hospital and homecoming

Most of you who know us know that Haylie has her elephant and loves it. We love that she loves it and is comforted by it so for Ashtyn we bought a monkey made just like Elle, and hope that she loves it and we bought 2 from the beginning, just in case.
As you can see Ashtyn will have to grow into her monkey, at a week old she wasn't much bigger.

One of the thing I always tried to be there for was Ashtyn's bath time. A lot of the time I didn't make it due to lack of communication from one of her nurses but this day Ashtyn had a great nurse who set everything up for me to do it and even took pictures.


Learning to eat was the main reason for Ashtyn's 4 weeks stay at the hospital. From the start she was breathing well on her own (qualification 1). She was out of the incubator regulating her own body temperature after 10 days (qualification 2). After the initial newborn weight drop and being introduced to tube fed nutrition, Ashtyn steadily gained weight (qualification3). She just had to be able eat on her own while doing everything else (qualification4). Slowly... very slowly Ashtyn started taking fortified breast milk from a bottle which reduced the amount she was tube fed. When I was with her for her feedings I was able to nurse her if she gave the cues that she was ready to eat. The biggest thing was making sure she had the energy and didn't expend to many calories during a feeding making it counter productive. She would also have issues with her stats going down and not being able to handle her bottle feeding and so they would stop and feed the rest through her tube.
I spent a lot of time at the hospital over the course of her stay. Most days I sat in the nursery with her for 2 of her feeds and then an hour or so after that and then I would go up and say hi to my mom before heading home or to pick up Haylie from a friends house. There were so many mixed emotions with my visits to the hospital. I felt bad leaving Ryan and Haylie and neglecting my responsibilities at home, but I also felt like I wasn't there enough for Ashtyn when she needed me. I loved being with my new baby girl but I hated that it had to be at the hospital and not at home as a family. It was so hard for me and I am sure for the people around me who had to deal with me, especially Ryan, who was great and very understanding and comforting.

At the beginning of her 3rd week there Ashtyn got a cold, which made it hard for her to eat but after she figured out how to manage the stuffy nose while eating she began doing better than ever. That lasted all of about a day taking all of her feeds by bottle or nursing. She flat out started rejecting the bottle and they were having to tube feed her again for most of each of her feeds. She was still doing great nursing, but up to this point they insisted she be taking all her feeds by bottle to go home as a means to measure her intake, and then I would have to supplement while nursing.
On Sunday the 16th I talked to Ashtyn's nurse before heading over to the hospital. She told me the neonatologist (preemie doc) said that if I was able to nest (stay in a room with Ashtyn at the hospital but not as a patient) for 2 days just nursing her and she stil did well and gained weight then she would be able to go home. After church that day, Ryan and I got the house ready and made arrangements with his mom to watch Haylie while I was at the hospital.

I was really nervous about this nesting and that Ashtyn wouldn't have the energy to eat enough at all her feeds or I wouldn't be attentive enough. But with much encouragement from Ryan I headed to the hospital Sunday evening and was able to take care of our baby girl on my own for the first time.
During the day on Monday, Ashtyn got her first exposure to sunlight when I pushed her crib up next to the window.
It was so nice to not be in the nursery and be able to take care of and feed and hold Ashtyn almost like normal.

Everything went well and Ashtyn was able to leave Tuesday afternoon. Exactly 4 weeks after she was born. Weighing in at 4lbs 11oz, a pound bigger than she was at birth.Ashtyn and I were happy to see our family when we got home.
Haylie is already showing love to her sister... Oh no. I guess I am in store for a whole new set of chaos. We will take the normal chaos anyday as long as we are able to be under one roof.

We are so grateful for the care Ashtyn received in the hospital but are happy we never have to take her back :o)