Free at last!

Olivia's been home for a week and half today! I didn't post right away because things have been, as I'm sure you can imagine, slightly hectic. There's the usual new baby stuff: sleep schedules, feedings, burpings, diapers, tummy time, milestones, etc. Add to that the newness of her feeding tube, a brand new case of reflux, and a delightful case of MRSA, and you've got a recipe for sleep-deprived parents!

We went to the doctor about every day Olivia's first week home. We had her first "normal" doctor's appointment, where we learned that in some circles, Olivia's problems are considered easy. The occupational therapist and the family coordinator that were sent to our home from early intervention also seemed to think that she's doing ok. We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves for impressing them all when the doctor called to tell us that Olivia's bandage dressing, which she had cultured two days previously "just in case" had come back positive for MRSA. One look at what webMD.com had to say about MRSA had me in almost in hysterics.

Luckily, Olivia's brand of MRSA seems to be isolated to her surgical site, and has not yet entered her bloodstream or spread to other parts of her body. She is on a ten day course of antibiotics to be completed on Tuesday, and we are now using gloves when we clean her wound site. Considering that Charles and I are both uninsured, we really can't afford another case of MRSA in the family. We are so grateful that our doctor had the foresight to randomly culture Olivia's dressing so we were able to catch this before it spread to her lungs or her bloodstream. She seems to be responding to her antibiotics, so we're praying that it just stays contained and that she keeps fighting it.

On a lighter note, Olivia's kicking butt on this feeding thing. She pretty much sleeps through the night, and we have yet to be able to wake her up to eat, so the tube comes in pretty handy for keeping her hydrated and nourished. But during the day she's wide awake and seems to be really enjoying eating these days. Today she nursed for a whole feed- something she's never done before. When we nursed in the hospital, we always weighed her before and after, and I was always shocked at how little she got into her system for how long she sucked. So when she fell asleep after nursing today, we went ahead and "topped off" with her tube; we were shocked when she woke up suddenly and spit up about as much as we had just put in her tube. Apparently she had eaten an entire feeding for the first time in her life, and she was completely full! I can't even tell you how happy that made us- I had only thought to try nursing today to see if she even remembered how to do it, since we haven't done it for weeks. She latched on like she'd been doing it for months, and didn't let go until she was full and asleep.

I'm beginning to think everything they told us in the hospital was a lie, and they just wanted to keep her there because she's so cute. Selfish jerks.

Since I know you're all here for the pictures, I'll stop rambling and get to the good stuff. Enjoy!

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