Welcome Home

2006-02-07 002
Originally uploaded by shanrev.

Well did you miss me yesterday? Wonder where my daily Maya post was? Well yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from one of our lovely nurses asking if i was willing to do a "Care by Parent". I can hear you asking the same question I was... what in the hell is that? Basically Mike and/or I would spend the night at the hospital with Maya as a kind of test run and then they would release her the next morning. It didn't really sound very appealing to me and it was even less appealing to Michael (spending another night at the hospital, not bringing Maya home) so I did attempt to get out of it. Maya and I had bunked into together for three days before she decided to stop breathing. The nurse said she'd put it to the Doctor's and see how they felt about it. The call came back almost right away, "the doctor's would prefer it if you spent the night here, but if you are against that...." Well what could I say then.

So Mike and I made arrangement for Abby to spend the night at Dad and Linda's and Mike and I went down the the hospital and checked into the MacMaster Hilton. We were actually pleasantly surprised with our accomadations. The room looked like your standard motel room. A couple of chairs, double bed, private bathroom with shower and a radio. It was also stocked with all the emergency supplies one would need if this project took a turn for the worse. The only thing missing was a TV. Luckily there was a stack of year old magazines there and I had brought my book. Maya was perfect all night just sleeping and eating. We were to bring her back to Level 2 after the 7 am shift change and at some point after that she would be discharged.

We had her back in the nursery around 9 am. The receptionist advised us to head out for breakfast since Maya wasn't going anywhere until after the Docs did rounds at 10:30 am. So we headed out to Tammy's Place in Dundas. I had never been there before, but Dave and his buddies used to frequent it for breakfast back in the day. It was Tammy's loss that she doesn't take debit so I still haven't eaten there. After some more aimless driving we ended up at Mickey D's for a hash brown. It just seemed the easiest thing to do at the time. Well since it is called "fast food" breakfast didn't take us near long enough. So Mike listened to some talk radio and I read some more of my book. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. I'll weigh in on that controversy when I've finished reading it.

We were back at the hospital around 10 am to just wait. Maya had a real fantastic nurse the first few days she was in level 3. She really helped us feel a bit more calm about the whole situation. Today when we brought Maya back to level two this same nurse was there. Mike asked her if she often switched back and forth between level 3 and level 2. Turns out she hasn't had a shift on level 2 in over two years, but for some reason today she was there. She wasn't assigned to Maya today, but it was nice to have her close by as we got ready to leave. She was excited to see Maya "graduate". It was a real gift to be able to thank her in person for how helpful she was during those difficult early days.

Before we left the hospital we had a meeting with the Pediatrician assigned to Maya's case. In an effort to figure out what had caused Maya's breathing problem the doctor's had ordered a wide variety of tests including an ECG. Turns out Maya, just like her big sister, has a VSD; a hole between the two chambers of the heart. Unlike Abby's Maya's is small. Abby's was quite large and surgery at 6 months was a very real possibility. Luckily Abby's closed on it's own. Maya has two holes. One is a hole all babies have, that normally closes before birth, but with Maya being premature hers will likely take a little longer. The other hole will likely close on it's own as well, but if the doctor can still hear a murmur at her 1 year check up then she'll have to see a cardiologist. What incredible luck we have. It just further seals the deal on no more kids for us.

Abby is thrilled that Maya is home. She's been a great big sister so far, but then we're only about 4 hours in, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Maya was asleep upstairs in her crib and when she woke up for her bottle Abby was the first person up in her room. We could hear her calling through the monitor, "Mommy can you come and check on my baby please?" While I was feeding Maya she went and got one of her dollies for her. Every two seconds she asking us, can I show Maya my puzzles, can I show Maya my room, can Kailey and Breanne come over and see my baby Maya? She loves to sit with Maya on her lap and give her kisses. I hope she continues to be this in love:)

So Maya is home now and ready for visitors. Just give us a call and stop by, she can't wait to meet everyone. Check out pictures of our homecoming click on the picture of the MacMaster Hilton.