Still here...

...in the hospital with my youngest son. We were moved from L&D to the Pediatric Unit last night. The accommodations are great, the staff is wonderful, but there is no sleep for the weary in a hospital. Between the screaming toddler next door, and his equally grumpy parents (the non-comforting type), staff interruptions, machine noises, and a Code Blue @ 2:45 AM, we were up a lot. And that did not include Nate waking to eat and be changed almost every hour. I don't even know if I slept!

Nate is still jaundice, and has been under a bili-blanket since Friday, 9/4/09. His bilirubin level has gone up from 11.5 to 12.2 to 12.8 and gone back down to 12.5 to 11.5 at 8 AM this morning, 9/6/09.
He was taken off the Bili-blanket at 12 PM today, so now we wait to see if it was the blanket or Nate's body doing the work of getting rid of the jaundice. If it's the former, he might stay another night and resume bili-blanketing. If it's the latter, we hope for a discharge late this evening - we will wait for another blood level at 8 PM this evening, and if his bilirubin is below 13, we will (hopefully) be discharged and free to go home, with follow up blood work and appointments.
Regardless of Nate's status, Tim will return home with the big boys tonight. Everyone is whooped, and needs a sense of "normalcy", as soon as possible!

S'all a waiting game now....I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and I'm not gonna lie, I really, really, REALLY want to go home! I miss my big boys so very much (though I enjoyed a short break today - a visit to my in-laws to see them! What a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively) and I cannot wait to be reunited as a family again.
I know in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing - in comparison to parents who have babies who are much sicker, and who have much worse outcomes. I have been praying for sick babies much more during our stay and situation here. I simply cannot fathom what a parent must go through emotionally and physically during that time. My heart truly goes out to them, their babies, and the rest of their families!