The Bruckners: Tuesday, July 10th: Homecoming

Snuggling with his Lovee doll. :)

After 78 days (11 weeks and one day) in the NICU, Finnegan was discharged. If this comes as a shock to you after reading our previous post, trust us, it was shocking as well. Here's how it happened:

During Finnegan's struggle with eating this past week, he found his voice. He learned how to cry, especially when he was hungry. The way his feeding schedule worked though, had him eating every 3 hours without fail. Finnegan didn't like that schedule. He started waking up about every 2 hours after a feeding screaming for more milk. The nurses would go in to calm him down, and then he would be passed out for his feed about an hour later resulting in a less than adequate feeding. After expressing this concern and even getting him fed earlier on some occasions when I was there, his nurse on Sunday talked with the nurse practitioner about his current habit and they decided to try getting him on his own schedule. This meant that he could tell the nurse when he was hungry and they would give him a bottle. They decided to give him a 24 hour trial period to see how much he would take and how many calories he would consume in that period. He would need to consume 120 calories to meet his target (27 calories/ounce, and 30ml/ounce). Since he was eating more frequently, he wasn't meeting his range of 35-45ml eat feeding. Plus, he needs to eat enough to stay hydrated. He seemed to be eating so well on Sunday when Grandma and Grandpa Doman came to visit. He was taking between 30 and 35 ml every 2 hours or so. Plus, he got some quality snuggle time with grandma and grandpa. Grandpa Doman held Finnegan for the first time on Sunday, and they both looked so adorably happy. Finnegan held onto Grandpa's finger and would not let go! :)

Monday morning, I was nervous about what would happen at rounds. This is when they would tell us how many calories he consumed in his 24 hour period and whether or not they would be willing to continue this feeding schedule. Ultimately, that would determine how much longer he would have to stay in the NICU. Since he was determining his own schedule, he was nippling 100% for a couple days, and they calculated that he consumed 105 out of the 120 necessary calories. The doctor was really pleased and even suggested that he be discharged that day! The nurses as well as myself did not feel really comfortable with letting him go home after just changing his feeding schedule, so it was decided that if he continued to do with with feedings, he could go home the next day. I cannot tell you how surreal that whole conversation felt. I had been waiting for those words for so long, and it was just like weeks of prayers had been answered. After rounds, Finnegan was a champion eater. He took 35-45ml of almost all his bottles and just told everyone that he was ready to bust out.

After being told he could go home! :)

With the news of him coming home in a day, Ian left work and zoomed in his BMW X5 rental car to Peoria to get some of our discharge learning out of the way. We learned how to draw up and give him his meds and mix up his formula/milk. We'd seen most of this done (besides mixing his milk), but it was weird having to do it and I found myself being nervous. Everything just started feeling so real. Finnegan's primary day nurse, Brittany went through the basics with us about what to do with him when he's home and helped us set up his followup appointments. Brittany had been with us from the beginning, and I was so happy she was with us to get him ready to go home. I know it wasn't easy discharging Finnegan, since she took care of him for so long, but it's not goodbye! :) The same goes for his primary night nurse, Jodie. These ladies are two of the best NICU nurses ever! :) They not only took care of Finnegan like he was their own, but they were supportive of Ian and I and became not only Finn's caretakers, but our friends. God really blessed us by bringing them into our lives!

Finnegan and his best friend, Brittany :)

After we learned some stuff about taking care of Finnegan (as Ian commented later that night, "Geez, Finnegan comes with a lot of directions!"), we went to pick up a formula mixer pitcher at BabiesRus and then to a movie. We went to go see the movie Ted. It was definitely a great addition to such a great day. "Thunder buddies for life!"

The last "scrub-in!"

When we got back, we hung out with Finnegan and his night nurse Jodie for a while. We got him hooked up to his home monitor so we could try it out with him before we had to use it at home with him. Ian and I then headed home to relax and sleep through the night, perhaps for the last time! ;) This morning we put together his pack'n'play which is in our bedroom and just picked up a little bit before we headed to get Finnegan's birth certificate from the Health Department and then to the hospital to get Finnegan! We had to bring a cooler to the hospital to bring home the stockpile of breastmilk I had there. It was definitely funny walking into a hospital with a cooler.

This morning, Finnegan had a couple exams before he could go home. He had a general exam by a neonatologist and then an exam by a physical therapist. The physical therapist reported from his assessment that Finnegan is right on target for his age, even though he didn't wake up during any of the exam. ;) Brittany also gave him a bath and weighed and measured him for the last time. He came in a little over 17inches long and about 5lbs 7.5oz.

Finnegan's growth chart from Day 1 to Day 78

We got him hooked up to his home monitor, changed into his going home clothes, signed some paperwork, picked up his prescriptions, and then took some pictures before we peaced out of the NICU for good! Ian strapped Finnegan into his car seat and we walked through the halls for the last time. We said goodbye to another favorite nurse, Theresa who made me feel wonderful with her kind words. What amazing people we met while we were there!

I'm ready to go home! :)

I love this tag for his car seat! :)

Finnegan's final total for his stay at the NICU was $399,347. He came in about $100,000 less than was anticipated because he didn't need as much as they thought he would! :) All I can say is thank GOD for insurance!

The drive home was uneventful. Finnegan slept the whole time and entertained us with his grunts and groans. When we got home, we introduced Finnegan to his puppies. Kylie and Joey were both a bit unsure of him. Joey was fine with Finnegan until Finn started moving. Kylie tried to lick him a lot, but she never really did. She has been very gentle with him. We fed him right away when we got home and he took a little under his range. Then, mommy and Finnegan took a nap. Finnegan was not happy in his pack'n'play at first, but he settled in and we both slept for a while. We had to wake him up for him to eat, because we can't really let him go longer than 3 hours without eating. He was wide awake while I changed his diaper and continued to be awake until the bottle went in his mouth. We tried for about 40 minutes to wake him up. Ian put him back in his crib and it took him all of 3 minutes before he was wide awake crying to eat. He took the rest of his bottle for daddy and then fell back asleep again. ;) Ian made his first batch of fortified breast milk. He must have made it good because Finnegan is sucking it up as we speak! :)