Thursday, October 2, 2008

Wow....



I haven't had a chance to sit down since we left the hospital yesterday--Gracie is keeping me busy and then adding Morgan to the mix, I don't know how I will do it, plus work....but I'm sure everything will work out and I only have to do it till December right?

Yesterday I woke up not knowing for sure if we were going to be going home or not, around 11am I finally got the word that we would be going home. Soon after the doctors started working on getting all the paper work done so that we could go home and that took literally hours, we didn't leave the hospital till 6:45pm!!! But we didn't mind too much because we were able to carry Grace down to the PICU and see some of our favorite people there. The PICU is a funny place--no one wants to be there, especially for as long as we were, but there are some wonderful nurses and doctors there (I think the best in the whole hospital). I think the good ones end up loving those long timers almost as much as us parents love them.

I'm rambling...sorry...can you tell I'm tired? We didn't get to bed until 12:30am because the Home Health Care nurse had to come and set up the feeding pump (2 1/2 hours after she was due for a feed, luckily I was taught how to gavage feed). Then the oxygen people...who knew that someone so little could need so much.

Anyway I'm getting the hang of this I think, Grace has meds due every other hour and then adding feeds every three hours, I don't know how I will be able to ever leave the house. But I read that another Heart mom draws out all of her sons meds the night before and I've adopted that method. I don't have nearly as many meds as she has for her little one, but its still a lot and it assures that those middle of the night doses are accurate and not drawn up while I'm half asleep.

I think Grace is liking being home, it is an adjustment for us all, but we couldn't be happier. As we drove down Foothill Dr. all I could do was cry. I cried because I honestly didn't know if this day was ever going to come. I cried because I couldn't wait to get home so that my family could finally be together all under one roof. I cried because I have been given a miracle--Grace is truly a miracle and will always be such. I could go on, but I think you all know how wonderful it is to have Grace home.

The night before we left the hospital, I had to learn how to put in Grace's feeding tube, so I took advantage of Gracie's tubeless face...hope you enjoy.


9 comments:

Megan said...

She's even more gorgeous without tubes. I'm so excited for you Deanna. Yes, it is a great miracle and I'm so happy that you get to have her.

Me said...

Ya for Gracie!!! And ya for you also!!! What an amazing journey, chapter one is complete now on to chapter two! I hope that is everything you want it to be. Hang in there, we are thinking about you. Thank Heavens for blogs. Much love, Hilary Cook-Daxton's mommy

Erica said...

She looks a lot like you. She is a cute girl. I am sure it feels great to be home although it is very busy.

Larissa said...

HOOOOOORAAAAYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crystal said...

She is SO beautiful! It has got to be good to be home as a family again. Please let me know what I can do to help you anytime! We are so happy for you guys!

Brenna said...

I love the middle picture! I'm glad that everything is going well and you will get the hang of it!

David and Katie said...

We are so happy for you! We've been checking and reading your blog and we couldn't be happier. We hope all goes well at home! And she is so cute! I love her big brown eyes! -Katie and David Ollmann

lori said...

We're thrilled to know that our tiny little neighbor is finally home!
We love you and continue to pray for you! What a ride you guys have been on!
So happy to see little Grace's face! She's a beauty!

mandybkidsrn said...

Hey guys, I am so happy for you. I did not get a chance to take care of Grace again before I went on maternity leave but I keep her in my thoughts. I am so glad you are home with your full family now.
I am thinking of your family and Gracie,
Nurse Mandy