Baby Eagan - 189 Days Later...Finally HOME!

 Eagan had an awesome "Going Home" party thrown by his primary nurse. We felt so special and loved. The big kids also enjoyed the special treat of cake we brought home for them.

Birth to Home

After 189 days, we are all home! For over six months, our family has been spread across Georgia. Eagan has been at either Dekalb Medical Center or Egleston Children's Hospital. The big kids have been with grandparents or home babysat by my family. I have traveled every day from the Ronald McDonald House to the hospital. I also went home on Thursday nights if Eagan was stable.

It was definitely all worth it. I would do it all over again because as I type this blog, Eagan is snoozing peacefully across my lap. Eli and Evelyn absolutely adore him.

We ended up coming home with an NG feeding tube and continuous feeds. This means that Eagan has 30 ml's of breast milk an hour running 24 hours a day. He thinks it is great fun to pull his tube out. I am pretty good at getting the tube placed; it is really easy. My tape job on the other hand could either use some work or Eagan is a tape removing master. I'm thinking both. He also has a busy med schedule. At 8:00 am, he gets Sythroid, Zantac and Poly-Vi-Sol. Then at 12:00 pm, I give him a Lovenox shot. At 8:00 pm, more Zantac, and at midnight, he gets another Lovenox shot. In addition to all this, I pump every 3-4 hours. Also, my breast milk for Eagan has to be fortified to make it 24 calories. This requires lots of measuring and mixing around the clock. Breast milk is naturally 20 calories per ounce, but Eagan needs a little extra boost because he is not even on the weight charts for his age.

Eagan is also on a heart and apnea monitor. Since Eagan has been home it has only gone off twice, both times for low heart rate. I am very thankful for this monitor. It helps me sleep peacefully because I know that the monitor will let me know if anything is off. It is a lot of work to move Eagan around the house with the feeding pump and monitor, but the peace of mind is totally worth it.

Eagan also had his first pediatrician appointment. The kids have switched to a new pediatrician closer to home for many reasons. Our previous pediatrician had wait times that lasted over an hour. It would not be fair for Eagan to have to wait in the car that long as they have no location for immune compromised children to wait. Our new pediatrician has low wait times and a private waiting area we can use. In addition, for Eagan's next appointment, she has blocked off a time slot so that no other children will be in the office while we are there. I could not believe she decided to do that, as I have never heard of this in any other practice. We go back in a month for his six months shots. Eagan also has an eye doctor appointment Wednesday.  

We also want to thank everyone for the prayers, thoughts and well wishes that helped get us home. The support from friends and family has been amazing. Eagan and I will definitely miss our amazing NICU nurses and doctors, but plan on visiting often. It is so good to be home!