Cole Is HOME!

Cole was finally able to come home from the hospital yesterday!!! YAAAAY!

He was treated with antibiotics from last Friday to this Friday, although the pediatrician acknowledged that we'll never really know what kind of infection it was (maybe Group B strep, maybe E. coli, maybe pneumonia...). I am GBS positive, so it's a little distressing that Cole managed to (possibly) catch that infection despite the antibiotics that I was given during delivery. Yikes... I really hope that this doesn't happen again with Future Baby #3.

The only indication that there was something wrong with Cole was that he started making a little grunty, moany sound shortly after he was born. Tim and I thought it was darling (we nicknamed him "Sir Grunts-A-Lot"), but it turns out that it was actually a very bad sign (ha... who knew). After noticing it for a couple hours, the nurses contacted the pediatrician-on-call, who ordered stat blood work, and when that came back looking "not so hot" (love that doctor-speak) due to an elevated CRP, baby Cole had to have a spinal tap to check for meningitis. As soon as they started dropping the "M" word, this mama bear naturally freaked out and broke down in tears in the hospital room. Fortunately, meningitis was eventually ruled out, and Cole only had to endure the seven days of gentamicin and ampicillin.

I know that a lot of you have probably gone through things like this, but y'know what I realized this week? It's REALLY, REALLY HARD to leave a baby at the hospital. It's emotionally hard because I missed him SO MUCH, and whenever I saw a baby at a restaurant or saw a bag of diapers at Target, I wanted to cry that I had a baby but didn't really have a baby. It's hard physically because I was constantly coming and going from the hospital, and doing so as clandestinely as possible so as not to upset Weston too much. (He understood that baby Cole was "sick" and had to "stay at the hospital," but he did not take it well when I would leave him to be with Cole. So, I had to start sneaking around.)

Over the past week, I visited the nursery three times a day -- I'd set my alarm for 5 AM and get there by 6 or 6:30, and then stay for 2-3 hours. Then, I'd go during Weston's nap and stay for 3 hours in the afternoon. Finally, I'd go in the evening after Weston's bedtime, and stay for another 3 hours, just nursing and holding Cole. I wish I could've been there 24/7, but even so, it was exhausting, because every time that I was home again, I had to be fully "on" with Weston, too. I was already short on sleep from my own hospital stay (I think I slept an hour and a half the second night), and the 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night just did not do it for me.

Poor Cole... in addition to the spinal tap and the circumcision, he had to get 3 different IVs during his antibiotic treatment -- two in his hands and one on his scalp.

Right-hand IV (covered with a diaper -- his little boxing glove)

Scalp IV... and still so cute

Usually during the afternoon, Tim's mom would come with me to the hospital to have some baby grandson time, and we would sit in one of the maternity waiting areas to cuddle him. Once we also brought Tim and Weston, although Weston lost interest in Cole after about 10 minutes and just wanted to go home... so we didn't do that anymore. :-)

Tim, Gangy, and Cole

The 10 minutes of interest by Weston

Tim came with me in the evenings since Gangy was at home, and sometimes we had our baby time in the pumping/storage closet in the nursery (haha), while other times we hunkered down in the circumcision room, depending on what the nurses suggested.

Late at night in the storage closet

Late at night in the "circ" room

Finally, finally, on Friday, it was agreed that Cole would be discharged, so he was released from his perpetual IV, and I was finally able to dress him in baby clothes like I'd been looking forward to the whole time!!

Clone of Weston

And now he's hoooooooooome!!!! I am so happy!! His first night at home was pretty typical of a newborn, with a few diaper changes and lots of getting-up-and-down by me and Tim. However, I think I still got more sleep last night than I have the previous several nights, hahaha! After Cole's 6 AM feeding, I just kept him in bed with me, which actually resulted in his longest stretch of sleep. That was nice. This whole time, I've been most excited about dressing him in baby clothes, wrapping him in non-hospital blankies, and snuggling with him in bed. :-) YAY!!!

Home at last

Anyway, that's the update! Cole is doing well (lots of eating and sleeping and pooping), Weston is doing well (lots of "he's so cute!'s" and blankie-sharing, although a teensy bit clingy with me), and the rest of us are doing well (just happy to have the kid home). We're just doing our best right now to keep Weston's cold from spreading to Cole, because that would just suck. :-)

FYI, I'm planning on posting my birth story soon, so that'll be a little recap of the whole labor-and-delivery experience (much improved this time around!). Huzzah!! Thank you all SO MUCH for keeping Cole in your prayers!!! We love you!

(PS - Sorry about the weird spacing and editing in this blog post. Blogger is infuriating with its messed-up default spacing, but today I don't feel like going crazy for an hour trying to fix it all.) :-)