Free at last, free at last...

Last Friday, May 8, at 3pm, we finally stole Laney out of the NICU and got her home! Unbelievable. We've been smiling ever since, and haven't looked back. Her last antibiotic dose was Thursday night, so they told us that if she passed her car seat test, we could probably go home the following day. Apparently some kids can't sit in a car seat for 90 minutes coming straight out of NICU. Laney tried her car seat study on Thursday and didn't quite pass, but on Friday morning we suctioned and got the bugars out of her nose and she passed with flying colors! She also had a hip ultrasound to see if she had hip displaysia which is common in babies that had low or no amniotic fluid. The ultrasound revealed that her left hip is dislocated. We are taking her to see a pediatric orthopedic doctor tomorrow and he will check her out and probably put her in a brace, and if that doesn't fix it, she may need surgery at some point. But if that is all she comes away with after all she has been through, we will truly have been very lucky. Getting Laney home on Friday and being able to wake up at home, on Sunday - Mother's Day - was such a huge treat!

Since getting her home, Angie and I haven't done much except feed Laney and hang out. Something we haven't been able to do for a long time. Angie took Laney to her pediatrician yesterday, and he gave her the once over, plus her 2 month immunization shots (3 of them). She didn't like that much. Home health comes today for physical therapy (she still has a little bit of range-of-motion issues in her arms and legs). I'll probably not work much in the next couple weeks until we get settled in well at home. Angie will be studying when she can in order to pass her nursing board exam sometime in the next6 weeks.

So I guess that's the end to this portion of our adventures with Laney. Now the fun begins. But looking back on it, the bedrest, the time in NICU, it wasn't all that bad since the outcome was good. That's all we were ever worried about, and now that the prognosis is looking positive, the whole experience can't feel negative. There are many things we won't know about Laney's health for a long time, like how fully her lungs will develop or what issues might come up, such as asthma. Or how well her neurological development will progress. But most of the symptoms that usually lead to long term problems never materialized in Laney, so we have confidence that she will be completely healthy with no long term issues. Right now we're not worrying about those sorts of things. Instead, we worry about how much she is eating and growing, how to keep her from getting sick, and all the other normal things parents worry about in a newborn. We are sure to just stop and enjoy her too. She is 11 weeks old now, but her due date is tomorrow, so really, she is a newborn. She weighs 5 and 1/2 pounds, has hazel eyes, a little bit of hair, and looks more like her mom than her dad. (Depends on who you ask) Like all parents, we are very proud of her, but after what she has been through, we know she's a fighter too. Guess we better get ready because a year or two from now - no doubt we will have our hands full.
Stay tuned for more adventures with our amazing little miracle!

The Meyer Family