Eliza was released from the hospital one day earlier than expected; last Wednesday August 6th. The doctors were very pleased with how well she was doing and released her. We took her back to our home away from home (hotel room with kitchen) expecting to stay about another week. I made up a changing table on the dresser and had all her diapers and wipes organized and everything and we ended up staying there less than 24 hours! We had been told that it would take about 3-5 business days once we were released from the hospital, but the next day at 2pm we got a call from the case worker with LDS Family Services Albuquerque Office and she told us that we were free to go. We couldn't believe it. We packed up and within a few hours were on the road home. We drove all night and pulled into town about 4:30 a.m. Eliza was wonderful the whole drive home. She just slept and ate every 4 hours when we stopped to feed her.
On Monday we had an appointment with our pediatrician--usually they see babies at 2 weeks, but the hospital wanted a follow up around the 10th day. Eliza had gained back her birth weight weighing in around 6 lb 6 oz and was 19.5 inches long (her smallest birth weight that we're aware of was the Monday and Tuesday morning before she was released from the hospital when she was 5 lb 15 oz). At her appointment, the doctor said she looks great.
She is a little mixed up with her days and nights. During the day once she's fed and changed she usually falls back to sleep (I've been trying to do tummy time and keep her awake for a while but there are times when she just refuses!) but at night once she's fed and changed she's wide awake for a while. Usually I'm up sometime around 1 or 2 until 4:30 or 5:30. It might take a while, but we'll get her on the right schedule. So I'm a little tired/groggy at times, but she is sooo worth it. I've waited for for her for so long that I could never resent having to stay up with her. She is such a blessing and such a sweet girl with a little squeaky cry (before her full-blown cry) and her daddy and I love her.
My Aunt emailed me some questions so I thought I would post them here. They're a little outdated/late, so sorry about that:
*How did the court go?
We weren't there, but the case worker told us that Lauren did great (she relinquished her rights before a judge on Tuesday, August 5th). She was very committed to placing Eliza with us told us that she knew we were the right parents for Eliza. I'm glad she was able to continue feeling good about that decision.
*How is Eliza's pnemonia?
The blood work that they continued to do throughout her stay at the hospital never showed up as irregular, but because of the x-rays that were taken when she was first born, they continued to do the antibiotics. They took her off oxygen after about 3 days and continued to monitor her, but everything (oxygen, blood pressure, heart rate etc) stabilized and other than the monitors telling us that nothing was wrong, she wouldn't have needed to be hooked up to them after about Sunday or Monday.
*Does she drink a bottle okay?
She has been GREAT with a bottle since they first gave her some when she was a couple of hours low (her blood sugar was showing a little low at the time thus the feeding). She is a good gulper and for the most part a good burper. She consistently ate 2-3 ounces in the hospital with even a few 4 oz feedings every 4 hours. Since then she's pretty consistent with 4 oz, sometimes 5 oz. She had no problems getting the sucking reflex down.
*How long do you get to spend with her every day?
When she was in the hospital, we could have been there 24/7 if we would have wanted and could have held her every waking moment if we wanted. We didn't do that of course, but fortunately we got to spend a lot of time with her. The nurses let us change and feed her whenever we were there, too. And I gave her a bath on the Sunday that she was there.
Here are some cute Eliza facts:
*She loves getting her hair washed at the end of her bath.
*She hates getting her diaper changed. I always thought wipe warmers were the stupidest thing ever, but I've registered for one.
*She loves stretching. I stretch her during feedings before burping, but she also stretches on her own all the time. She often scrunches her face and purses her lips while stretching. I've yet to record it on film, but I will..
*She still has quite a bit of fuzzy hair on her cheeks, arms, and ears.
*Aug 11th during her night feeding she started this new trick of sucking but not swallowing. The milk runs all down her chin and onto her bib. She does it regularly now. It's when she is first being fed (usually after waking up). So I take the bottle away, give her a minute, and then she starts sucking and swallowing normally. It's a little strange.
*She makes the cutest squeaky whimpering noises usually before she starts crying
*Everyone who sees her comments on her big feet. I have nothing to compare her with, so I don't know--they look small to me ;)
*She gets the hiccups after almost every feeding.
*As of her last diaper change, her cord still hadn't fallen off, but it looks like it's really close to doing so.
I hope this post is satisfactory. If you still have questions about anything, please ask. I'll do my best to post more regularly and answer questions in a more timely fashion ;).
