Home at last

Thomas has been home for over a week. He sleeps most of the time. His brothers were very interested in him at first, and helped a bit too much. But, the newness has already worn off and they often forget he is around until he starts crying. Thomas seems to be adjusting to life outside of the hospital fairly well. He still sleeps most of the time, which is good for everyone!

We will follow up with his cardiologist again in a  few weeks to see how his PDA (hole in heart) and pulmonary valve look. I hope they will give us an idea of what to expect in the next few months.

I'm doing my best to keep germy hands off of Thomas, as he is very susceptible to RSV and other respiratory viruses. That's a challenge since William has a constant runny nose!

But, we are so thankful to be together under one roof...and just in time for the holidays! God has been so good to us and has held all of us in his steadfast hands. Thankful that even the smallest of us are in his care!

 Many hands helping

 Katie, one of our favorite nurses on discharge day.

Happy to be at home!

Almost ready

We are so very close to discharging! It has been a long road...today is day 66. Thomas's nurses and doctors have taken such great care of him. Yet, I will be so ready to wave goodbye! Here is the quick update:
- Thomas's bottle feeding "light bulb" went off last week and he began taking his bottles without any trouble. 2 days ago he pulled his feeding tube out of his nose and it has been bottles only since then. Poor guy, I'm sure he was tired of that tube.
- he hit 6 pounds yesterday!
- They did another ECHO Monday. The PDA (hole in the heart) has not closed yet. But this actually might be working in our favor since they did see the pulmonary valve stenosis (which they didn't see last time). So in an abnormal way, the two are balancing out. We will see the cardiologist in a few weeks to discuss the long term plan.
- he has had high blood pressure the last few days which may be because he doesn't like the pressure cuff or could be related to the heart. Again, we will wait and see if cardiology want to give him anything for that.

So, unless something changes, we hope to be home tomorrow or Saturday! Thankful for God's mercy. Praying for his continued provision for us and Thomas. It will be a real delight to celebrate Jesus's birth with this baby in my arms.