Being Released on Day 6

Yeah! James is finally being released!

After gradually being removed from his oxygen tube, then having his feeding tube moved from his mouth to his nose so that he can begin breastfeeding (see below),

then having his feeding tube removed (see below), 

then his IV, we are finally going home. We should be released in the next hour or so (all depends on James) but we will have to use a billirubin blanket for a couple of days since his levels went up again slightly (all in a perfectly normal range still, though). It helps that we have his pediatrician appointment this Friday to make sure he isn't dropping weight too.

Breastfeeding has been going extremely well. He learned how to latch on very quickly and has no problems staying away to drink his fill. It's basically the complete opposite experience to breastfeeding Thomas. I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing 100% (although I've been taking advantage of the lactation nurses being around so much) but it doesn't matter because James has it all under control. We've been able to only breastfeed without having to use the feeding tube since Sunday. I don't see us having any issues with it except me not getting enough sleep (and surprisingly that hasn't been too bad). I have my moments 1-2 times a day (last night's was in the middle of the night when all Thomas wanted to do was feed or be held instead of sleep) but I've gotten over it. I really think we will be able to breastfeed for quite a long time (hopefully the whole 12 months).


And, yeah, apparently I'm a cow. Below is a picture of my supply (I have to pump after I nurse) and the nurses around here are amazed at how quickly my milk has come in. This is GREAT NEWS because I want Stephen to help with feeding by bottle after we get the breastfeeding established (hopefully in the next few weeks). I feel like I could feed all 30+ babies in NICU right now.

My overall hospital experience has been a lot better with James than with Thomas. I only had 1-2 nurses that were just ok (and even they weren't nearly as bad as some of them with Thomas) but all the rest have been AWESOME! I need to make sure to send a Thank You card to both units. Yesterday, I was told that they needed my room down on the 4th (maternity) floor. They were letting me stay in there for free since the hospital was keeping Thomas... but they needed it so thankfully NICU had one of their rooms open and I moved to it (although I just store my stuff there... it was easier to just sleep on the couch all night in his room).



Stephen has been doing a good job holding the fort down. He gets up and takes Thomas to school every morning. I suspect he then goes home to have a nap. Then he runs errands and comes to the hospital with lunch. We eat then sit in James's room while I work (I don't want to go on leave until next Monday, if possible) and Stephen holds James. Then around 4:30p Stephen leaves to pick Thomas up from daycare and go home. Yesterday, Thomas was acting up with Stephen so we thought maybe it was because he missed me (I hadn't seen Thomas since Sunday evening when I went home for a few hrs) so he brought Thomas here to the hospital from daycare and they had dinner with me. It was nice but Thomas is way too wild and loud to be kept here for any longer than 30 minutes or so. And good grief- James is so damn subdued and quiet compared to the energy of a 19 month old! We both are going to have to get used to Thomas's noise when we get home.

Anyways, I better start wrapping things up so that we can be on our way.