Going Home...(Part II)

When the girls were born, Tiffany had one wish. That wish was that they would come home on or before Halloween. Well, obviously, Alexis met that goal by coming home on October 18, 2007.

Riley was due to come home on October 26th. However, Riley was put on a drug to help with the production of red blood cells. The last shot was scheduled for Friday, October 26th, so she needed to stay three days longer for a blood test to make sure she was not as anemic and that the drug worked. This meant that her new discharge date was October 29th. We were so happy that both girls would finally be home. However, just after we left on Sunday evening with the excitement of what the next day meant to us (with Riley coming home) we received a phone call. The call was from our nurse Christy and she was extremely nervous since she had to break the news that Riley had a Brady (heart rate drop) during the shift change. This meant that she would need to stay at the hospital for another 7 days. The ironic part is that it was 9 days since the last Brady and that if she was discharged on Friday, it would have happened at home...scary!! We were extremely appreciative of the care our nurses gave to our baby (future blog entry will be added as a Thank You to them). One of the nurses, Inger, spent an hour holding Riley after the episode occurred. It was so nice to hear that Riley was being cared for by people who cared so much for them! Thank you to all our nurses and doctors! Without you, we wouldn't have our two beautiful angels at home!

We met with the doctors the next morning to discuss what happened and what would need to occur. It is rare for babies to have these episodes after 38 weeks. They decided to do a sleep study to see if any issues existed. This test came back perfectly normal. And did we tell you that the blood test came back with great results as well! Due to this, the hospital said that there were a couple choices that could be made. One was to wait another 7 days and take Riley home without any monitoring device. The other option was to take Riley home with a heart monitor. We felt uncomfortable taking her home (without a monitoring device) after 7 days when the last Brady occurred after 9 days. The hospital felt comfortable letting us take her home immediately with a monitor. So, Riley's new discharge date was October 31, 2007 (Halloween). Tiffany definitely got her wish!

Since Riley was in the hospital on Halloween, they dressed her up like a nurse. Isn't she cute?!


Mommy and Daddy also decorated pumpkins for the girls' first halloween.


Alexis in her pumpkin outfit.


Riley in her cat outfit in the hospital as we were prepping her for her homecoming.




You almost can't see her in her car seat!







Welcome home Sis! They are so glad to be together again! We heard that Riley was always fussing in the hospital after Alexis left and this was true for Alexis as well. There wasn't so much of this anymore once they were both home.







Alexis' and Riley's first night together in the crib.



No matter how far apart we put them in their Pack N Play...


they still find a way to come together!




This was such a cute moment, that we couldn't help but capture it!


Riley's first bath


Our first outing with both girls. Here they are in their car seats.


Daddy with both girls...at home...finally!


We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers through our adventure over the past few months. Please continue to keep the girls in your prayers for continued good health! We are so happy to have them home. We have been catching up on things around the house and cleaning mail off our kitchen table from August. It is great to come home from work instead of daily trips to the hospital. We do not miss the hospital at all, but we do miss all the nurses and doctors. They became a part of our family over the past couple months. The past couple weeks have been busy, but have been the best two weeks this year!