GOING HOME!!!!!

On September 21st I left home for my weekly doctor's appointment. I was planning to be gone for a few hours. Eighteen days have ticked by and now I'm finally returning home!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!

The on-call doctors made rounds this morning and informed me that all is well enough for me to be discharged this afternoon. I am so so so so thrilled to be getting out of this place!

There was some confusion as to whether or not I would require an ultrasound today before they would clear me for discharge, I was getting conflicting information from different people. But as of right now I am told that I will not have an ultrasound today, instead I will come back on Tuesday to see Dr. Mann (as an outpatient this time!), and resume my weekly ultrasounds then. I also have to schedule an appointment with Dr. Garcia for the end of next week. So apparently it looks like my doctors visits have now escalated from once weekly to twice weekly. I also need to try and get rescheduled for Dr. Duncan, the hematologist, who I was supposed to see the day I was admitted here. Not sure if I will have to repeat my bloodwork first before I schedule that, so that is something I'll have to get ironed out but more than likely that will mean two trips to Emory instead of one. But seriously, who cares? I would drive to Kentucky and back at this point in order to get a break from this hospital.

My nurses are busy trying to get everything set up for my transition home. They've been on the phone with Alere, the home care company, making sure my home nurses are prepared for my return. We have to get my terbutaline pump switched over today before I can leave -- right now I'm using a hospital-owned pump which has to be removed and replaced by the home pump I was using before I got here. Ironically the two pumps are identical ... the exact same model and everything ... just that one is hospital property and one is Alere property that has been temporarily rented to me. I am told they cost about $5,000 a piece so it's super important that we don't get them mixed up or else I will be receiving a giant bill! Right now I've actually got two Alere pumps at my house, in addition to the third hospital-owned pump in my leg, which has made me so nervous b/c I was terrified that James would misplace the box at home or Jamin would get into it and decide to "hide" them away in a random drawer somewhere like he does with everything else he discovers. Between the two home pumps and the toco monitor I have about $13,000 worth of Alere's equipment in my bedroom so it's a bit nervewracking to be responsible for that stuff!

We're working on getting my medications situated so that I won't miss any doses during the transition from hospital to home. Right now the plan is for James to come up around 3:00 this afternoon with my home pump, at which time we'll get the infusion site changed and discharge paperwork completed and then I should be FREE! Well ......... free to go straight home and lay still 24/7 in my bed ......... but still a major improvement over my current living conditions so I'll take it. I am hoping if all goes smoothly I should be home around 5:00 or so. Sara is making us a big dinner so we can celebrate with a home-cooked meal. It will be so nice to be done with hospital food for a little while! And I seriously CAN NOT WAIT to see the faces of my little ones when their Mommy finally walks in the door, that will be quite a reward.

Last night before bed I was laying here thinking, "wouldn't it be great if this is the last time I have to sleep in this hospital pregnant? And the next time I'm here is when the baby is born?" But then instantly that thought made me paranoid because it would, of course, only be great if the baby is close to full-term next time I come back! If I come back in two or three weeks then of course I want to still be pregnant. Ughh, if only my brain had an off switch. Or at least a pause button. I need a break from myself.

I had a meeting last night with one of the NICU nurses. She came down to the HRP floor to chat with some of the bedrest patients, and spent almost an hour in my room. Basically the idea is that she would answer our questions and give us some basic information so that in the event that we eventually need her services we will be a little less confused and scared. Being the type of person that thrives on information, I actually found this to be really helpful because I do feel more prepared now after talking with her. She actually offered to put me in a wheelchair and give me a "tour" of the NICU, which I declined, because that felt a little too scary. I don't want to actually see it unless I have to. But talking about it was good. She gave me a lot of information about how the NICU works, how it's organized, and what I could expect.

The policy here is that any baby born prior to 35 weeks gestation is automatically admitted to the NICU, regardless of their weight or condition at the time of birth. So even if we make it to Dr. Mann's current goal of 34 weeks, we would still have to do a NICU stay for at least 1-2 weeks. I am grateful to know this ahead of time, because I can get mentally prepared now. In my mind, I can already "plan" for it at least in theory, and then if it happens I won't have to panic as badly. And of course, if it doesn't happen, then it will just be a giant wonderful bonus! When you have a Kristi-brain you have to do some mental tricks sometimes and planning for worst-case-scanario is one trick I've found that actually seems to help reduce my stress a little bit.

A million thank-you's to everyone who has prayed for us, sent notes of support, visited, sent food, babysat, and loved my family over the last several weeks. We are so incredibly grateful for your outpouring of generosity. Please please please continue to pray for us! We are 25weeks 2 days gestation today, so we are certainly not out of the danger zone yet and we have a long road ahead.