Quick update

Come to think of it, there might be a lot more "quick updates" instead of my leisurely long notes because WE HAVE A BABY COMING HOME THIS WEEK!!!!!! I still can't believe it as I write it, probably won't believe it until the moment we are walking in the door (or when we have to get up with him in the middle of the night) ha,ha. I met with the team yesterday and everyone is in agreement that Alex is ready!!! They have discontinued a few of his medications (phew) and want to monitor him for a couple of days but then they said by the end of the week he should be ready.

I've already met with the discharge planner who is working on getting insurance approval for their formula (its typically prescription only although I have seen it on ebay for about 45.00 per can (what?) The boys have had such a long road and have tried multiple things before turning to this formula so we are hoping that the insurance company won't drag out their approval. In the long run, I would expect that the formula will be cheaper for them to pay then the daily rate in the NICU but what do I know.

Mark and I are frantically getting things prepared (as prepared as they can be) at home. We've practically lived at the hospital for the last three months and we've done things here and there at home but I guess there was a part of us that just didn't think this would happen yet.

As excited as I am about Alex, I'm sad about Nicholas but we will get through this and knowing that we are on the last leg of this journey does help. I just can't imagine being ready to leave Alex after just finally bringing him home (even if it is just a couple hours with my wonderful family) but I know my heart will ache being away from Nicholas so we will have to do whatever feels comfortable at the time and go from there.

I met with the surgeon yesterday as well to discuss Nicholas's hernia surgery. He examined Nicholas's hernia and his exact words were "yowza". Yes--they are that big, poor thing. I just know he will feel better after getting this repaired. But having said that, the surgeon said the earliest slot he has is not for a week from this Friday. He saw the look on my face that I was not trying particularly hard to hide and he apologized. I explained that this is really the only thing we are waiting on before we can bring Nicholas home. He stated he understood but he had nothing open until then and its only his team that does the pediatric surgeries but that he could put him on a cancellation list (I'm praying for this). He said he does not feel comfortable sending him home prior to this surgery and neither do his other doctors but he assured me most babies are released 4-5 days after surgery, even with previous respiratory issues like Nicholas has had.

I just keep reminding myself that although the next couple weeks will be challenging in a variety of ways, we are almost there and will have the whole family together very soon!!!!!