A week ago, on Monday, May 16th, we were still in the hospital. That morning, Dr. Ellbogen came in to check on Parker and told us that as soon as he heard anything from Denver, he would let us go home...as long as the results came back negative. If anything came back positive, we were looking at staying in the hospital for another 10-14 days so that Parker could get some heavy antibiotic treatment. When he informed us of the possibility of this extended stay, I could literally feel both mine and Kyle's hearts sinking. We had to stay positive...the results were going to be negative...they HAD to be negative!
Around noon me and Kyle decided to go for a walk and get some lunch from the cafeteria. After fixing a salad from the not so appetizing salad bar, we headed back to our cell...I mean room. When we walked in, my mom was holding Parker and the nurse was doing something with his IV. I asked what was going on, and the nurse just said that she was checking out his IV to make sure it didn't need changed. I looked at my mom (who I must have gotten my lying skills from) and the huge grin on her face...and I knew! I said, "We're going home aren't we?" My mom of course broke and said yes, leading me to burst into more tears!! The nurse was so bummed! She had wanted to have his IV out before we got back to surprise us, and she was even trying to play it out further when we walked in the room!
On a side note, I have to say how completely and totally amazing the Pediatric nurses at the hospital were. Each and every one of them took such great care of all 3 of us, and showed Parker so much love. I couldn't have asked for better nurses or better people to take care of my baby.
Kyle tossed our salads in the garbage and started working like crazy packing all of our things up. He didn't miss a beat! As soon as the nurse got Parker's IV out, I gave him a quick sponge bath and got him dressed and ready to go home!
I think from the time we got back to our room to the time we left it was only about 20 minutes! We did not waste any more time than we felt like we already had! Even the nurse rushed to get us discharged, as she knew how badly we wanted and needed to be at home! I really didn't think that I would be sad leaving, but there was a small part of me that was. It wasn't because of the blinding paint color on the walls, or the thousands of pokes and prodes that Parker recieved, but because of the nurses! I was honestly sad to leave the nurses! After a tearful goodbye and hugs, we were headed out of the hospital...Very similar to leaving a week before, but I was able to walk out this time!
Getting home felt AMAZING! We had been home a few times while Parker was in the hospital...to shower and get more clothes, but it always felt wrong going home without him. Today, we got to go home WITH him!
That next Thursday, we went to Dr. Ellbogen's for Parker's 2 week check-up. Dr. Ellbogen was very impressed with Parker's weight gain! He said that most newborns only weigh a couple ounces over their birth weight at 2 weeks, and even though Parker was sick and had lost quite a bit of weight, he was 7 ounces over his birth weight at 7 pounds, 8 ounces! Yay Parker!
So since Dr. Ellbogen verbally discharged us over the phone at the hospital the Monday before, we never really got a chance to talk to him about the test results (although we knew they were negative) and what was wrong with him. Dr. Ellbogen said that since all the tests came back negative, he believes that Parker contracted a viral infection either while still inside me, during labor, or immediately after labor. He added that Parker just wasn't able to fight it off yet, as his immune system isn't as strong as ours are yet.
Everything else checked out great and he said Parker was looking awesome and that we were doing a great job...It helps to hear that every so often!
On that same day...Parker's 2 week birthday...two other important things happened! His umbilical cord and circumcision "thingy" fell off! (I know it's not really called a "thingy," but that's what I called it! Dad called it something else, but "thingy" sounds better to me!)
You know what that means...
BATH TIME!!!
I don't think Parker was as excited as we were!
All snuggled up and SO much better!
Daddy putting on lotion!
First mohawk!
All snuggled in our jammies and ready for bed!
Another exciting first this week was Parker's first day of church!
I loved this outfit!
So in love...
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