying at the church until Aaron got back. I think they weren't home until almost 9:00!

Thursday Aaron was also home, but had a lot of meetings to call into. So, it was great to have him home, but he was also on the phone a lot. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that I remember.
That night Orba E* and her daughters collaborated to bring us dinner. She made a white chicken chili, and Rhodes rolls, a salad, and a cheesecake for dessert. It was so good! Orba wanted to come see Allison when she dropped off dinner, but she started feeling ill, so she sent her husband and grandkids to bring the dinner. I don't remember what else we did that evening.

Friday morning was normal. Older kids were off at school, Aaron was at work, and I was home with the youngest three. Although David wasn't feeling well, and missed seminary to get some more sleep. He ended up going to school, but texted Aaron around lunch time and said he really didn't feel well, and wanted to be picked up. I would have picked him up, but the car seat base wasn't installed, and I was not agile enough yet, to get it installed. So Aaron left on his lunch break to get David, but he had to bring him back to the clinic because he didn't have time to run him home and then go back to the clinic in time for his afternoon patients.

The kids got home from school, and eventually Aaron and David made it home. That night was the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. Timothy had volunteered to help serve the dinner. So he and Aaron went to the church. Becky G* brought over some of what they were serving for our dinner. Lasagna, salad, bread, and she brought some ice cream sandwiches for dessert. We had dinner, except for David - who still didn't feel well. Aaron and Timothy were back around 7:30. That's about it, for that week.

Finally Home

That night I didn't have nurses to take Allison, it was just Aaron and I. So when she decided she didn't want to sleep, and didn't want to latch on, it was rough. I was up with her until 1:00 am and then she didn't want to latch on at 3:00 am. It was hard for me to get out of bed, although it was certainly more comfortable than the hospital bed. Allison decided to nurse and go back to sleep for the next 5 hours. I couldn't keep her awake. So I slept too. Aaron got the kids ready for school, and dropped them off at school. Then he took the girls to the city with him to do some shopping. I mostly just laid in bed. I did get up to use the bathroom, and get something to eat.

 They stopped by a park while they were out

Michelle fell asleep on the way home as expected. I don't remember much else about that afternoon. Aaron tried to take a picture of the ranula under Allison's tongue - it's not a very clear picture.

Not much else exciting happened. The missionaries stopped by, and Tish and Joan stopped by to bring dinner. That's about it.  I couldn't handle sitting on a wooden chair, so I ate my dinner while sitting on the couch. David was gone all day at a band competition. I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 8:00 with Allison. That's probably a good thing since she was up again at 9:00, and didn't want to sleep much after that. She also had trouble latching on again. It was hard to help her calm down because she preferred that I walk around with her, which was still painful to do. Aaron and I took turns. One time Aaron came downstairs to check on me and then Michelle woke up crying. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, but Aaron eventually got her to calm down and fall back asleep. Allison finally settle down for the night around 2:00 am. Then at 3:00 am Michelle came in the room, I could tell she was upset I reach out and when I touched her hair it was wet. I woke up Aaron, and said, "I think Michelle threw up." So Aaron cleaned up her, and I pulled the sheets off the bed. Aaron put new sheets on, and then we went back to bed. I was so tired. Allison nursed and went back to sleep until about 9:00 am. If only we could move that schedule a few hours earlier.

So Saturday morning Aaron drove David to the church at 6:15 for Youth Conference. I slept as much as I could. He came back and got some breakfast ready for the kids, and brought some up for me. Then they did chores etc. I got a shower at some point that day. We definitely did some laundry too. Michelle seemed to be fine after her middle of the night puking.

 Sleeping the morning away.

 Her cute feet

 Her poor heels, with so many heel pricks

 All dressed up. All four of my girls have worn this dress!

We needed to go to the hospital for a weight and color check. We put Timothy in charge of lunch, and then went over to the hospital. I was still walking very slowly. We finally got back to FMC, and used a room to do the weight and color check. She weighed in at 10 lbs 4 oz, up 2 oz from her discharge weight, so that was good news. She was still a little yellow, so they did a scan, which came back at 11.2, so she was fine there as well.

I nursed her for a bit there, but she wasn't latching on very well. I got her to eat on one side, and then decided to go home and try again there.

After I nursed her at home she was awake for a bit. I don't remember much else about that afternoon. Her umbilical cord stump fell off, thank goodness it was really stinky! I can't remember if someone brought dinner, or not. But we had plenty of leftovers.

Allison sleeping at 7:30 pm.

Allison, didn't want to sleep that night either. I was hoping that I would finally be able to sleep when David got home from Youth Conference, but right when Aaron needed to go pick him up, Allison was screaming, so Aaron texted David to see if he could get a ride from the church. He was able to. By the time he got home (after 11:00) she was eating, but she didn't stay asleep. I got about 30 minutes of sleep between then and 1:00 when she finally slept for 2 hours! When she wouldn't latch on at 3:00 am I was so tired, and frustrated, and I just cried! Another long night!!!

Wide awake at 8:00 am

Aaron got the kids ready for church, then went to one meeting at 8:30, and then came back to get the kids at 9:45. I tried to make sure they had everything they needed. Then it was just me and Allison for a few hours. I showered, and slept and ate some lunch. That's about it. 

 sleepy smiles

Aaron brought the kids home, they ate some lunch. We didn't bother putting Michelle down for a nap.

 Allison likes Aaron to hold her like this

Aaron he started on some dinner. He pulled out one of the freezer meals, but I wasn't sure it was going to defrost in time. I told him to put it in the oven at 200 for a while, but it was still cold. It would have been funny if the boys didn't have somewhere to go that evening.


The down side to Michelle not taking a nap - she crashes at some point - this was just before 5:00 pm

Aaron and the boys had Bishop Youth discussion at 6:30, so we had to put dinner in the microwave for a few minutes. Aaron had also made some delicious cookies that he cooked on the Traeger. Anyway, we ate dinner, and then the boys left. I really didn't do much to clean up. I tried to have the girls help, but it's hard to enforce anything when I'm confined to a couch nursing a baby.

The other thing I noticed is that Michelle is really loud. She talks, sings and cries loudly!!! I feel like I am constantly telling her to be quiet. It also took her a few days for Michelle to figure out how to say Allison. At first she would just call her "the baby".

So the boys got home and helped clean up the kitchen, we had FHE, and then we got the kids ready for bed. That night went a little better with Allison. I gave her a bath that night. She wasn't happy about it.

 She calmed down after she warmed up

While she still took a while to settle down it was closer to 1:00am. she she slept for 3 straight hours!!! When she got up she was having trouble latching on, but I was much more calm about it. Aaron commented on that, and I said "It's probably because I got 3 hours of sleep. Then I realized how crazy that was! It was almost 5:00 am and I'd only had 3 hours of sleep, and that was a good thing! I didn't even realize it was 5:00 until David came into the living room and I thought - "what is he doing up in the middle of the night? Oh, he must be up to get ready for seminary". However, once I was done feeding Allison, I was able to go back to sleep. Aaron brought me some breakfast, and I slept some more. I think I got a total of 5 1/2 hours of sleep. I would definitely need another nap!

Allison's First Few Days - Longing to Go Home

Allison's first few days were spent getting poked every 2-3 hours. It's a good things she won't remember it. But I will. the longest I stayed in the hospital with any of my deliveries was just over 48 hours with Michelle. I was Group B Strep positive, and wasn't in labor long enough to get both doses of antibiotics. So we waited. This time around the Group B strep was negative, so I figured we'd be heading home by Tuesday evening. After consistently missing that goal of 45 something else needed to be done. Supplementing with formula wasn't working, the only thing it was doing was making her gassy, like really stinky gassy.

Liana came over to watch the girls again, and Aaron was at the hospital with me. The nurses make tiny hats, and they found one big enough for Allison.

I had a few different nurses help out with us that morning. Michelle was there, and so was Tiffany. We were still trying to keep her glucose levels up. Another issue was that sometimes she just didn't want to nurse. It seemed making her eat on a 2 hour schedule was frustrating her. She would root, but not latch on. Eventually she would eat, but then her levels would drop before she got to eat. I had to call the nurse to get her heel pricked before I fed her and then call the nurse again to supplement. Sometimes I would have the nurses take her, and sometimes I would keep her with me. My IV was annoying because now my legs were swollen, especially around my left knee. I had some numbness on my right thigh, I don't know where that came from. Seemed like a pinched nerve. It was hard to get in and out of bed, it was hard to reach over and pick up Allison.

Aaron was there most of the day, so that was nice. I was able to get a shower, and some sleep. Instead of going home that night, we stayed another night. I was officially discharged from the hospital, but staying as a boarder for Allison. They removed my IV - yeah! Aaron went home to help get the kids some dinner, someone (I can't remember who) brought some soup, salad and rolls. Then he put kids to bed, and then he came back that evening. He said the girls were really emotional, just crying about everything. He grabbed some milkshakes from McDonald's for the nurses on the way in.

I took a couple of pictures while I was alone. Aaron brought the flowers on the left, the hospital staff sent the flowers in the duck on the right.

 Me and my baby

That night was a little rough, she just couldn't keep her levels up. They were just barely above the threshold, even with supplementing. We even tried a tandem feed with the formula through a tiny tube while I nursed.

In the morning Dr. F* discussed our options with Aaron and I. We were trying to avoid the IV, and Aaron suggested that perhaps we give the dextrose orally, just squirt it in the cheek before nursing. We tried that, although she loved it so much that she didn't want to keep nursing, so then we decided to try giving it after nursing. Eventually we used a syringe with a tiny tube that went to the back of the mouth bypassing the tongue. Then she would suck on someone's gloved finger while the dextrose was sucked down the back of the throat. The idea was to keep the glucose levels up, and once they were stable to slowly wean her off the dextrose. Once we had 3 good levels without dextrose we could go home.

Staying in the hospital longer made scheduling a little more tricky. We were supposed to be home. Aaron had scheduled a root canal for Wednesday morning. Allison was supposed to arrive a week earlier, and even with her arriving on Monday, we thought we'd at least be home from the hospital by Wednesday. He felt bad for leaving me there with Allison. But the nurses took good care of me. Angi was there that day (Michelle's sister). I got to take a shower before he left. Since I was no longer a patient I dressed in regular clothes instead of a hospital gown. The kids were out of school for the end of term. So David and Timothy were home taking care of things. David still wasn't feeling well, but at least the fever was gone.

Sleeping soundly.

After his root canal Aaron went home to check on the kids. They had lunch and he gave the little girls a bath, since they certainly needed it, and that night was busy. He even did their hair!

Apparently Michelle decided to decorate with bandaids

After Michelle was down for a nap Aaron came back over to be with Allison and me. At one point we left Allison with the nurses and went for a walk outside. It was great to get outside. I had to walk really slow, and I didn't last very long, but it was great to not be stuck in my room. 

 

Allison at 48 hours old!

Allison's blood sugar levels were OK, but now we needed to start weaning her off the dextrose. So we went from 2 mLs, down to 1 mL, but then her sugar levels dropped again. Dr. F* told us now that she was 48 hours old her levels needed to be at 50 or above now. We seemed to be on track to be released in the morning.

Aaron went home to have dinner. Bonnie L* and Carol S* brought over lasagna, salad and apple tarts for dinner. Aaron had a leadership training at the stake center that night. So he took the boys to the church for mutual, and Carol S* stayed with the girls until the boys got dropped off at home. Afterward his meeting, Aaron and Br. E* came to give Allison a blessing. It was late, so they didn't stay long. My overnight nurse was great, but the one helping her didn't seem to know what she was doing. Allison struggled with her levels, but then we had two really good ones in a row. One more and we could get rid of the dextrose. 

Then it all fell apart. Allison was with the nurses, and I slept way longer than I expected. I woke up at 7:00, knowing she needed to eat, like 30 minutes ago. It was shift change so my night nurses and day nurses were all there. The nurses were holding her while she slept, and said they were waiting for lab to come get her blood drawn for bilirubin levels. So they did a glucose check at the same time. After levels of 66 and 52, she came back at 40!!! I was devastated. We were one good number away from trying without the dextrose. I felt like if I had only woken up at 6:30, and got her to eat then instead of waiting another hour. If I had not given her to the nurses, perhaps she would have woken up earlier. Instead it was 3 hours between feeding, and now her levels were too low. 

 

Aaron was on his way in. He'd dropped the kids off at school, and Michelle G* was staying with the little girls. As I talked to him I just started bawling. We were so close. I didn't realize how stressed I was. I just wanted to go home, I missed my kids, missed my bed, I hated that Allison had to get poked every 2 -3 hours. My milk was just barely coming in, and I still couldn't get her to eat enough.

I felt ridiculous when nurse Karen came in with my breakfast, "I just want to go home", I told her. Aaron arrived and Dr. F* came and talked with us. She didn't increase the dose, but we needed 3 good levels at .5 mL and then 3 without, and we could go home. She said that evening was not out of reach, but it would not be that morning. She had the results of the bilirubin which was 14 - much better. And the glucose level was 47. It still wasn't 50, but it seemed like that was a big discrepancy between the glucometer and the drawn blood test.

 Allison wide awake after eating. I can see that she was still a little yellow.

Nurse Danielle took good care of us - she was there when I delivered Michelle. The next level was 60!!! but then I couldn't get her to latch on, she slept for almost another hour. Then she ate like a champ. 

Sleeping in my arms

Then the next level was 44! I bawled again. Aaron and I were both emotional. Aaron remembered the difference between the glucometer, and the blood draw, so he asked if the lab could come in and do another blood draw. It's still a heel prick, but takes a little longer, and they need more than a drop of blood. So Danielle called the lab, and put in the order, and they were there within a couple of minutes. I nursed Allison as we awaited the results. Aaron needed to go home and relieve Michelle G* and get Michelle down for a nap. Aaron texted me that the lab said her levels were at 56!!! Finally some good news! We decided to use the lab from there on out. 

I was able to nurse her without the dextrose supplement! Three more and we could go home. I was able to get some rest, and I called Danielle as soon as Allison was starting to wake up. One time I couldn't get anyone to come, so I put Allison in the bassinet, and pushed her down to the nurses station. I could hear my call button dinging, but there was no one around. I walked around the floor, and when I came back I saw Dr. D* at the station, asking about APGAR scores. I realized no one came, because they were all at a delivery. Just then Danielle walked out of the room, and she called the lab right away. 

Dr, F* stopped by. The glucose level was 62!!! I was so happy. The next level was also great! Chelle asked if we needed anything from Costco. We had plenty of meals coming in, but the fresh fruit was running out, so I asked her to pick some up. Then Nancy came to visit! I was so grateful. It made the time pass more quickly! We talked about all sorts of things, and she got to hold Allison. When she started to wake I called for the lab. This was the last one! It was about 5:15 pm. I was praying for good news!!! I fed Allison, ate my dinner and waited. 

Aaron was on his way in, hoping for good news. Danielle came in and said the lab came back at 68!!! We could finally go home! I texted Aaron who had arrived at the hospital, but wasn't in the room yet. Danielle came in to start the discharge. She checked the hospital bands, and took off the alarm band, she got the paper work in order. 

Aaron arrived and started packing things up. Dr F* arrived, and I exclaimed - "Victory!!!" She gave us last minute instructions about follow appts etc. Danielle went over discharge info, and then Karen helped us make our way to the car. Aaron didn't have his badge with him, so Aaron carried stuff while Karen pushed me in the wheelchair. We made our way over to the back door. Aaron put stuff in the car, and then drove it to the back door. 

 I took a picture of Allison while we waited.

When he came back Karen opened the door for him, and Karen took a picture of us.

 I hoped I just looked tired, and not like I'd been crying all day. We were finally going home!!!

We arrived at about 7:00, and I realized my friends were just gathering for book club! Everyone was happy we were home.

 The girls had fun with the balloons.

 David finally got to hold Allison!

Pretty soon it was time for the kids to go to bed. So we read scriptures, said prayers, and Aaron got them in bed. I was glad to be home, but I was in for a rough night!