Bringing Home Shelby

Shelby's homecoming was stressful. A few days prior she was put back on oxygen so Nick and I were feeling like it would be a while still before she came home. When I came in Friday morning and was told she could be going home the next day I couldn't believe my ears. I was excited and frustrated all at the same time.

There are three factors that decide when a premie is ready to leave the NCU. She has to be maintaining her own body temperature, eating without a feeding tube for 48 hours, and gaining weight. Shelby was gaining weight daily and had been maintaining her own body temperature for a week or so before she came home so all we were waiting on was for her to figure out how to eat. She would take some from a bottle, but then get tuckered out and they'd have to tube feed the rest. The first time she took a full bottle she decided to do it three more times that day, but then it was hit and miss if she would take it all or not. It had been a few days since she had taken a full bottle on her own so when they told me she had gone 24 hours without needing to be tube fed I was shocked.

Thursday was Shasta's birthday so I went to spend time with Shelby early that morning. By the time I came to see her on Friday it had been a little over 24 hours since I had seen her. Apparently she wasn't okay with that because she decided it was time for her to come home!

I'll admit that part of me wanted her to stay through the weekend and come home Monday. I had to be on campus for 4 hours Monday morning and Nick had class during part of that time too. The last thing I wanted was to have someone watch Shelby two days after she came home. Even letting family watch her made me nervous because although I trust them, they weren't around to see all the ups and downs she had in the NCU. And I know how hard it is to restrain from wanting to hold her the entire time because she's tiny and adorable, but premies aren't supposed to be held too much because they struggle with the extra stimulation. They can't be bounced and rocked and loved on the way full term babies can because their nerves can't tolerate it until they're a little bigger.

Then on top of that, the following Saturday was Nick's graduation and we had ceremonies to attend that took up a good chunk of the day. Already twice in a week's time we would have to leave Shelby because she can't be out in public. I 'jokingly' asked her doctor if it would be okay to take her to graduation and he said absolutely not. So yes, her coming home was very stressful, but we survived. Nick's mom came up and watched her on Monday while we were in class and my mom flew in from Arizona and watched her while we went to Nick's graduation.

But, back to the day she came home...

We had to wait around for a while because unfortunately she was coming home on oxygen and we needed the oxygen company to bring us a tank. She also had to pass her car seat test so we did that while we waited for the oxygen to come. It's always bitter sweet leaving the NCU. Twenty days is a long time to be there so I developed friendships with the nurses that made it sad to leave. Plus it's scary to bring home a four pound baby!!!

Doing her car seat test.

She's so tiny we had to put a washcloth between her and the seat belt to keep her from sliding down. Supposedly this car seat is made for a 4lb baby, but it sure looks like it's swallowing her whole!

Nick had dropped Shasta off to play at a friend's house while I was at the hospital because he desperately needed to work on his paper for school. Once Shelby and I got home and her oxygen was all set up, Nick went and picked up Shasta. Shelby and I were sitting on the couch when she walked in the house and her reaction was absolutely priceless. Nick asked her who was here and she reverently and excitedly exclaimed, "It's Shelby!" and ran over to the couch to see. I immediately let her hold Shelby because up until now the only contact she'd had was through a glass window or in pictures. Shasta was absolutely smitten. She couldn't take her eyes off of her. She was so in love and didn't want me to take her away.

Since then she's been extra helpful. There's been several times that I've caught her trying to pick Shelby up without any help. She loves holding her. She held her three different times in one evening and each time was a good thirty minutes. That's a long time for a two year old! She also likes to help change her diapers, feed her bottles, burp her, and most importantly, share her toys. The first couple of weeks she helped every single time we fed and changed her, but the excitement has since died down and now she only helps occasionally. But now she's on a kick where every time I burp her Shasta tells me I'm patting her too hard and she comes and shows me how to do it softer!

She's a great big sister!