Tell the World I'm Coming Home

July 13, 2012 is a day that will go down in Miller family history as one of the best days of our lives! It was the day our baby Carter finally made his debut at home. Five weeks and six days after his birth we were finally able to bring him home. It's another day that sits right up there with our wedding day, the birth of our children, and the day Brycen came home from his own NICU visit. Friday the 13th is no longer an unlucky day!

On Wednesday, July 11th, Tyson and I had received word that a house we were really interested in renting was pretty much being held for us to see and take simply because the woman renting it liked me. Wow! But that's a different post for a different day! About an hour of being told that bit of exciting information I received a call from the McKay-Dee NICU. Every time I got a phone call from the NICU my heart dropped a little into my stomach. I was always so worried about what they were going to say to me. They don't usually call parents unless there is an issue with the baby or if there are necessary steps that need taken to ensure the baby's health and they need parental permission. I answered the phone and it was Teresa, one of the neonatologists in the NICU. She explained that Carter had been doing really well and for us to plan on bringing him home on Friday. I was so shocked I didn't even know what to do with myself. She had all kinds of details I needed to write down so I shakily found a pen and paper and scratched down all the information: when to bring his carrier in for the car seat test, Infant CPR Training, training for the stats monitor he would be coming home on as well as the oxygen, etc. After I hung up the phone I didn't know what to do with myself. Tyson was at work so I couldn't call him. Amber and Mom were at girls camp and couldn't talk either. My brain stopped from there and I didn't think to call any other soul on the planet. Not Grandma, my besty Ashlee, my sister-in-law Britney...not anybody! So I just started walking around. And around...and around. I walked around the apartment with a brain working on overload. I was so excited!! When I finally came to my senses I looked around and all I could see was a messy house. So Brycen and I went right to work getting things cleaned up and ready for Carter to come home. That was a wonderful afternoon!

The next two days were painfully long. The plan was for Carter to come home Friday morning, but since Tyson worked all day I decided it would be best to wait for him to get off work and come with me to get Carter. Carter also had to be able to go those remaining days without dropping his stats. While in the NICU there was a little baby named Yanelli who was getting ready to be discharged, and that very same day she had an incident where her stats dropped and she had to stay for another week. It was heart wrenching seeing her parents look so sad. On Friday I watched the clock all day long just waiting for Tyson to be done with work. We used some of our day taking Brycen to Wendy's and trying to enjoy one more lunch just the three of us. Brycen had a great time eating his chicken nuggets and playing with his new ultra cheap kids meal toy while Tyson and I sat there sick to our stomachs. We were so excited and anxious that we could hardly eat anything.

We dropped Brycen by our friends the Parrish's house around 5:30 and went right up to the hospital to get Carter. Tyson went to the pharmacy to pick up Carter's multivitamin and acid reflux medication while I went up for training on how to use the oxygen tank. The night before I went up for a visit and to learn Infant CPR and how to use the stats monitor Carter would be going home on. We would need the oxygen just in case Carter's stats dropped and he needed a little extra help. Talk about a stressful training time! I didn't ever want to have to use any of what I was learning (besides the monitor). Tyson came in soon after the oxygen tank training and we went right away to getting the discharge paperwork reviewed and signed.

Then it was time to get going!

First, Carter needed to be put in some of his own jammies. Only one time did we put something on him that was ours while he was in the NICU and that was on the Fourth of July. There are so many parents who end up losing their babies' clothes because they get lost in the laundry at the hospital. I didn't want to take that chance. It sure felt good to get Carter's own clothing on him!

(Brycen came home from the NICU in Idaho Falls in this same jammy!)

 Then he got attached to the monitor and put in his carrier. He started getting really hungry and mad before we left. Poor kid!

 See the little light inside his jammies on his left foot? That's where the monitor detects his oxygen.

Time to go! We were so excited!!

Getting ready to say goodbye to Carter's home for the first almost six weeks of his life.

 Goodbye, McKay-Dee NICU! You sure were good to us!

The next fun moment was introducing Brycen to Carter for the very first time. We knew from the beginning that Brycen wouldn't get to meet his little brother till he came home, whenever that would be. It was so fun opening the door to the van and seeing the look on Brycen's face when he saw this screaming baby sitting there. It was a look of concern more than anything, but it sure was wonderful watching him meet Carter!

As soon as we got home Carter got a bottle. It felt great feeding him in the comfort of our own home! We're just so happy to have him here. What a blessing it is to finally have all four of us under one roof. I love my family!

And since then...

The night Carter came home was one of the longest nights of our lives. And not because Carter kept us up all night. That stupid stats monitor was the culprit! Not only did it beep constantly because it either wasn't reading well or Carter's oxygen dropped for a split second, but the beeping was SOOOOO loud! It was like the loudest alarm clock in the world. After a horrible first night we decided to see what it would be like if Carter wasn't on the monitor at all. We hesitantly took him off it and watched him closely all day. He did really well without it. We haven't put it on him since and we feel just fine about it. He seems to be doing better and better everyday so we haven't seen the need for it. Hopefully things continue to go that way! 

Carter has been on Enfamil AR for his acid reflux. He's also been taking Zantac. The first three nights Carter was home were so long and tiring. He did pretty good until about midnight/1:00ish then just cried and cried till about 4:30 am each night. It was so exhausting. On Sunday night Carter was crying so hard that he made me want to cry. I asked Tyson to give Carter a father's blessing for his sake and ours. It was a really nice blessing. Soon after, Tyson and I talked about the possibility of Carter having colic so we started thinking of what we could do for him. Amber had experience in this field with Tayen and had to switch his formulas so many times so I decided to call her. It was 4:00 in the morning, but we had to try and help Carter anyway we could. She told us about the gentle formula for sensitive stomachs that she gives Tayen and it's really helped him. She also told us that acid reflux can cause colic in babies. Tyson immediately ran out to get the formula and we made Carter a bottle as soon as he came back. He ate the bottle, cried for a few minutes, then went right to sleep straight into morning for about four hours. It was wonderful! We decided to continue on with this formula in hopes that it will help Carter and make a difference. 

Carter has really bad acid reflux. Every time he has a bottle he cries in pain because of the reflux. We have to hold him up for 30 minutes after he eats to help him out. When Carter was being discharged we were told that he was going home on Zantac. We thought it was weird to change his prescription (he had been on Prevacid) but didn't think much of it. The only problem was that the Zantac didn't seem to be doing very much at all. Carter was still in a lot of pain and just cried and cried after every bottle. Poor baby! It's been horrible to watch. We went to his appointment with the pediatrician and explained my concerns about the medication and maybe the possibility of switching to something else. She gave me a funny smile and then explained that it said in our chart that Tyson and I had asked them to switch him from Prevacid to Zantac because we didn't think it was working. Say what? I was annoyed. Somehow there had been a misunderstanding. She wrote us a prescription and he started the Prevacid Wednesday night. We hope to see some changes soon.  

At that same appointment his doctor let me know that we needed to get him in for an ultrasound and x-rays on his hips. Where he was footling breech and in there the way he was, they have reason to worry that he might have some hip problems. From her eye she doesn't think he has any problems. But they want to make sure by having an ultrasound and x-rays. The ultrasound is scheduled for next week.

Carter went back to the pediatrician's office yesterday for his baby boy surgery. His pediatrician won't do the surgery on babies older than 2 weeks so she referred us to someone in the office who will do the surgery on babies up to 8 weeks. He barely made the cut! (No pun intended.) He was so tough and did really well. He's been through so much lately! Poor little boy. He was weighed at this appointment and weighs 7lb 12oz. A whole three pounds heavier than at birth! That's so amazing to me.

All in all, things have been going well at home. As soon as we can get this acid reflux under control things will be a lot easier for everybody. It's hard watching your baby cry in pain and not be able to do anything to help them. We're praying that the Prevacid will work and if it doesn't, hopefully we can find something else to help him. Any suggestions on what to do for acid reflux babies would be much appreciated!!