Discharged from the NICU

So Ryan couldn't let himself be outdone by his brother; He ended up staying in the NICU for 12 days just like Ethan. This whole experience has been deja vu to the nth degree.

I think that the neonatologist and nurse practitioners still harbor some concerns about Ryan's lack of weight gain, but these concerns did not constitute enough of a reason to keep him in the NICU. We were discharged from the NICU this afternoon and arrived home at about 5pm. I scheduled Ryan's first appointment with our pediatrician for Friday afternoon at 1:30pm. Hopefully the scale in their office will give us an accurate reading on Ryan's weight. The lactation consultant who was so helpful in the NICU was originally going to do a set of pre- and post- feeding weight checks, but after observing a second feeding and knowing that I have a huge milk supply, she didn't think that it was warranted. I still kind of wish she had gone ahead and completed the weight checks so that we could feel more comfortable that Ryan is getting enough to eat with nursing alone (no supplementation).

A major concern of the neonatologists and the nurses who cared for Ryan is the severity of RSV this season. We were advised by many NICU staff to nearly completely isolate Ryan from others until the end of April. Apparently RSV is running rampant this year and has resulted in countless hospital admissions of infants. Since Ryan has already been respiratory compromised, he would be even more susceptible to developing a serious case of RSV if he were exposed. We were told "NO" to: church, crowds, grocery stores, etc. We are supposed to "screen" everyone who enters our home to make sure that they are completely healthy. If people want to see him, we are supposed to not allow them to touch or hold him, but only to look at him from a distance. When we go to pediatrician appointments and weight checks, we will be entering the medical office building through a rear door so as to avoid the waiting room and any sick children and germs that we might risk exposure to otherwise. Ethan currently has a cold, so we have been extremely cautious about his interactions with Ryan. We are only allowing minimal direct contact with Ryan until Ethan is over his cold. Unfortunately, we are also supposed to restrict the places and number of kids that Ethan has contact with too. We were advised to keep him out of the church nursery and other circumstances where he'd be with a decent-sized group of kids until the end of April too. Two and a half months is a long time to keep both kids (and ourselves) isolated! I'm going to talk with our pediatrician on Friday to see how stringently we should follow these recommendations, as I'd (at a minimum) like to attend our mom's group at church, and Ethan is such a social little guy, I'd hate to keep him isolated from his friends for so long.

Thanks so much again for all of your concern and prayers- God has definitely answered prayers in providing wisdom to the doctors and nurses regarding Ryan's care and in allowing him to become well enough to come home!!

Unfortunately, upon arriving home, we discovered that our water heater was no longer working. So there was no hot water for us tonight. We didn't want to pay above and beyond the already exorbitant pricing for a plumbing repair by calling after hours (the emergency line), so we'll wait to take care of it until tomorrow.